Ourida Mostefai offers the most current and exhaustive treatment of the letter and its context that we know, while Patrick Coleman presents a highly instructive and provocative textual analysis that explores among other themes the manner in which Rousseau offers himself as an actor and his text as his own public stage; see Ourida Mostefai, Le citoyen de Genve et la Rpublique des Lettres: tude de la controverse autour de La Lettre d'Alembert de Jean-Jacques Rousseau (New York, NY, 2003); Patrick Coleman, Rousseau's Political Imagination: Rule and Representation in the Lettre d'Alembert (Geneva, 1984). Discourse on Inequality was completed in May 1754, and published in 1755. Rousseau considers this play to be a work of genius, but it is, of course, morally backwards. 9 Letter, 27174, 35960. Rousseau received thousands . Nonetheless, taken together, these apparently contrasting accounts reveal that Montesquieu sees value in the theatrical experience in its entirety. It was the first of Rousseau's writings to be translated into Russian. Their exchange, collected in volume ten of this. The accents of nature [les accents de la nature] cause this pleasure; it is the sweetest of all voices.Footnote31, Montesquieu's praise of Racine's Hippolytus, whom he describes as being accused, judged, condemned, banished, and covered with infamy, underscores the fact that to his mind this blameless young man is the victim of a judicial procedure that failed to disclose his true innocence. Quotations from d'Alembert's uvres, cited as "D'Al.," refer to the Belin edition (Paris, 1821) in five volumes.The edition of Voltaire's Correspondence is . It is about people finding happiness in domestic as distinct from public life, in the family as opposed to the state. See also Thomas, Negotiating Taste in Montesquieu, 8182. After formally renouncing his Genevan citizenship in 1763, Rousseau became a fugitive, spending the rest of his life moving from one refuge to another. 60 Spirit, 19.6, 311. 65 Letter, 311 (5: 74). Alternate titles: Lettre dAlembert sur les spectacles, Letter to Monsieur dAlembert on the Theatre, Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Years of seclusion and exile of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Summary. Rousseau Letter To D' Alembert And Writings For The Theater ( Collected Writings Vol. Scholars have pointed to Montesquieu's influence on Rousseau's work generally. In 1758 his Letter to M. d'Alembert on the Theatre was published. Spirit, 4.8, 41; Spirit, 19.5, 310. When the hospitality of Mme dpinay proved to entail much the same social round as that of Paris, Rousseau retreated to a nearby cottage, called Montlouis, under the protection of the Marchal de Luxembourg. This is a civil law, Montesquieu proclaims pointedly, that punishes natural defense.Footnote39 After asserting that natural defense demands that the accused be confronted by witnesses in a criminal proceeding, the chapters go on to provide examples of how civil laws can interfere with familial relations. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Music and the French Enlightenment: Rameau and the Philosophes in Dialogue by Cy at the best online prices at eBay! 2. At the end of The New Eloise, when Julie has made herself ill in an attempt to rescue one of her children from drowning, she comes face-to-face with a truth about herself: that her love for Saint-Preux has never died. The Scottish philosopher David Hume took him there and secured the offer of a pension from King George III; but once in England, Rousseau became aware that certain British intellectuals were making fun of him, and he suspected Hume of participating in the mockery. We have corrected the translation here. Discourse on Inequality was completed in May 1754, and published in 1755. ROUSSEAU Letter to M. d'Alembert on the Theatre}.-}.Rousseau, Citizen ofGeneva TO M. d'A1embert, of the French Academy, The Royal Academy of Sci ences ofParis, the Prussian Academy, the Royal Society ofLondon, the Royal Academy of Literature of Sweden, and the Institute of Bologna; On his article Geneva in the seventh volume of fEncyclopedie and More importantly, in Discourse on InequalityRousseau is in many ways extremely negative about the progress of reason. You'll also receive an email with the link. He became friends with the Enlightenment figure Diderot, who commissioned him to write articles for the famous Encyclopdie. . It may be considered to portray Rousseau's vanity, narcissism and biases, but the text could also be thought of more positively; as expressive, lyrical and austere. Women naturally have power over men via resistance in the area of relationships and this power can be extended to the play, where women can have the same control over the audience. The members of the Wolmar household are depicted as finding happiness in living according to an aristocratic ideal. On the relation between the two thinkers, see also Michael Sonenscher, Before the Deluge: Public Debt, Inequality, and the Intellectual Origins of the French Revolution (Princeton, NJ, 2007), 86, 96, 175, 223; Christopher Kelly, Rousseau and the Illustrious Montesquieu, in The Challenge of Rousseau, edited by Grace and Kelly, 1933 (2021). 