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The Conte Philosphique Evolves Its Solitaire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
It is generally conceded that the varied personages of the eighteenth-century conte philosophique are not sufficiently developed to merit the label of characters. Whether in satiric or in pleasant guise, they but project ideas. However, as the conte itself covered a multiplicity of fields and lent itself to a variety of interpretations, so do these personages, the various divisions of ‘philosophes,’ possess numerous phases or nuances. Even a casual reader of the philosophic tale will have met, in the array of types on parade—an oft-repeated “naïf” (who was anything but naïve), at least one famed “candide,” and several “ingénus.” Another of these types engaged in his journey, and one whom a reader can scarcely fail to encounter, is “le solitaire.” He too is evolved by formula, and for his special century. Representing a nuance of the ‘philosophe,’ he is fully as potent an individual as were ever his various brother “naïfs.” If one grants that certain familiar and well-tempered themes have traversed the Encyclopedic and Revolutionary era,—one might say correlatively that this “solitaire” has contributed his very effective share to the creation of one great thematic personage. This philosophe’ could be a variety of entities, each one in turn representing and including a rather set formula of characteristics. Some aspects of the “solitaire” formula for this era alone, are to be considered in the present study.
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References
1 Great variety is evident in M. Mornet's bibliography to the Nouvelle Héloïse, Daniel Mornet, La Nouvelle Héloïse, Nouvelle Edition (Paris: Hachette, 1925), Bibliographie.
2 A study of the “naïf” in the present author's article, Voltaire's ‘Conte’ Title,—L'Ingénu (Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1941).
3 See, infra, notes 4 and 15, on Johann Zimmermann, the Swiss philosopher (1728-1795) whose work Solitude, or the Effect of Occasional Retirement (London, 1798) will be quoted. Also, on formulae, the present author's article, “The ‘Conte Philosophique’ Bridging a Century,” PMLA, lviii (June, 1943), 438-449.
4 Leo Maduschka, “Das Problem der Einsamkeit im 18. Jahrhundert, im besonderen bei J. G. Zimmermann” (Weimar: Duncker, 1933), in Forschungen zur neueren Literaturgeshichte, von Muncker, pp. 1-123, is a philosophical, rather than a strictly literary consideration. Historical backgrounds are discussed.
Louis Petroff, Solitaries and Solitarization (University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles, 1936), has a lengthy bibliography.
5 Particularly, as cited infra, under such titles as the “contes moraux”; “songes”; “infortunes de … ”; “journées”; “mémoires”; “épreuves de …” These types all included in Mornet, op. cit., Bibliographie.
6 That is, not too frequently bearing the words “solitaire” or “solitude.” However, in the two authors under consideration, the terms themselves are frequent. Among Latin authors of this period and later, there appear a few pseudonyms:—Charles François Legros, “Un Solitaire,” author of Analyse des Ouvrages de J. J. Rousseau, et de M. Count de Gebelin (Paris, 1785); Estébanez-Calderón, “El Solitario” (1799-1867) author of sketches; and Etienne de Jouy, “L'Hermite de la Chaussée d'Antin” (1764-1846), likewise in the sketch tradition.
7 It has been called to attention that in the Voltairian ‘contes,‘ only one bears the exact word “philosophique,”—Micromégas, Histoire philosophique (1752). Cf. note 3b, supra, p. 449.
8 See note 2, supra.
9 André Morize, Voltaire: ‘Candide,‘ édition critique (Paris: Hachette, Textes Français Modernes, 1913 and 1931), p. 2, note 1: “L'adjectif est d'ailleurs très rare dans la prose de Voltaire; de 1735 à 1760, je ne l'ai relevé qu'une fois dans la correspondance, le 26 octobre 1757, quelques mois avant la composition du roman.”
10 See note 2, supra.
11 Notes, 7, 8, 9, 10, supra. Cf. Voltaire, L'Ingénu; Rousseau, Les Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire.
12 Infra, passim.
13 Editions used: Marmontel, Œuvres Complètes, Nouvelle Edition (Paris: Verdière, 1818), tomes 3, 4, 5, 6, Contes Moraux; idem, Nouveaux Contes Moraux.
Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Songes Philosophiques d'un Hermite (A l'Hermitage de St. Amour, 1770).
The terms “solitaire” and “songe” frequently also in:—Marmontel, Œuvres Complètes, tome 10 (1819), Mélanges; Mercier, L'An Deux Mille Quatre Cent Quarante, rêve s'il en fût jamais (Londres, 1772); L'Homme de Fer, Songe (Nouvelle édition, Londres, 1791); Voyages Imaginaires, Songes, Visions et Romans Cabalistiques (Amsterdam, 1788); Mon Bonnet de Nuit (Neufchâtel, 1784); Tableau de Paris (Nouvelle édition, Amsterdam, 1782-83); Le Nouveau Paris (Paris, 1797).
14 Marmontel, Contes Moraux, tome m (1818), p. 237. The prevalence of a literature of withdrawal is discussed by Maduschka, op. cit., passim.
Montaigne's distinction between solitude and loneliness has been frequently quoted, Montaigne, Essais, Livre iii, ch. 3.
15 Johann G. Zimmermann, Ueber die Einsamkeit, in translation, Solitude (London, 1798). According to Zimmermann, some admirable accomplishments of solitude are:—that it softens adversity; develops austerity, courage, friendship, humility, imagination, self-knowledge and taste; tends to subdue melancholy, conquer prejudice and fanaticism.
16 Zimmermann, La Solitude considérée relativement à l'esprit et au coeur (s.l., 1788), a condensed translation, by Mercier, of Ueber die Einsamkeit (1784-85).
See also W. W. Pusey, Louis-Sébastien Mercier in Germany (New York: Columbia University Press, 1939).
17 Maduschka, op. cit., note 4, supra.
18 Ibid., pp. 20, 29 et sq.: “In den mannigfaltigsten Gestalten werden die Beziehungen der Zeit zur Einsamkeit sichtbar: Der Robinson Crusoe, in dem das Vorbild eines insularen Einsiedlers gezeichnet ist, wird das erfolgreichste Buch des ganzen Jahrhunderts, überall in der Dichtung und Literatur beschäftigt man sich mit der Einsamkeit, die Popularphilosophen erwägen ihre Vorund Nachteile, moralische Wochenschriften tragen die Titel: ‘Der Einsiedler,’ ‘Der Eremit,’ ‘Der vernünftige Träumer,’… Ibid., pp. 19-20.
19 L'Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers (A Neufchastel, 1765), tome xv, article “Solitaire”: “Ainsi faut-il, en veillant à la pureté de l'ame, ne point altérer ou diminuer sa véritable grandeur, qui se montre dans les traverses et l'agitation du commerce du monde.”
Likewise, article “Solitude”: “… c'est l'infirmerie des ames … . ”
For Marmontel's close connection with the Encyclopédie, see Mémoires de Marmontel (Paris: Didot, 1857).
20 L'Encyclopédie, “Solitaire”: “Je suis bien éloigné de vouloir jetter le moindre ridicule sur les religieux …; je sais trop que la vie retirée est plus innocente que celle du grand monde: …”
21 Note 2, supra.
22 Marmontel, Contes Moraux, iii (1786), La Bergère des Alpes; iv (1818), L'Amitié à l'Epreuve; vi (1818), Palémon, conte pastoral.
23 Ibid., iv, Le Misanthrope Corrigé. Cf. note 34, infra.
24 Ibid., Nouveaux Contes Moraux, v (1818), La Cassette.
25 Ibid., vi (1818), Les Solitaires de Murcie.
26 Cited as an epigraph to a volume by a nineteenth century “solitaire,” Felix M'-Donough, The Hermit in London (London: Colburn, 1821).
27 Note 19, supra.
28 Marmontel, Nouveaux Contes Moraux, vi (1818), Les Solitaires de Murcie; iv (1818) La Veillée.
Mercier, L'An 2440, pp. 187-194, chapitre L'Eclipse de Lune, “C'est un Solitaire qui parle”; … Idem, Songes Philosophiques d'un Hermite. Premier Songe.
