Dis-Covering the Female: Gautier's Roman de la momie

Théophile Gautier's Le Roman de la momie (1857) is often praised for its meticulous descriptions but this article explores its inaccuracies. The gender bias at work in the description of Tahoser's mummy alerts readers to other forms of vested interest present in Gautier's story, represented allegorically by the main characters of the prologue. Gautier's numerous references to interpretation in the text itself-a strategy typical of novels published in the repressive 1850s-license this "mis-reading," which illustrates the role feminist interpretation can play in all reading.