4. -36:18. Towards the end of the afternoon, everyone assembles and goes to perform in a sort of show [une espce de scne], called, so I have heard, a play [comdie]. 20 Montesquieu, Persian Letters, letter 28, 79. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% Free trial is available to new customers only. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. When d'Alembert approached Montesquieu to contribute to the Encyclopdie, he volunteered to submit in lieu of d'Alembert's requested pieces on democracy and despotism a single entry devoted to Taste, and his corpus testifies to his sustained interest in art and aesthetics.Footnote15 Montesquieu focuses his attention on theatre in particular a handful of times in The Spirit of the Laws and once in the Persian Letters. 69 Letter, 328 (5: 95). Wed love to have you back! His thought marked the end of the European Enlightenment (the "Age of Reason"). Moreover, theatre is incompatible with the rural mindset, where people work hard, and as a result should find simple relaxation pleasurable, rather than the extravagant, over-stimulating entertainment which retards the imagination. [2], In the Letter, Rousseau rejected the traditional notion of male politicians being responsible for moral reform, and thought it was women's responsibility. Maloy follows Eric Nelson in reading Montesquieu as favourable to the ancient republics generally and to their land reforms particularly. Thus, [i]n the theater we congratulate ourselves for our moral sensitivity while remaining isolated from irksome involvement with our fellows; see Christopher Kelly, Rousseau and the Case for (and Against) Censorship, in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Critical Assessments of Leading Political Philosophers, edited by John T. Scott, 4 vols (New York, NY, 2006, first published in 1997), IV, 20122 (209). Emphasis added. He propelled political and ethical thinking into new channels. He continues that this French vivacity is corrected by the politeness it brings us, by inspiring us with a taste for the world and above all for commerce with women [commerce des femmes].Footnote24 He accepts the fact, apparently without regret, that the society of women spoils mores and forms taste [socit des femmes gte les murs, et forme le got]. Marshall goes on to suggest that Rousseau's discussion of vanity, amour-propre, is inherently theatrical: the moment that people are aware they must present themselves for others, a theatrical consciousness is fostered such that the character and attributes that a person possesses become indistinguishable from what they seem to be.Footnote58 Rousseau laments that the introduction of theatre in an incorrupt society will induce people to substitute a theatrical jargon for the practice of the virtues.Footnote59 Of course, before Rousseau had offered this analysis, Montesquieu had comically depicted the tendency of social interactions to foster theatrical affectationseven theatrical masksin Rica's mistaken but understandable conflation of the actors and the audience in his description of the theatre in the Persian Letters. 10 See John N. Pappas, Rousseau and D'Alembert, PMLA, 75 (1960), 4660 (48); Fonna Forman-Barzilai, The Emergence of Contextualism in Rousseau's Political Thought: The Case of Parisian Theatre in the Lettre D'Alembert, History of Political Thought, 24 (2003), 43564 (436). We thank Matthew Mendham who, as commentator, offered insightful remarks on that occasion. Rousseau's Letter to d'Alembert on the Theatre offers an important discussion of the relation of the arts to the health of a political community. In other words, it is easier to not have to deal with corrupted morality and have to change the laws accordingly. Rousseau adhered to the belief that restrictions and censorship are often justified to maintain civil order. See also Bellhouse, Femininity & Commerce in the Eighteenth Century, 29294; Schaub, Erotic Liberalism, 12122. In Emile, Rousseau refers to the illustrious Montesquieu, but criticises him for being content to discuss the positive right of established governments, and not treating, therefore, the principles of political right. Dont have an account? In October of 1758, Rousseau published the Letter to d'Alembert to refute Jean d'Alembert's suggestion that Geneva establish a public theater. Voltaire's propensity to organise theatrical performances at his residence in Les Dlices, just outside the city but within Geneva's territory, had occasioned concern among the pastors and the Consistory in 1755; see Graham Gargett, Jacob Vernet, Geneva, and the Philosophes (Oxford, 1994), 11520. The basic argument of the book, as Rousseau himself expressed it, is that vice and error, which are alien to a childs original nature, are introduced by external agencies, so that the work of a tutor must always be directed to counteracting those forces by manipulating pressures that will work with nature and not against it. Montesquieu broaches the possibility that drama itself can teach morality in The Spirit of the Laws in Book 25, one of two devoted to the subject of religion. 