The Confessions

Rousseau continues to build a reputation and to develop social connections. He even stays at the prince’s country house and makes close friends in Denis Diderot and the Baron von Grimm. While reading about an essay contest conducted by the Academy of Dijon, Rousseau feels inspired by the subject, “Has the progress of the arts and sciences contributed more to the corruption or purification of morals?” (373). He views this moment as the catalyst for every misfortune he endures after it.

Meanwhile, his relationship with Thérèse, whom he affectionately called “aunt,” continues, despite his feelings that she is unintelligent and that his love for her is not as strong as it could be. He offers greater detail about the abandonment of his children and contends that, by doing so, he is exhibiting the qualities of an excellent father: He argues that it would be worse for the children to grow up in a broken home. The news of these actions by Rousseau gains public attention, as do other experiences detailed in the next two chapters, which he attributes to conflicts with Diderot and other contemporaries of philosophy. A visit to Warens reveals her decline both in finances and in appearance, and he no longer feels such a strong connection to her.

When the urine retention issues of his youth begin to plague him again, a physician informs Rousseau that he likely has fewer than six months to live. This moment refines for Rousseau what he wants in life, and he is certain that he must live independently. His essay wins the prize, and he gains celebrity. He sells his finery and takes up copying music, determined to pay his own way and not succumb to the newfound fame his writing brings him. He writes a dramatic opera that is performed and is highly successful until a rumor suggesting that he is not the author of the music circulates and ruins his reputation.

Rousseau retires with Thérèse and her mother to a Hermitage, a small cottage provided for him by Madame d’Épinay. He places Thérèse’s father in a poorhouse, where he soon dies.

At first, Rousseau’s time at the Hermitage is happy, and a comfortable routine takes shape. He spends his days copying music, going for walks, and writing. He grows closer to Thérèse and is highly prolific in his work. Although he claims that he could never fully abandon himself with Thérèse or love her as fully as he ought, he is comfortable with her, and their time at the Hermitage deepens their relationship. Thérèse confides in him that her mother and others, including Diderot, sought to separate her from him and undermine his work. Rousseau is appalled at the secrets that Thérèse kept and feels betrayed by everyone around him. He is mostly angry with Thérèse’s mother, whom he feels is attempting to regain her control over her daughter and racks up debts in her daughter’s name, leaving Rousseau with the bill. Rousseau falls into melancholy and self-pity. His only comforts are the imaginary world and characters he creates, which soon form the fictional book Julie.

Rousseau develops a flirtatious relationship with Madame d’Houdetat, although his infatuation with her is largely one-sided. Their relationship is discovered, and Diderot slanders Rousseau’s name. Rousseau’s new philosophies are quite different from those of his contemporaries, and Diderot does not approve of Rousseau’s views on government, mechanical arts, or society. He feels strongly that Rousseau’s time at the Hermitage is ruining him and that Rousseau’s current views are strongly in contrast with the rationalism of the Enlightenment. The two write many letters to one another, each more scathing than the one before. Both Grimm and Diderot abandon their friend, and Rousseau is pulled back into the social conflicts he mostly escaped while living at the Hermitage. The departure of Madame d’Épinay severs his relationship with his patron, and he leaves the Hermitage with Thérèse, sending Thérèse’s mother to Paris alone.