The knight sets forth... 1. In "Mimesis in the Origins of Bourgeois Culture" (Theory and Society, Autumn, 1977) Sharon Zukin suggested that the Protestant ethic, to which Weber attributed the "spirit of capitalism" -- Benjamin Franklin's moralizing about hard work and thrift -- the "cult of the self-made man" -- may have been ultimately based on bourgeois mimesis and adaptation of the conventions of aristocratic courtly romance.
2. see also Susan Buck-Morss: "The Flaneur, the Sandwichman and the Whore" (New German Critique, Fall, 1986) The Flaneur "takes the concept of being-for-sale itself for a walk... his last incarnation is as sandwichman." "...the 'keep smiling' on the job market adopts the behavior of the whore who, on the love market, picks up someone with a smile." With regard to the de La Rochefoucauld maxim I posted earlier, I would interpret "les femmes" as only conventionally referring to women but metaphorically referring more broadly to "those who love". And "les premières passions" are, in my opinion, only mentioned to provide a spectral counterpoint to "les autres." The maxim thus boils down to something like "those who love are in love with love." "les femmes" and "les premières passions" give the maxim character and animate it, just as "l'amant" does for "l'amour". Tom Walker 604 255 4812