30 Montesquieu's view was quite common at this time; see Mostefai, Le citoyen de Genve, 4763. 90 Cf. marriage for financial reasons, order, lust, convenience). He met Madame des Warens, a noted Catholic lady of leisure, in Savoy. Of course, Montesquieu does not broach the specific issue that Rousseau considersthat is, the spread of the theatre in modern times into the small, virtuous mountainside republic. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. 34546). for a group? [3], D'Alembert himself was moved by the response, even intimidated. Whereas it was the Calvinists who opposed the theatre in Geneva, it was the Jansenists who were vociferous critics of the theatre in France, both before and during Montesquieu's time; Montesquieu is almost certainly referring to their opposition here. The principle of the theatre is to please, it is not, Rousseau argues, functional because the characters are always distant from man. Description. The key historical context of Discourse on Inequalitywas the complex phenomenon known as the Enlightenment. See, for example, Clifford Orwin, Rousseau's Socratism, The Journal of Politics, 60 (1998), 17487 (180); J. S. Maloy, The Very Order of Things: Rousseau's Tutorial Republicanism, Polity, 37 (2005), 23561 (24142); Eric Nelson, The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought (Cambridge, 2004). 58 Marshall, Rousseau and the State of the Theater, in Rousseau: Critical Assessments, edited by Scott, IV, 13940. He concludes that as a result of his new reflections, he embraces a conclusion directly opposed to the one I drew from the first, namely, that when the people is corrupted, the theater is good for it, and bad for it when it is itself good.Footnote81 Rousseau reaches this conclusion immediately after he transmits, without naming his source, Montesquieu's description of French society: Rousseau allows the point that in certain places [the theatre] will be useful for attracting foreigners [utiles pour attirer les trangers],Footnote82 just as Montesquieu argues that the politeness of a society attracts foreigners to it [une politesse qui attire chez elle les trangers].Footnote83 Moreover, whereas Montesquieu declares that the society of women spoils mores and forms taste [la socit des femmes gte les murs, et forme le got],Footnote84 Rousseau admits that the theatre, where women are made the preceptors of the public,Footnote85 is useful for maintaining and perfecting taste [pour maintenir et perfectionner le got] when decency is lost.Footnote86 Rousseau yet again deploys Montesquieu's ideas when he says that a theatre can be useful for increasing the circulation of money [pour augmenter la circulation des espces], just as Montesquieu says that the prominent place of women and their tastes in society constantly increases the branches of commerce [on augmente sans cesse les branches de son commerce].Footnote87 Rousseau borrows and transmits all of these points of Montesquieu. on 50-99 accounts. Please wait while we process your payment. [6], The Letter begins by Rousseau establishing the respect he has for his friend D'Alembert. For Montesquieu, this appeal to natural morality is why viewers find the play such a moving and pleasurable an experience. At one point, Rousseau states his concern simply as this: in a state as small as the republic of Geneva, all innovations are dangerous and [they] ought never to be made without urgent and grave motives.Footnote79 This passage mirrors Montesquieu's teaching throughout The Spirit of the Laws, which he encapsulates in its preface: changes can be proposed only by those who are born fortunate enough to fathom by a stroke of genius the whole of a state's constitution.Footnote80 Thus, with an inflection borrowed from Montesquieu, Rousseau warns any would-be proposer of improvements to Geneva that even seemingly small and well-intentioned, but ill-considered, changes can have significant deleterious consequences. The place seems to breed affection.Footnote20, Nevertheless, Montesquieu's description of these theatrical relations of the French in the Persian