29 Marmontel, Contes Moraux, iii, Alcibiade: “Le moi qui réunit ces agréments n'est en vous que le canevas de la tapisserie; la broderie en fait le prix.” The “solitaire” it is who completes “la broderie.”
Mercier, L'An 2440, pp. 187-194; Songes d'un Hermite, Songes 14, 15, 27, 28, 34.
30 Marmontel, Nouveaux Contes Moraux, vi, Les Solitaires de Murcie, p. 40: “Je lui demandai si dans sa solitude, où tout m'annonçait une vie si austère et si dure, il pouvait être heureux? Heureux, non, me dit-il, mais le moins malheureux qu'il est possible qu'on le soit à ma place. Je voulus savoir si, dans la résolution qu'il avait prise de vivre seul, il n'était pas entré de la misanthropie. Non, me dit-il, les hommes n'ont été envers moi ni malfaisants, ni même injustes”;
31 Idem, Contes Moraux, iii (1786), Le Scrupule, ou l'Amour Mécontent de Lui-Même.
32 Ibid., Le Philosophe Soi-Disant.
33 Ibid., La Bergère des Alpes. Throughout the ‘contes’ there is an almost equal distribution of men and women “solitaires.”
Background considered also in Marmontel, Contes Moraux, iv (1818) L'Amitié à l'Epreuve.
34 Ibid., iv, Le Misanthrope Corrigé.
35 As exemplified especially in Ibid., vi, Les Solitaires de Murcie.
36 As cited, infra.
37 Larousse, Grand Dictionnaire Universel (Paris, s.d.), article “Songe.” Perhaps the most intimate connection with this eighteenth century use of the type, was the fourteenth century anonymous work of jurisprudence, Le Songe du Vergier, in which the author dreamed an argument, then wrote his glossary to explain it.
38 Ibid., The importance of both terms, “solitaire” and “songe” is evident in the space devoted to them in the Encyclopédie. Nine full length columns of the huge tome (xv) are given to “songe.” Note 19, supra.
39 See note 13, supra.
40 Ibid.
41 Marmontel, Nouveaux Contes Moraux, iv, La Veillée, p. 268: “La nuit dernière, cet agréable site s'est présenté à mon esprit, mais il était changé. Au bas de la cascade il y avait un moulin; je voyais le ruisseau, tout en écume plus blanche que du lait, bondir et fumer sous la roue; le moulin semblait l'animer et lui inspirer le désir d'être utile… . Sur la pente de la colline, Marcellin plantait une vigne; et Louise, sa soeur, cultivait un jardin, … .”
42 Idem, Contes Moraux, iii, Les Deux Infortunées. The scene is “le couvent de la Visitation de Cl … .”
43 Idem, Nouveaux Contes Moraux, V, L'Erreur d'un Bon Père.
44 Mercier, L'An 2440, pp. 191-193.
45 Idem, Songes d'un Hermite, Songes 1, 2, 6, 12, 19, 28, 34.
46 Ibid., Premier Songe.
47 Ibid., Songes 3, 13, 33.
48 Ibid., Songes 3, 4.
49 Ibid., Songe 7.
50 Ibid., Songe 10.
51 Ibid., Songe 11.
52 Ibid., Songe 13.
53 Ibid., Songe 18.
54 Léon Béclard, Sébastien Mercier, sa vie, son œuvre, son temps (Paris: Champion, 1903), p. 51.
55 As an essential point in the Contes Moraux.
56 As in L'An 2440; Mon Bonnet de Nuit; l'Homme de Fer; Voyages Imaginaires; Tableau de Paris. See note 13, supra.
57 Several of the Mercier “songes” are labeled “Cupidité,” “Fortune,” “Gloire,” “Royauté,” “Tyrannie.” Those of Marmontel include exactly similar implications.
58 As in Mercier, Songes 12, 19, 34.
59 Paul Morillot, Le Roman en France depuis 1610 jusqu'à nos Jours (Paris: Masson, 1892, 1893, s.d.), p. 275.
60 Béclard, op. cit., p. 402, speaks of Mercier's isolation in a world of letters where his extreme belief in his own set of doctrines left him to explore them alone.
61 Morillot, op. cit., p. 275 et sq.
Béclard, op. cit., p. 620.