JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was an influential French writer and philosopher. He was also a composer of seven operas. He was born in Montlhery, south of Paris, as the son of a watch-maker, and received a rather fragmented education. He befriended several philosophers, such as Diderot, who invited him to contribute to the Encyclopédie. In this period he developed his major ideas, influenced by the ambience of the Enlightenment. His publications forced him to flee from the persecution by the censor and in 1762 he settled temporarily in Switzerland. Later he visited England and eventually returned to France, risking a confrontation with the authorities. His most important works were Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse (1761), Du contrat social (1762), Émile, ou de l’éducation (1762), and Les confessions (1770), in which he reflected on social issues, the nature of man, education, and statecraft. His ideas remain influential until the present day.

The fragments:

It is known that Rousseau appreciated the Thousand and one nights. In 1755-6 he wrote La reine Fantasque, his only oriental fairy tale. The story is presented as a dialogue between Jalamir and a druid, about a royal couple in an unnamed Oriental empire expecting a child and discussing the advantages/ disadvantages of a male or female child. The story contains contemplations about rationalism and some attacks on the church. The style of the story is reminiscent of the stories of Hamilton, but without their extravagance and labyrinthine form.

‘La reine Fantasque’, in: Le cabinet des fees, vol. 26, Amsterdam 1786, pp. 1-26.