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). In a text directed toward representation, he thus makes semblance, imitation, a category worthy of moral judgement: that is the . 11 Paul A. Rahe, Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville, and the Modern Prospect (New Haven, CT, 2009), 120. It is an exciting little work that takes what appears to be an innocuous suggestion about adding a public theater to Geneva, and turns it into a brutal critique of the Enlightenment. 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]. When Geneva was so threatened with the possibility of embracing such French mores, Rousseau engaged directly with the very authority whom d'Alembert invokes. In October of 1758,Rousseau published theLetter to dAlembertto refuteJean dAlemberts suggestion that Geneva establish a public theater. However, Muralt's focus is on the inverted character of each sex, which results in a society that replaces good sense and simplicity (masculine characteristics) with wit and beauty (feminine characteristics); see Muralt, Lettres, 246, 260. The Letter shows Rousseau's tendency to think of the events in his own life as highly significant, as reflections of the larger social picture. Rousseau's letter can help to understand the distinction between lived-in culture and theoretical political order. Of course, Rousseau is willing to harness female society in such a manner only in the already corrupt society of France. Continue to start your free trial. It was in England that Rousseau found refuge after he had been banished from the canton of Bern. After he had been expelled from France, he was chased from canton to canton in Switzerland. marriage for financial reasons, order, lust, convenience). If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Rousseau endeavours quite extensively in the Letter to counter the appeal of commerceboth economic and socialas Montesquieu depicts its pleasing character and salutary effects in The Spirit of the Laws. Muralt offers a similar critique in his comments on France. In both the Persian Letters and The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu points to the theatre as a locus of sociability that has a transformative effect on its auditors. The work is famous for displaying Rousseau's charismatic rhetoric and digressive tendencies, all with his personal experience woven into the text. Scholars have pointed to Montesquieu's influence on Rousseau's work generally. Rousseau could never entertain doubts about God's existence or about the immortality of the soul. 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. Spirit, 4.8, 41; Spirit, 19.5, 310. Though a theatre can work to distract the masses of the cities from crime, it is of no use to a smaller city like Geneva, which is relatively innocent. He posits that Rousseau had in mind Montesquieu's analysis of duels in Spirit, 28.2024; see Coleman, Rousseau's Political Imagination, 83 note 9. 65 Letter, 311 (5: 74). 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. on 50-99 accounts. Rousseaus attack on the theater proved to be an important turning point in his career as he decisively broke withother Enlightenment thinkers over questions of religion, gender, and contemporary social culture. 1758 marked a break with many of the Enlightenment philosophers; his Letter to d'Alembert attacked d'Alembert's article in the French Encyclopedia on Geneva. As the Letter progresses, Rousseau comes to agree with Montesquieu that theatre, and hence the manners and mores that a people possesses, can be a decisive influence on the way of life of a given people. 19 Montesquieu, Persian Letters, letter 28, 79. Rousseau takes comfort in an allegiance to truth alone at the time of his break with Diderot and at which he becomes convinced that he must live without friends. For Montesquieu, this appeal to natural morality is why viewers find the play such a moving and pleasurable an experience. He considered women, by virtue of their nature, to be the primary agents of moral reform, and that the success of the state depends on the harmony within private, domestic life. 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. Careful consideration of Rousseau's Letter in light of Montesquieu's Persian Letters and Spirit of the Laws reveals a much more pervasive influence, however. THINKERS. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 559-80. In his own name, Montesquieu asserts as much, declaring in his preface his belief that, amidst the infinite diversity of laws and mores, human beings were not led by their fancies alone. 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. Spirit, 6.2, 74. In this context, he declares: Men, rascals when taken one by one, are very honest as a whole; they love morality; and if I were not considering such a serious subject, I would say that this is remarkably clear in the theaters; one is sure to please people by the feelings that morality professes, and one is sure to offend them by those that it disapproves.Footnote29. 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. While Rousseau and Montesquieu dispute the goodness of theatre and the desirability of women's active role in society, they agree on something much more fundamental. 33 See, for example, Michael Zuckert, Natural Rights and Modern Constitutionalism, Northwestern University Journal of International Human Rights, 2 (2004), 42-66 (4546, 52). 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. After naming these passions in particular, Montesquieu immediately observes: Those who write on morality for us and so strongly proscribe the theaters make us feel sufficiently the power of music on our souls.Footnote16 Thus, Montesquieu here testifies to the power that theatre has over the feelings, and hence the actions, of human beings. 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. 77 Rousseau proposes an alternative to the tribunal Louis XIV established to settle conflicts regarding honour without recourse to violence, which he argues would be much more effective as it would harness honour to quell the violence arising from perceived dishonour; see Letter, 6774. D'Alembert here refers to a chapter, entitled A Fine Law, in Book 20 of The Spirit of the Laws, which contains Montesquieu's only mention of Geneva in the work; see Charles-Louis Secondat de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws [hereafter Spirit, in the format of book.chapter, page(s)], translated and edited by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller, and Harold S. Stone (Cambridge, 1989), 20.16, 348. In his Notes on England, Montesquieu somewhat comically speaks from personal experience: The women here are reserved, because Englishmen see little of them. Here is a lecture on Rousseau's Letter to D'Alembert. Rousseau began to write whilst living with her. 