"A practical joke," fumed Dramatist Marcel Pagnol, 75. "It is not serious," snapped Novelist Jules Remains, 85. "Déplacé, indecent and outrageous," sputtered Novelist Maurice Druon, 52. What shocked the "immortals" was the fact that a Frenchwoman had been accepted as a candidate for election to the all-male Academic Francaise for the first time since Cardinal Richelieu founded the pantheon of intellectuals 335 years ago.
The audacious lady was Francoise Parturier, 51, novelist, essayist, fervent feminist and front-page columnist for Le Figaro. When she applied last October, few of the 35 members took her seriously (the Academy has 40 places, but...