Sexual Scandals and Public Morality

The Pranzini Affair of 1887 combined sex, violence, and colonial anxiety in perfect Belle Époque cocktail. Enrico Pranzini, an Egyptian-born adventurer, murdered a courtesan, her maid, and her child in the rue Montaigne. The crime's brutality shocked, but Pranzini's exotic appearance and sexual magnetism fascinated. Women packed his trial, fighting for glimpses of the "handsome assassin."

The investigation revealed Parisian demimonde's sordid realities. The victim, Régine de Montille, had entertained clients in her luxurious apartment, blurring lines between courtesan and respectable widow. Her murder exposed the violence lurking beneath sexual commerce's polite facades. Pranzini's execution drew massive crowds, with women reportedly dipping handkerchiefs in his blood.

The Caillaux Affair erupted in 1914 when Henriette Caillaux shot Gaston Calmette, editor of Le Figaro. Her husband, Finance Minister Joseph Caillaux, faced press attacks including threatened publication of intimate letters to Henriette written during their affair while both were married to others. Henriette's crime—murdering to protect reputation—sparked debates about honor, privacy, and women's agency.

The trial became theatrical sensation. Henriette's fashionable clothes, emotional testimony, and fainting spells captivated audiences. Her acquittal—the jury accepted her "temporary feminine weakness" defense—outraged those seeing class privilege protecting murder. The verdict suggested different justice for different people, themes resonating through Belle Époque scandals.