masters of seduction all their lives long. And what do you say of Anatole France, in his sixty-eighth year, when a woman took her own life for his sake?!
As for the women's side, the seducer must possess the bodily qualities that agree with their taste. The mannish woman turns away from strength and softens before weakness. George Sand's love, in truth, fastened only on men younger than herself, dogged by sickness and infirmity. And the women of 1950, having won their material independence and taken up physical exercise, are seldom won by brute strength, such as Tarzan's muscles, and are often drawn — in no idle spirit — to slimness and frailty. Feminine taste in America, especially on the screen, runs more to the gay, roving man than to the thrifty man or the one patiently in earnest at his work, for the relief he brings to a soul weary of the ordinary life of matter.
Yet however women differ and ages diverge, boldness remains a first and constant quality in a man's power to allure. Woman is drawn to the man who occupies himself with her; while the man hardly makes the pursuit of her and the winning of her an essential point of his life. And in that crisis of contention between a woman's desire for her own sake and a man's absorption in the material demands of his life comes the turn of the professional seducer, who knows how to answer the female's imperious need. Once a man has carried off the title of "Don Juan," the beauties fling themselves before him; and after having been the chooser, he becomes the chosen. Byron, whose fame in allurement had reached the very sky, wished to tempt the wife of a friend of his; and that other lady never forgave him his lapse to the end of her days!
The Seductress: and beauty
— two inseparable qualities — yet not always. History points to many women whose star blazed while their appearance never rose above the ordinary in comeliness. But they were mistresses of charm. And what is charm? It is a compound of coquetry (Coquetterie) and naturalness (Naturel). It is an amplitude of feeling, just as grace is an amplitude of movement. It is what troubles the mind and soothes it at one and the same time. And since shyness prevails in most men despite their bold appearance, they will never venture at all unless they sense some encouragement to boldness and adventure. But beware of the brazen woman, for her attraction is soon snuffed out. Charm in a woman is nothing else than her remaining a riddle in a man's soul, and a sweeping longing that is hard to attain!
A man is commonly drawn to the woman who admires him and amuses him. And he clings to the one who beguiles him, listens to him, and diverts him. The seductress must therefore possess the spirit of gaiety and diversion more than that of disquieting and preoccupying the mind. Some have excelled by mere silence, like Madame Récamier. Byron said: "I want a woman intelligent enough to admire me, not one whose intelligence demands that I admire her!" Byron's phrase is most often the unspoken speech of men, even if they do not declare it. The enchantress must praise her man with a subtle hint at something that has escaped him, not with long and open homage.
And the Vamp, who flourished in the first quarter of this century, was no more than a "volunteer" in allurement, answering the call of instinct and heaping up men as lovers just as Don Juan gathered his mistresses from among women. From her arose the idea of the hunted man with
a huntress woman at his heels, like Marlene Dietrich in "The Blue Angel." The man of 1950, however, prefers the woman who seduces him in spite of herself, as she appears on the screen: beautiful, delicate, reticent — the likes of Greta Garbo, Michèle Morgan, and Alida Valli in "The Third Man." In truth she draws men at first sight without meaning to, because her appearance lets show what lies hidden in her depths: a happy, delicious fancy brimming with unclouded hopes.
How is seduction to be won?
Seduction springs from natural appearances: a woman born with
dazzling beauty, or with a sound taste that turns plainness into loveliness — a way of dressing the hair, a hat that alters the shape of the face, a well-made gown that does the figure justice, or dancing and sport that bestow gracefulness. As for charm, whoever keeps close to nature in her gentleness and stillness will attain it; while whoever cleaves to harshness and severity, or to spite, or to any artificial posture, drives away from himself those who might have
To Every Young Lady in Lebanon! (Maison Monheim)
To every young lady in Lebanon!
It is a pleasant surprise for you!..
The house of "Monheim" for dressmaking and fashions has opened a new branch for young ladies, with special attention, after the example of the most famous Parisian fashion houses..
A single visit, Mademoiselle, to the house of Monheim on Phoenicia Street is enough to show you the truth of the matter!