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]. Indeed, Rousseau, who elsewhere can be quite critical of England's political life,Footnote66 in this particular instance undertakes to defend the English by arguing that the social separation of the sexes in England does not, in fact, diminish individual happiness but rather deepens the profundity of society and therefore fosters a truer pleasure: Thus both [sexes], withdrawn more into themselves, give themselves less to frivolous imitations, get more of a taste for the true pleasures of life, and think less of appearing happy than of being so.Footnote67 Rousseau thus maintains that with the exception of family life, the two sexes ought to come together sometimes and to live separated ordinarily.Footnote68 But this separation is certainly not observed in France: The society of the two sexes, having become too usual and too easy, has harmed both men and women in his view, as the general spirit of gallantry [galanterie] stifles both genius and love.Footnote69 Men, he says, are affected as much as, and more than, women by a commerce [commerce] that is too intimate; they lose only their morals, but we lose our morals and our constitution [constitution].Footnote70 He urges sardonically: Imagine what can be the temper of the soul of a man who is uniquely occupied with the important business of amusing women.Footnote71 Finally, he elaborates on the harm that such frequent social interactions have on women: They are flattered without being loved; they are served without being honored; they are surrounded by agreeable persons but they no longer have lovers; and the worst is that the former, without having the sentiments of the latter, usurp nonetheless all the rights.Footnote72. 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. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. 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. Rousseau began to write whilst living with her. 50 Kapossy, Iselin contra Rousseau, 39. Coleman's insight is intriguing in part because Montesquieu's discussion of duelling occurs in Spirit, 28.22, where Montesquieu declares that women are quite enlightened judges of a part of the things that constitute personal merit; see Spirit, 28.22, 561. Rousseau was the least academic of modern philosophers and in many ways was the most influential. for a group? [6], The Letter begins by Rousseau establishing the respect he has for his friend D'Alembert. In such a case, theatre is useful [] for covering the ugliness of vice with the polish of forms; in a word, for preventing bad morals from degenerating into brigandage.Footnote88 In speaking somewhat sarcastically about the positive role of theatre in such a corrupt society, Rousseau reveals that he would not recommend the proscription of the theatre in Paris and thus he is not such a one as to venture to constrain its women, make laws to correct their mores, and limit their luxury.Footnote89 Here, Rousseau acknowledges that theatre may, in fact, at least prevent what he sees as the debaucheries of Parisian society. Arguably its greatest influence was as one of the first attempts to write a rigorous philosophical history of mankind. Although Rousseau offers evaluations of the English and French in opposition to the ones Montesquieu presents, he simultaneously confirms Montesquieu's teachings regarding the powerful effect that women can have on mores and accepts Montesquieu's fundamental tenet regarding the transformative effect of mores on society and government. Despite drawing very different conclusions regarding the choice worthiness of sociability, commerce, and gentleness that theatre fosters than does Montesquieu, Rousseau makes essentially identical assessments and observations regarding its influence in shaping public opinion and the way in which spectacle in general contributes to the mores and manners of a given society. 3099067 Of course, Rousseau is willing to harness female society in such a manner only in the already corrupt society of France. In the remaining 10 years of his life Rousseau produced primarily autobiographical writings, mostly intended to justify himself against the accusations of his adversaries. marriage for financial reasons, order, lust, convenience). A decade later, Rousseau would discern that same power, but would respond by endeavouring to proscribe itat least as far as Geneva is concerned. 2023 The Foundation for Constitutional Government Inc. All rights reserved. Catherine Larrre notes that although Montesquieu grants that the ancient republics needed to restrict the female presence in the public sphere so as to preserve their mores, in modernity, and especially in monarchies, feminine tastes are the spring of the commercial activity that results in a thriving public sphere: the positive effects of commerce are global ones, however much it turns individuals to self-interest, depriving them of virtue; see Catherine Larrre, Montesquieu on Economics and Commerce, in Montesquieu's Science of Politics, edited by David W. Carrithers, Michael A. Mosher, and Paul A. Rahe (Lanham, MD, 2001], 33574 (347, cf. That minimal creed put Rousseau at odds with the orthodox adherents of the churches and with the openly atheistic philosophes of Paris, so that despite the enthusiasm that some of his writings, and especially The New Eloise, excited in the reading public, he felt himself increasingly isolated, tormented, and pursued. The Enlightenment was a diverse movement, represented in France by writers such as Voltaire, Diderot and the authors of the Encyclopdie. Registered in England & Wales No. In 1758, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert proposed the public establishment of a theater in Genevaand Jean-Jacques Rousseau vigorously objected. It may be important to note that the theatre was a far more powerful cultural force in Rousseau's day than today. THINKERS. Scholars now refer to Rousseau's use of Montesquieu's depiction of the ancient republics and the virtue which they inculcated. Evidence suggests that the feminist consensus on Jean-Jacques Rousseau "misogyny" is breaking down.New studies are emerging that bring to light the many sympathetic portrayals of women in Rousseau's works and the important role he ascribed to women within the family. 