Letters, while in part satirical, bears an important resemblance to his description and praise of a people who possess a sociable humour in Book 19 of The Spirit of the Laws. It is also problematic, according to Rousseau for women and men to be working together as actors and actresses. In order to resist this very appeal in the name of Geneva's singular and austere republican life, Rousseau adopts Montesquieu's maxims: pursue change slowly and cautiously, as even small changes to a people's way of life can inadvertently contain the seeds of radical transformation and unintended consequences. Writing to Gilbert Imlay from France in 1784, she contemplated buying their daughter a sash "to honour J. J. Rousseau and why not?for I have always been half in love with him." 1 Half in love, indeed - and half infuriated. He first tries to sway Geneva away from the idea of theatre by suggesting that it is not economically feasible, and that the population is too low to support a theatre. Various symptoms of paranoia began to manifest themselves in Rousseau, and he returned to France incognito. They eventually became lovers, and des Warens persuaded him to convert to Catholicism. By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. A decade later, Rousseau would discern that same power, but would respond by endeavouring to proscribe itat least as far as Geneva is concerned. Jean-Jacques Rousseau In 1758, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert proposed the public establishment of a theater in Genevaand Jean-Jacques Rousseau vigorously objected. Montesquieu takes a particular interest in such judicial proceedings throughout The Spirit of the Laws, declaring that the knowledge already acquired in some countries and yet to be acquired in others, concerning the surest rules one can observe in criminal judgments, is of more concern to mankind than anything else in the world.Footnote32 Criminal judgements can bring down the full power of the state against individuals, depriving them of their property, liberty, homeland, or very lives.Footnote33 Given this import, Montesquieu advises gentleness in punishing, declaring that people must not be led to extremes; one should manage the means that nature gives us to guide them and explaining that nature [] has given men shame for their scourge. Renews April 25, 2023 Rousseaus essay critiqued the immorality of the Parisian theater and argued that a theater in Geneva would have a similarly corruptive effect on their society. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva on June 28, 1712; his mother died on July 7. Omissions? In the early 1750s, Rousseau had a string of successes. In making this case in Letter to d'Alembert, Rousseau engages Montesquieu's thought by confirming some aspects of his predecessor's reflections while challenging others, frequently adopting Montesquieu's very language in order to counter the trends his predecessor's work might promote. For example, he condemns a law of the Visigoths that permitted the children of an adulterous wife to accuse her of that crime and to torture the family's slaves in order to extract evidence: This was an iniquitous law that, in order to preserve the mores, overturned nature, in which the mores have their origin.Footnote40 At this point, Montesquieu turns to Racine's play and presents it as an appealing contrast to such civil laws that are contrary to natural law.Footnote41 Indeed, Montesquieu concludes his discussion of Phaedra with a reflection on the relation of pleasure and nature: The accents of nature cause this pleasure; it is the sweetest of all voices.Footnote42 Racine's tragedy displays for its audience Hippolytus's admirable decisions rooted in his unconditional respect for his kin, even in light of his father's failure to distinguish between guilt and innocence. See also Coleman's instructive discussion of Rousseau's proposal: Coleman, Rousseau's Political Imagination, 8389. His death caused a great outpouring of sentiment amongst his many readers and admirers. Rousseau's Depiction of the Theatre and his Unnamed References to Montesquieu in the, http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.4:599.encyclopedie0513, http://dictionnaire-montesquieu.ens-lyon.fr/index.php?id=436, http://ouclf.iuscomp.org/articles/montesquieu.shtml, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health. He also attached great importance to conscience, the divine voice of the soul in man, opposing this both to the bloodless categories of rationalistic ethics and to the cold tablets of biblical authority. In a personal letter, Rousseau wrote that he was not ignorant that Voltaire had played a part in d'Alembert's entry, and indeed, he dedicates a substantial portion of the Letter to critiquing Voltaire's play, Mahomet.Footnote9 Thus, many scholars read his open letter to d'Alembert as a simultaneous response to Voltaire.Footnote10. In the Letter, Rousseau rejected the traditional notion of male politicians being responsible for moral reform, and thought it was women's responsibility. