La Religieuse
Encyclopedia
La Religieuse is an 18th century French
novel
by Denis Diderot
. Completed in about 1780, the work was not published until 1796, after Diderot's death. In English it is called The Nun, or Memoirs of a Nun in Francis Birrell's translation.
The novel began not as a work for literary consumption, but as an elaborate practical joke aimed at luring the Marquis de Croismare
, a companion of Diderot's, back to Paris. The novel consists of a series of letters purporting to be from a nun, Suzanne, who implores the Marquis to help her in renouncing her vows, and describes her intolerable life in the convent to which she has been committed against her will.
Diderot later revised the letters into a novel drawing attention both to the cruelty of the then-current practice of forcing young women into convents in order to get them out of the way, and the corruption that was rampant among the clergy and in religious institutions. When Diderot publicly admitted his role in the ruse, the Marquis is said to have laughed at the revelation, unsurprisingly since he had behaved with exemplary compassion and generosity in his willingness to help the imaginary Suzanne.
La Religieuse was adapted several times for the cinema
, most notably in 1966 as La Religieuse
(titled The Nun in USA) by Jacques Rivette
, starring Anna Karina
and Liselotte Pulver
.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
. Completed in about 1780, the work was not published until 1796, after Diderot's death. In English it is called The Nun, or Memoirs of a Nun in Francis Birrell's translation.
The novel began not as a work for literary consumption, but as an elaborate practical joke aimed at luring the Marquis de Croismare
Marc-Antoine-Nicolas de Croismare
Marc-Antoine-Nicolas de Croismare, Marquis of Lasson , was a French dilettante, mostly known for having inspired The Nun to Denis Diderot. He also was depicted as "M...
, a companion of Diderot's, back to Paris. The novel consists of a series of letters purporting to be from a nun, Suzanne, who implores the Marquis to help her in renouncing her vows, and describes her intolerable life in the convent to which she has been committed against her will.
Diderot later revised the letters into a novel drawing attention both to the cruelty of the then-current practice of forcing young women into convents in order to get them out of the way, and the corruption that was rampant among the clergy and in religious institutions. When Diderot publicly admitted his role in the ruse, the Marquis is said to have laughed at the revelation, unsurprisingly since he had behaved with exemplary compassion and generosity in his willingness to help the imaginary Suzanne.
La Religieuse was adapted several times for the cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, most notably in 1966 as La Religieuse
The Nun (film)
The Nun is a 1966 French drama film directed by Jacques Rivette and based on the novel of the same title by Denis Diderot.-Plot Summary:...
(titled The Nun in USA) by Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
, starring Anna Karina
Anna Karina
Anna Karina is a Danish film actress, director, and screenwriter who has spent most of her working life in France. Karina is known as a muse of the director, Jean-Luc Godard, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave...
and Liselotte Pulver
Liselotte Pulver
Liselotte Pulver , sometimes credited as Lilo Pulver, is a Swiss actress.Pulver was one of the stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, where she often was cast as a tomboy...
.
Further reading
- Abrams, Barbara Lise. (2009). Le Bizarre and Le Décousu in the Novels and Theoretical Works of Denis Diderot: How the Idea of Marginality Originated in Eighteenth-Century France. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen PressEdwin Mellen PressThe Edwin Mellen Press, based in Lewiston, New York is a niche publisher of scholarly material and advanced research in the humanities and social sciences. They publish a variety of tomes including monographs, bibliographies, concordances, dictionaries, conference proceedings, dissertations, and...
. ISBN 978-0-7734-4663-2 - Clark, Andrew Herrick. (2008). Diderot’s Part. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate PublishingAshgate PublishingAshgate Publishing is an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom. It was established in 1967 and specializes in the social sciences, arts, humanities, and professional practice...
. ISBN 978-0-7546-5438-4 - Crouse, Gale. (Spring 1980). "Diderot's La Religieuse". Explicator 38.3, 1–2.
- Mourão, Manuela. (Autumn 2001). "The Compromise of Enlightened Rationalism in Diderot's La Religieuse". Romance Quarterly 48.4, 223–239.
- Mylne, Vivienne. (1981). Diderot, La religieuse. London: Grant & Cutler. ISBN 0729301060
- Vila, Anne C. (September 1990). "Sensible Diagnostics in Diderot's La Religieuse." MLN 105.4, 774–800.
- Werner, Stephen. (2000). The Comic Diderot: A Reading of the Fictions. Birmingham, Ala.: Summa Publications. ISBN 9781883479312
See also
- Persian LettersPersian LettersPersian Letters is a literary work by Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, recounting the experiences of two Persian noblemen, Usbek and Rica, who are traveling through France.-Plot summary:...
by MontesquieuCharles de Secondat, baron de MontesquieuCharles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment... - Maria MonkMaria MonkMaria Monk was a Canadian woman who claimed to have been a nun who had been sexually exploited in her convent...
External links
- The Nun (English translation) at Google Books