In his comedies, proverbes dramatiques and novels, Alfred de Musset portrays an ambivalent politeness, transformed by the social and cultural changes of the 19th century. Born into the aristocratic ideal, he contrasts the innate refinement of an honest man under the Ancien Régime with the superficial courtesy of the bourgeoisie and new financial aristocracy, informed by etiquette guides. This clash between adaptable, instinctive manners and codified etiquette provides food for thought on the notion of distinction, a fundamental concept for the viscount and the aristocratic literary figure that he is. With a blend of adherence and irony, he sees dandyism as a kind of dissident politeness: by deliberately breaking with prevailing norms, the dandies reinvented courtesy in a way that set them apart from the common people. Their paradoxical relationship with politeness exposes the cracks in a society on the path to democracy, where an outward show of manners had ceased to ensure either social legitimacy or moral elegance.