1830-1880s

Child prostitution at the Paris Opera continued in the 1800s. However, at this point in history, the normalized practice soon became much worse.

1830 July Revolution

In order to understand the politics of exploitation at the Opera, one must look at the historical context surrounding this era of ballet history. The July Revolution of 1830 ended in the current French monarch, Charles X's abdication from the throne.

As a result, Charles X "executed a constitutional takeover," which turned most of the Paris against him.

Soon after, on the 27th, 28th, and 29th of July 1830 (known as the Three Glorious Days), rioters confronted the army in "bloody" combat, which left over one thousand dead. As a result, Charles X and his family fled from Paris.

Source(s):

From The Three Glorious Days to The Third Republic. Musee d'Orsay, https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/courbet-dossier/historical-context.html#:~:text=The%201830%20July%20Revolution%20and%20the%20July%20Monarchy,-Eug%C3%A8ne%20DelacroixLiberty&text=On%2027th%2C%2028th%20and%2029th,royal%20family%20fled%20from%20Paris. 11 May 2021.

1830 Loss in funding

In the absence of the king, the Paris Opera soon lost its royal licensure, thereby denying it funding and protection by the Monarchy. The connections between the overwhelmingly volatile political context that surrounded Paris from the Three Glorious Days until at least the Third Republic can be seen as directly correlating with the heinous practices of the ballet school.

After the loss of it's royal license, the ballet school no longer had the funds to keep its doors open. Furthermore, due to a lack of royal licensure, it's dancers were no longer under the protection of the king. As a result, wealthy subscribers held an enormous advantage over the school and it's young dancers. They could now pay for backstage access, allowing them to proposition dancers for sexual favors. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable population was the lower ranks, or the Petite Rats, who were often children.

According to Rachel Ginnis Fuchs' Crimes Against Children in Nineteenth-Century France: Child Abuse, "During the first seven decades of the century, child abuse was not even a concept, let alone a criminal act. Children were neglected, starved, beaten, and emotionally abused, but authorities did not consider these actions criminal." Though not discussing child prostitution, Fuchs brings up an important point about the treatment of children in European, particularly French, culture of the time. In a society that actively fought against child labor laws, regularly had to abandon their infants due to the inability to care for them, and that often prostituted their children, it is unsurprising that Victorian Frenchmen allowed the exploitation of children under their watch. "Indeed, given the level of poverty and the necessity of daily labor for the mothers and foster parents alike, children did not have the same emotional and cultural value they have today, and hence what we might consider abuse was not considered abusive behavior then," Fuchs' writes.

At the time, the age of consent was thirteen in an era when girls were reaching puberty far later than they do today, at least according to Robert Pearsall's The Worm in The Bud: The World of Victorian Sexuality. Though this book discusses sexuality as it pertains to England, it's an important look into the pervasive issues within European culture of the time.

Child exploitation was incredibly common around this period and things like disappearances of young girls, twelve year old brides, eleven year old's in brothels, or child prostitution would not have raised the same alarms that they do today. In The Worm in The Bud, Pearsall details on one page how one man tells his tale of "his violation of a ten-year-old girl, with the full approval of her mother." Clearly, this culture of child exploitation is much darker side of Victorian life, and one that was not only present in France. By taking a look at the issues present within England of this time, we are able to surmise a bit more about the views of these issues in France at the same time.

Source(s):

Fuchs, Rachel Ginnis. “Crimes against Children in Nineteenth-Century France: Child Abuse.” Law and Human Behavior, vol. 6, no. 3/4, 1982, pp. 237–259. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1393760. Accessed 11 May 2021.

Laurens, Camille. "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen." Les Fugitives, 2018.

Pearsall, Ronald. "The Worm in The Bud: the World of Victorian Sexuality." Stroud, 2003.