26 Michael A. Mosher, The Judgmental Gaze of European Women: Gender, Sexuality, and the Critique of Republican Rule, Political Theory, 22 (1994), 2544 (42). Letter to M. D'Alembert on Spectacles (French: Lettre a M. d'Alembert sur les spectacles) is a 1758 essay written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in opposition to an article published in the Encyclopdie by Jean d'Alembert, that proposed the establishment of a theatre in Geneva. Yet in the Letter his encomia cross from enthusiastic to the fervid. Rousseau Letter To D' Alembert And Writings For The Theater ( Collected Writings Vol. 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). de Montesquieu rightly calls a fine law the one which excludes from public office the citizens who fail to pay their own debts or those of [their] fathers after their death.Footnote5, What d'Alembert intended as an encomium, Jean-Jacques Rousseau regarded as an outrage.Footnote6 In 1758 Rousseau penned an open letter to d'Alembert expressing his indignation at the essay's claims regarding his beloved birthplace. He makes it clear that the growth of society, reason, and language makes man capable of amazing things, but at the same time, such growth will "ruin" him. It made the author at least as many friends among the reading publicand especially among educated womenas The Social Contract and mile made enemies among magistrates and priests. See also Radica, Rousseau, in Dictionnaire lectronique Montesquieu, September 2013 edition, 7. Overall, the population of Geneva agreed with the Letter. It is Rousseau's specific recognition of the advisability of changing mores through the introduction of other mores that explains his revision of his original position on the theatre. On this topic, see Mosher, Judgmental Gaze of European Women, 25, 3336. Through examining Montesquieu's commentary on the theatre in the Persian Letters, as well as his discussion of Phaedra in The Spirit of the Laws, it becomes clear that Montesquieu teaches that the theatrical art can have a positive effect on individuals and thus on society. In 1758 his Letter to M. d'Alembert on the Theatre was published. By focusing on his belief in the natural order and harmony of traditional sex roles and community, Rousseau writes to convince D'Alembert, and the public of Geneva, that a theatre is a threat to an ideal, natural way of life. In the process, he adopts Montesquieu's notion that the laws of a body politic must coincide with and be born from the mores and manners of that particular society. First, Montesquieu describes them as timide, a term which Rousseau adopts. Rousseau, if not such a one whom Montesquieu envisions would endeavour to constrain the women of France or correct the French mores, is certainly one who attempts to prohibit the importation of such mores to other polities such as Geneva, and hence to circumscribe their influence.Footnote47 Rousseau concedes, however, that theatre may serve to halt an already corrupt society, such as that of the French, from collapsing into even deeper corruption. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. While the sociable climate of the theatre cultivates a politeness and gentleness of spirit, the drama on stage reminds us of our natural morality. In the next book of The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu specifically illustrates how the theatre appeals to our natural morality: In our theaters we watch with pleasure when a young hero shows as much horror on discovering his step-mother's crime as he had for the crime itself; in his surprise, accused, judged, condemned, banished, and covered with infamy, he scarcely dares do more than make a few reflections on the abominable blood from which Phaedra is descended; he abandons what he holds most dear [] to give himself up to the vengeance of the gods, a vengeance he has not deserved. We thank Matthew Mendham who, as commentator, offered insightful remarks on that occasion. Online: Amazon (Recommended translation) Google Books (Free preview available). 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Paul Rahe captures the general influence of Montesquieu on Rousseau most powerfully: the very features of classical republicanism that had occasioned such misgivings on Montesquieu's part were the features that Rousseau found most attractive.Footnote11 Other scholars, who focus more intently on the Letter, discern Montesquieu's influence in Rousseau's formulation that some practices, including the theatre, can be appropriate and even wholesome for some societies while noxious for others, as well as in his insistence that mores are crucial in determining what types of laws and institutions a given people can tolerate and maintain.Footnote12 Despite these important insights, the scholarship has neglected to document the degree to which Rousseau's Letter is an extended meditation on Montesquieu's thought generally and Book 19 of The Spirit of the Laws particularly. For me, in the 'Letter to d'Alembert' Rousseau is on the side of prejudice, with his vehement moralising, and also a type of violence, always bordering on an exaggerated aggressiveness that is almost useless. Stanley Bates - 2006 - Review of Metaphysics 60 (1):176-178. Rousseau; D'Alembert; Habitants de Genve; Les Montagnards; Rsum. 48 Letter, 270. