response to Monsieur Venus, a defense of her in polite company, or a remark upon first meeting her.) Paul Verlaine congratulated her on the creativity of her perversion: "Ah! My dear child, if you've invented an extra vice, you'll be a benefactor of humanity!" She also had a note-worthy impact on the career and legacy of British decadent Oscar Wilde. She hosted him and his lover at her salon and supported him during his lifetime. More directly than that, Wilde admired Monsieur Venus and drew inspiration from it. Many scholars believe that Le Secret de Raoul, the novel that has its poisonous effect on Dorian Gray, is named in honor of the main character of Monsieur Venus, Raoule de Vénérande. Rachilde also translated and wrote about many of his works after his death, helping pave the way for his long-lasting legacy in France. In many ways, her most direct impact with on many of these contemporaries was not through her creative writing, nor for her decadent character which they admired. It was through her reviews, boosting their careers; her salons, encouraging the exchange of ideas; and her friends, offered to them at difficult times. According to those who knew her, Rachilde was enticing and inscrutable, passionate and angry. She was unafraid to speak openly with the sincerity of her feelings. She had no shame in marketing herself, but was also known as a tender and caring friend. Intimate in friendship and dedicated to supporting the careers of others, Rachilde was nevertheless always an outsider, forced to explain her thoughts and beliefs in terms of possession, because what was natural to her seemed to be so unnatural to everyone around her, including to herself as she tried to sort out what was her and what was in the reflection. Bibliography Some notable works by Rachilde: 1879 Monsieur de la Nouveauté 1884 Monsieur Vénus (Brussels: Auguste Brancart, 1884 in two "first" editions; Paris: Flammarion, 1977) 1885 Queue de poisson (Brussels: Auguste Brancart, 1885) 1885 Nono (Paris: Mercure de France, 1997) 1886 À Mort! 1886 Candaulette (serialized in Le Décadent) 1887 La Marquise de Sade (Paris: Mercure de France, 1981) 1890 La Voix du Sang 1891 Madame la Mort 1892 L'Araignée de Cristal 1893 L'animale (Paris: Mercure de France, 1993) 1894 Le Démon de l'Absurde 1895 La Princesse des Ténèbres (as Monsieur Jean de Chilra) 1897 Les hors nature] 1898 L'Heure Sexuelle (as