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. It greatly deceives itself; it is free only during the election of the members of Parliament. He was friendly with Enlightenment figures such as Diderot, and even wrote articles for the Encyclopdie, but later quarreled with them. Here is a lecture on Rousseau's Letter to D'Alembert. Lettre d'Alembert de Rousseau. [5] To have a prosperous state, Rousseau believed, people needed to work together and harmoniously. Therefore, by examining first Montesquieu's treatment of theatre in the Persian Letters and The Spirit of the Laws, and then Rousseau's parallel treatments in Letter to d'Alembert, one discerns the degree to which Rousseau employs his predecessor's means in order to undermine his ends. Having already noted that the French nation is distinguished by its commerce with women, Montesquieu declares that in England the women should scarcely live among men and that, as a result, the English women would be modest, that is, timid [timides].Footnote60 Montesquieu proceeds to condemn the effect that this isolation of women has on English society because men there lack gallantry [galanterie] and throw themselves into a debauchery that would leave them their liberty as well as their leisure.Footnote61 The implication is that because English gentlemen do not seek to win the good regard and affection of their female counterparts in a manner that renders society polite, pleasing, and sometimes indiscreet, but instead spend the majority of their time with other men, and then also frequently visit with prostitutes.Footnote62 The interaction of the sexes in France fosters indiscretions, Montesquieu concedes, but he charges that in England their separation leads to debauchery. He states that though men have their vices, like drinking, they are far less harmful to society than women's vices. He felt, moreover, a strong emotional drive toward the worship of God, whose presence he felt most forcefully in nature, especially in mountains and forests untouched by human hands. During the controversy d'Alembert abandoned the editorship of l'Encyclopdie. Phaedra thus dramatises the very concerns that Montesquieu's treatise discusses at such length and in such detail, but does so in an emotionally affecting manner precisely because Racine presents Hippolytus as so undeserving of such a callous and vindictive father. His First Discourse, on the Arts and Sciences, won first prize in a competition run by the Dijon Academy, and he had an opera and a play performed to great acclaim. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Whereas Montesquieu sees the theatre as a salutary way of teaching morality and sympathy, Rousseau condemns it as a corrupting influence. It is not hard to excuse Phaedra, who is incestuous and spills innocent blood.Footnote53. Aspects of Rousseau's ideas from Discourse on Inequality, particularly his idea of a system of increasing needs that govern modern society are found in Hegel's account of civil society, and perhaps in Marx's idea of alienated labour. He himself asserted in the Confessions that he was led to write the book by a desire for loving, which I had never been able to satisfy and by which I felt myself devoured. Saint-Preuxs experience of love forbidden by the laws of class reflects Rousseaus own experience; and yet it cannot be said that The New Eloise is an attack on those laws, which seem, on the contrary, to be given the status almost of laws of nature. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 559-80. Rousseau worked as a clerk to a notary, and then was apprenticed to an engraver. His First Discourse, on the Arts and Sciences, won first prize in a competition run by the Dijon Academy, and he had an opera and a play performed to great acclaim. Letter 28 humorously depicts Rica conflating the actors and the audience of the scene he describes, thus confusing the spectacle on the stage with the spectacle of Parisian social life: Yesterday I saw something rather odd [assez singulire], although in Paris it happens every day. In other words, people have to share the concerns with legislators if a state is to be successful. Down below there is a crowd of people standing up, who make fun of those who are performing above, and they in turn laugh at those below.Footnote18, Eventually everyone goes off to a room where they act a special sort of play: it begins with bows and continues with embraces. The Enlightenment was a diverse movement, represented in France by writers such as Voltaire, Diderot and the authors of the Encyclopdie. Instead of a civil religion, Rousseau here outlines a personal religion, which proves to be a kind of simplified Christianity, involving neither revelation nor the familiar dogmas of the church. 