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. 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. 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. Dufour (Paris, 1924), i, 379-380,384.Further quotations from this work will be cited as "R." and will refer to this edition. They appreciate the routines of country life and enjoy the beauties of the Swiss and Savoyard Alps. Que les Anglois se vantent, aprs cela, d'avoir les meilleures Femmes du monde; Muralt, Lettres, 12829. For example, when Aricia, Hippolytus's beloved, begs him to tell his father that Phaedra had deceived him, he responds: What more should I/ Have told him? [6] Rousseau's views on the theatre are also thought to echo current concerns with global entertainment, television and Internet taking over local customs and culture. 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 Rousseau's relationship to the Enlightenment was not a simple one. By placing this particular discussion of Phaedra and what occurs in our theaters in the second of two successive chapters devoted to the topic of civil laws that are contrary to natural law, Montesquieu underscores the moral importance of the theatre for a society. Through the theatre, the members of the audience are reminded of their natural sentiments, because their feelings and reactions to the dramatic action confirm whether or not the characters on stage act in accord with natural morality.Footnote43 Of course, there is a discrepancy between the account of the theatre in the Persian Letters and that in The Spirit of the Laws: in the former, Rica describes attendees largely ignoring the action on stage because they are so consumed in their personal dramas, whereas in the latter, the attendees learn a moral lesson as they observe the performance. He reasons that even if comedy writers write a play that is morally acceptable, the audience will not find it funny. Rousseau proceeds to explore the effect of theatre when decency is lost. We are also grateful to Robert Devigne, Dennis Rasmussen, and the anonymous reviewers of History of European Ideas for their helpful comments on earlier drafts. Rousseau came under increasing attack, in print and in practice, from the French monarchy, Voltaire and many others. The volume also contains Rousseau's own writings for the theater, including plays and libretti for operas, most of which have never been translated into English. 46 In speaking of their thought generally, Larrre notes that whereas Rousseau agrees with Montesquieu about the difference between the monarchical and republican conditions of women, he does not agree with his normative assessment of these conditions; see Catherine Larrre, Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Women and Citizenship, History of European Ideas, 37 (2011), 21822 (218). Despite strikingly different conclusions, it is not only their use of similar terms when describing the theatre in general and Phaedra in particular that suggests Rousseau has Montesquieu's arguments in mind while responding publicly to d'Alembert. Eloge de D'Alembert mais Rousseau a quand mme des devoirs. was "ironic" and even "illogical" given Rousseau's otherwise egalitarian principles; indeed, if taken to their logical conclusion, Rousseau's ideas on women made "utter non-sense" of his whole political philosophy. Other scholars, in examining Rousseau's Letter in particular, discern limited indications of Montesquieu's influence. . Montesquieu's own partiality to the gaiety of French society in particular becomes manifest when he defends it against anyone who would propose that it be restricted and reformed: One could constrain its women, make laws to correct their mores, and limit their luxury, but who knows whether one would not lose a certain taste that would be the source of the nation's wealth and a politeness that attracts foreigners to it?Footnote27. Ultimately, Rousseau seeks this engagement with Montesquieu's images, claims, and teachings as a result of his political goal of preserving the mores and customs of Geneva. As David Marshall points out, Rousseau explores throughout his works, and most explicitly in the Letter, theatrical relations enacted outside as well as inside the playhouse by people who face each other as actors and spectators. Described by the author as a treatise on education, it is not about schooling but about the upbringing of a rich mans son by a tutor who is given unlimited authority over him. When the hospitality of Mme dpinay proved to entail much the same. He writes that the actor is someone who is artificial, performs for money, subjects himself to disgrace, and abandons his role as a man. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. The Letter on Providence aroused Voltaire's great interest. In light of this regrettable fact, he declares: I would consider myself the happiest of mortals if I could make it so that men were able to cure themselves of their prejudices. Love from Simone: Epistolarity and the love letter. 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. 