ABSTRACT:
In theLetter to d’Alembert, Rousseau argues against the idea of theater as a moral instrument of education. However, the position of the philosopher is not one of putting this playful activity in the category of immoral activity, but in the category of an artificial activity that perhaps generates immoral purposes. It is necessary to observe the true effect of the theater on the basis of some arguments that Rousseau decides to construct. These are analyzed here, bringing to the fore Rousseau’s critique of the novel in theLetter to d’Alembert. The letter has as its context “the negative idea of privatization of the scene”, as the theater gives an excessive importance to the description of love, obviously exaggerating the representation of romance. If, in theLetter to d’Alembert, the philosopher does not directly express that theorizing about the theater is equivalent to the novel, in theNouvelle Héloïse, that is, in the novel itself, the author does this. He adds to the novel a long commentary on the theater that was in theLetter, stating that he considers the theatrical scene itself to be the same as most new writing. He attacks novels indirectly, as well as the theatre, observing that everything said about one art applies almost entirely to another art. As a gallant people want love and politeness, Rousseau decides to fix certain terms in an attempt to explain his criticism and argue the consistency of his position. In general, the scene is a picture of human passions whose original is in the heart; if the painter is not careful in stroking these passions, spectators will soon become disgusted, not wanting to see themselves in such a way that they despise themselves. Rousseau points out that this language has no more meaning in his century, as it is necessary to speak the passions, striving to use language that best understands the passions, such as, perhaps, that of the novel.
KEYWORDS:
Love; Representation; Theatre; Novel