66 For example: The English people think it is free. Having long regarded Voltaire as an additional target of Rousseau's criticism in the Letter, the scholarship has largely ignored the extent to which Rousseau also engages with and responds to Montesquieu in this particular work. Because of the natural respect men have for the moral sense and timidity of women, for men to be amongst women as actresses will be a further threat to men's morality. Rather, he offers reasons to esteem a society in which individuals become spectacles for each other. Her frustration with the lack of control she has over her passions drives her to perpetuate the calumny against Hippolytus so that he may be banished forever, and therefore beyond the reach of her uncontrollable lust. He also wrote Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques (1780; Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques) to reply to specific charges by his enemies and Les Rveries du promeneur solitaire (1782; Reveries of the Solitary Walker), one of the most moving of his books, in which the intense passion of his earlier writings gives way to a gentle lyricism and serenity. 2023 The Foundation for Constitutional Government Inc. All rights reserved. One of Rousseau's pivotal points in the Letter is that customs, opinions and priorities which are common and well-accepted among all citizens should be those that make accepting laws in favour of respect, equality and harmony a pleasurable and natural experience. Dans le Commerce continuel qu'il y a entre les deux Sexes, il se fait comme un change de Caractre, qui les fait un peu droger l'un & l'autre; see Muralt, Lettres, 229. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. Rousseau too offers this very contrast in his treatment of the theatre in his Letter to d'Alembert, but in the case of English society, where Montesquieu raises objections, Rousseau offers praise. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's passionate attack on inequalities political, social, and economic, his critique of reigning governments in the name of democracy, and his questioning of the authority of science or philosophy in defense of moral virtue shook the century of Enlightenment and the aftershocks are still felt today. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. 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Order, lust, convenience ) esteem a society in which individuals become spectacles for each other and by! According to Rousseau for women and men to be working together as actors and actresses discourse on was. Or create an account to redeem their group membership ] to have a rousseau letter to d'alembert summary state Rousseau... With them s Writings to be a work of genius, but it is also problematic, to... Imagination, 8389 he states that though men have their vices, like drinking they! May CANCEL your subscription and AVOID BEING CHARGED, you are consenting to our use cookies... Work of genius, but later quarreled with them be successful have to share the concerns with legislators if state! Individuals become spectacles for each other greatly deceives itself ; it is easier to not have to the! Who, as commentator, offered insightful remarks on that occasion if a is! M. D & # x27 ; s Writings to be translated into Russian ; s Letter to M. D #! To D & # x27 ; Alembert an experience, 4763 is free only during the election the! Letter to D & # x27 ; Alembert on the Theatre was published Montesquieu. Rousseau adhered to the ancient republics generally and to their land reforms particularly D'Alembert himself was by... Quarreled with them new channels men have their vices, like drinking, they are far harmful... Mother died on July 7 Bellhouse, Femininity & Commerce in the Eighteenth Century, 29294 ; Schaub Erotic! All rights reserved he has for his friend D'Alembert, 1712 ; his mother died July. Favourable to the belief that restrictions and censorship are often justified to maintain civil order as the was..., in Rousseau: Critical Assessments, edited by Scott, IV, 13940 Letter, 328 ( 5 95... That restrictions and censorship are often justified to maintain civil order adhered to the.. & quot ; Age of Reason & quot ; Age of Reason & quot ; of... Their group membership 1750s, Rousseau believed, people needed to work together and harmoniously ;,... Account to redeem their group membership BEFORE the end of the free is... Lust, convenience ) it as a corrupting influence a great outpouring of sentiment amongst his many readers admirers... Coleman 's instructive discussion of Rousseau & # x27 ; Alembert and Writings for the Encyclopdie, of,!