2 Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert, Geneva, in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Letter to d'Alembert and Writings for the Theater [hereafter Letter], in The Collected Writings of Rousseau, edited by Roger D. Masters and Christopher Kelly, 13 vols (Hanover, NH, 19902010), X, 241. However, it is important to consider the diverse concerns of the Enlightenment as a background to Rousseau's work. Other scholars, who focus more intently on the Letter to d'Alembert, discern a crucial but limited influence of Montesquieu in two of Rousseau's teachings there: first, that some practices, including the theatre, can be appropriate and even wholesome for some societies, while noxious for others; and second, that mores are important in determining what types of laws and institutions a given people can tolerate and maintain. Thus, an examination of Rousseau's discussion of theatre together with its relation to women and morality reveals that he is employing distinctly Montesquieuian terms and themes in order to engage and challenge his predecessor. Rousseau was particularly opposed to the adoption of French mores in Geneva; see Whatmore, Against War and Empire, 50, 59. Letter to D'Alembert and Writings for the Theater. For example, d'Alembert selects for particular praise the type of welcome Geneva provided for Voltaire, recounting that the citizens of Geneva reveal their admirable sophistication by having provided haven for the beleaguered author and noting approvingly that these republicans bestowed on Voltaire the same marks of esteem and respect he has received from many monarchs.Footnote3 D'Alembert further observes with approbation that they now sanction in their environs the publishing of Voltaire's history, which condemns John Calvin for countenancing Michael Servetus's trial as a heretic within its walls and his burning just outside of them upon his conviction. The most important was his Confessions, modeled on the work of the same title by St. Augustine and achieving something of the same classic status. Did you know that with a free Taylor & Francis Online account you can gain access to the following benefits? Second, while Muralt does comment on the debauchery of Englishmen, he does not describe such an asocial and austere climate between men and women as Montesquieu depicts, which Rousseau then adopts. Rousseau rarely acknowledges the extent to which Montesquieu's writings influenced his political and moral thought, but study of his Letter reveals the great degree to which Rousseau builds his case from and in response to Montesquieu's observations and ideas. Discourse on Inequalitymay not have impressed the judges from the Dijon academy, but it nevertheless won a great following. While Montesquieu's treatment of the theatre has been largely neglected by the scholarship, it appears not to have been neglected by Rousseau. 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). Not by chance, one of his "potpourris" includes a copy of the letter, rewritten by Voltaire's Secretary J.-L. Wagnire (BV 11- 208). 13 Maurice Cranston, Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 17121754 (Chicago, IL, 1991, first published in 1982), 21315. 30 Montesquieu's view was quite common at this time; see Mostefai, Le citoyen de Genve, 4763. Jean-Jacques Rousseau In 1758, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert proposed the public establishment of a theater in Genevaand Jean-Jacques Rousseau vigorously objected. How she smirched their marriage-tie?/ How could I, by disclosing everything,/ Humiliate my father and my king?Footnote37 Later, Theseus expresses regret for the hasty and ill-considered judgement and punishment when, learning of the true worth of the son he had so recently reviled, he laments: O bring me back my son, and let him clear/ His name! He argues that the presence and authority of women in public spaces corrupts the male youth, turning them effeminate and void of patriotic passion. It is also halfway between a novel and a didactic essay. An obstreperous critic of the theatre, Rousseau presents its stories not as clarifying and correcting humanity's moral compass, but rather as obscuring it. This work made final Rousseau's public break with most of the philosophes. Their exchange, collected in volume ten of this acclaimed series, offers a classic debate over the political importance of the arts. In this regard see Downing A. Thomas, who suggests in passing, for example, that Rousseau seems to accept Montesquieu's teaching in Spirit that the mores of a given people fundamentally influence their taste, as Rousseau repeats that very formula in the Letter: Downing A. Thomas, Negotiating Taste in Montesquieu, Eighteenth Century Studies, 39 (2005), 7190 (76). A theatre in Geneva would cause the hardworking people to be distracted and pre-occupied if they were to develop a taste for it. 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). Begins by Rousseau establishing the respect he has for his friend D'Alembert most of the Enlightenment was a more. In Rousseau 's Letter in particular, discern limited indications of Montesquieu 's view was quite common this... Swiss and Savoyard Alps limited indications of Montesquieu 's view was quite common at this time ; Whatmore... Online: Amazon ( Recommended translation ) Google Books ( Free preview available ) see also,! Treatment of the arts Montagnards ; Rsum available ) Inequalitymay not have impressed the judges from the academy. The Dijon academy, but it nevertheless won a great following the least academic of modern philosophers in! Of course, Rousseau is willing to harness female society in such a manner only in the corrupt... Academy, but it nevertheless won a great following agreed with the Letter begins by Rousseau establishing the respect has. 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