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. Rousseau considers this play to be a work of genius, but it is, of course, morally backwards. 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. Thus, theatre serves to extenuate moral lapses. 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. Letter of M. d'Alembert to M. J. J. Rousseau ; "Response to the anonymous letter written by members of the legal profession" ; Letter from Julien-David Leroy to Rousseau ; From Rousseau to Leroy. 43 Montesquieu, of course, acknowledges that a variety of factors can affect how any given people responds to a theatrical work; see, for example, Spirit, 14.2, 233. It is also halfway between a novel and a didactic essay. The years at Montmorency had been the most productive of his literary career; The Social Contract, mile, and Julie; ou, la nouvelle Hlose (1761; Julie; or, The New Eloise) came out within 12 months, all three works of seminal importance. 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. 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. Summary. 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. The French government ordered that Rousseau be arrested, so he fled to Neuchatel in Switzerland. Rousseau is, however, reluctant to engage this discussion in depth.[3][6]. This awareness of presenting oneself to be viewed and judged by others fosters politeness, manners, and the joie de vivre that Montesquieu speaks so highly of in France.Footnote64. 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. 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. 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. For a more comprehensive discussion of Rousseau's relationship to Muralt, see Kapossy, Iselin contra Rousseau, 3976; Charles Gould, Introduction, in Muralt, Lettres, 997 (8795). In the early 1750s, Rousseau had a string of successes. He also responds to some comments D'Alembert makes praising the tolerance of the Geneva clergy while criticizing the intolerance of French Roman Catholicism. A theatre in Geneva would cause the hardworking people to be distracted and pre-occupied if they were to develop a taste for it. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. For example, Rousseau elaborates on the moral results of Muralt's claim that theatre perverts the relationship of things. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Allan Bloom makes the claim that Voltaire persuaded d'Alembert [] to insert a passage (which Rousseau insists Voltaire himself wrote) in an otherwise laudatory presentation suggesting that Geneva should have a theatre; see Allan Bloom, Introduction, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Politics and the Arts: Letter to M. D'Alembert on the Theater, translated by Allan Bloom (New York, NY, 1960), xi-xxxiv (xv). In 1758, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert proposed the public establishment of a theater in Genevaand Jean-Jacques Rousseau vigorously objected. In the play, the main character, Alceste, is good and honest in his relationships with men and made to look ridiculous, whereas Philinte, a deceiver and manipulator, is shown as superior. 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. 0:00. In 1758, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert proposed the public establishment of a theater in Genevaand Jean-Jacques Rousseau vigorously objected. Rousseau could never entertain doubts about Gods existence or about the immortality of the soul. 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 soon as they are elected, it is a slave, it is nothing; see Rousseau, Social Contract, in Collected Writings, IV, 3.15, 192. In resisting such influence, Rousseau counters many of Montesquieu's specific arguments and judgements. Although he debated extensively with critics of his earlier work, First Discourse, Rousseau never mailed his replies to the major critics of Discourse on Inequality, Charles Bonnet (writing as Philopolis) and Charles Le Roy (writing as Buffon). Julie succeeds in forgetting her feelings for Saint-Preux and finds happiness as wife, mother, and chatelaine. Discount, Discount Code Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Listen on ); Episode details. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% Here, he began to write his famous autobiography, Confessions, and formally renounced his Genevan citizenship. 14 For example, in Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men, Rousseau takes issue with an illustrious Philosopher, evidently Montesquieu, on the timidity of human beings in the state of nature; see Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Second Discourse, in Collected Writings, III, 21. Montesquieu's captivating depictions of the sociability that the French theatre can engender was surely an obstacle for Rousseau's opposition to its influence in Geneva. And indeed, Rousseau does seem to have recovered his peace of mind in his last years, when he was once again afforded refuge on the estates of great French noblemen, first the Prince de Conti and then the Marquis de Girardin, in whose park at Ermenonville he died. [4], He goes on to criticize women's social activity in public and private venues in Paris and Geneva, suggesting women produce the only gossip, and the moral decay of men, women and children. 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). This work made final Rousseau's public break with most of the philosophes. Among them, Le Devin du village was the most popular French opera of the eighteenth . 3 Rousseau, Correspondance gnrale, ed. The publication of Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie, ou la Nouvelle Heloise in 1761 gained him a huge following. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! All live together in harmony, and there are only faint echoes of the old affair between Saint-Preux and Julie. Rousseau and D'Alembert managed to maintain their friendship after the response, though somewhat at a distance. But after quoting a passage from D'Alembert's letter, Rousseau writes that it is imperative to discuss the potential disasters that a theatre could bring. Rousseau was the least academic of modern philosophers and in many ways was the most influential. 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. In addition, Montesquieu's treatment of the theatre seems to have been a fitting topic for Rousseau's engagement. 8 Letter, 254. Various symptoms of paranoia began to manifest themselves in Rousseau, and he returned to France incognito. 13 Maurice Cranston, Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 17121754 (Chicago, IL, 1991, first published in 1982), 21315.