Papin sisters

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Christine and Lea Papin brutally murdered their employer and her daughter in Le Mans, France, on 2nd February, 1933. This incident had a significant influence on French intellectuals Genet, Sartre and Lacan, who sought to understand it and it was thought of as symbolic of class struggle. The case has formed the basis of a number of films and plays.

Christine (born 8th March, 1905) and Lea (born 15th September, 1911), had not simply killed their employers Madame and Mademoiselle Lancelin, a mother and daughter, but they had gouged their eyes out while they were still alive. After this, they murdered the pair of them with a hammer, knife, and pewter jug. Most of the blows were directed at the heads and faces of the victims, with the result that they were literally unrecognisable. Adding to the bizarre nature of the crime was the fact that the two maids made no attempt to escape and were found huddled in bed together, completely naked. The fact that they were naked in bed together seemed to indicate a sexual relationship between them, which would have been both lesbian and incestuous in nature.[1] The two sisters had worked for their employers for seven years and had appeared quiet and demure, with Lea being particularly under the thrall of Christine. The two girls had spent all their free time with one another and were regular churchgoers.

The trial began in September 1933. The case enthralled the people of France and was watched intently by the public and press. Christine was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. While in prison, Christine showed acute signs of madness and an intense love-longing of her sister. Before long, she was transferred to a mental asylum at Rennes, where she died in 1937 from cachexia.

Lea Papin was released from prison in 1941. She then lived in the town of Nantes, where she was joined by her mother and earned her livelihood as a hotel maid under a false name. She was thought to have died in 1982, but this was questioned in 2000 by the French filmmaker, Claud Ventura. Ventura made a documentary film, En Quete des Soeurs Papin (In Search of the Papin Sisters) in which he claimed to have found Lea alive in a hospice somewhere in France. She was partly paralysed as the result of a stroke and could not speak, though she was shown in the film. This Lea died in 2001. It is not known if Ventura had documentation to prove the identity of his Lea.[2][3][4]

Contents

[edit] Works relating to the case[5]

  • The Maids (Les Bonnes) - a play by Jean Genet
  • The Maids, a film based on the play, directed by Christopher Miles
  • My Sister In This House, play by Wendy Kesselman
  • Sister My Sister, a film version of the play directed by Nancy Meckler
  • Les Abysses, a film directed by Nikos Papatakis
  • Les Soeurs Papin, a book by R. le Texier
  • Blood Sisters a stage play and screenplay by Neil Paton
  • L'Affaire Papin, a book - Paulette Houdyer
  • La Solution du Passage a l'Acte- a book - Frances Dupre (a non de plume)
  • Paris Was Yesterday - a book - Janet Flanner
  • La Ligature- a short film - dir. Gilles Cousin
  • Les Meurtres par Procuration- a book - Jean-Claude Asfour
  • Lady Killers'- a book - Joyce Robins
  • Minotaure - a magazine - Issue no.3, 1933
  • Jungfrurna - an opera - Peter Bengtson
  • La Ceremonie - a film - dir. Claude Chabrol
  • A Judgement in Stone - a novel - Ruth Rendell
  • Les Blessures Assassines - a film - dir. Jean-Pierre Denis
  • En Quete des Soeurs Papin (In Search of the Papin Sisters) - a documentary film - dir. Claude Ventura
  • Gros Proces des l'Histoire- a book - M. Mamouni
  • L'Affaire Papin a book - Genevieve Fortin
  • The Papin Sisters- a book - Rachel Edwards and Keith Reader
  • The Maids- a piece of artwork by Paula Rego

[edit] Les Bonnes by Jean Genet

Main article: The Maids

The play "Les Bonnes", by French writer Jean Genet, is thought to be based on the murders. Although several details have been changed, the play does highlight the dissatisfaction of the maids in their jobs, which manifests itself in a hatred for their mistress. Genet's fascination with the crime stemmed from his contempt for the middle classes, along with his understanding of how a murderer could glory in the infamy that came from the crime.[6]

[edit] Notes

  1. La Solution du Passage a L'acte, Francis Dupre, 1984
  2. L'Affaire Papin, Paulette Houdyer, 1988
  3. The Papin Sisters, Edwards and Reader, 2001
  4. Papin Sisters Website
  5. Les Bonnes (The Maids), Jean Genet, 1947

[edit] References

  1. ^ Paulette Houdyer's interview is quite enlightening about this matter.
  2. ^ Houdyer
  3. ^ Dupre
  4. ^ Edwards
  5. ^ Papin Sisters Website
  6. ^ The Maids and Deathwatch, Jean Genet (Faber and Faber)1989

[edit] External links

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