These essays examine the image of women in French literature from the early 15th century of Christine de Pizan to the late 18th century of Isabelle de Charrierre. While the seminal importance of La Princesse de Cleves in the canon of women’s writing is indicated by its being discussed in three of the articles, the interactive nature of men’s and women’s writing is revealed in the literary heroines created by Guilleragues and Crebillon fils. The aim of the volume is to open doors of discussion between different periods of literature and critical approaches to the question of women as writers and heroines. This volume of essays has its origins in a conference held at the Institute of Romance Studies, University of London, in March, 1996.