Denis Diderot - French writer, playwright, educator, materialist philosopher; founder, editor of the “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts”; a spokesman for the ideas of the third estate, a supporter of the enlightened monarchy, a fierce opponent of absolutism, the church and the religious worldview in general. On October 5, 1713, he was born in the French Langres, a simple family of an artisan.

His parents wanted their son to become a priest, so from 1723 to 1728 he was educated at a local Jesuit college, became an abbot in 1726, was distinguished by his religiosity, and led an ascetic lifestyle. In 1728 or 1729, to complete his studies, Diderot came to Paris, choosing either the Jansenist College d'Harcourt or the Jesuit College of Louis the Great (versions vary). It is believed that he studied in two at once, and the aggressive confrontation between the two movements led to disappointment in his chosen path. In 1732, Diderot graduated from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris, received a master's degree, but, instead of going to work in accordance with his specialty, he made a choice in favor of a free life and free pursuits.

In 1743, he married and earned money for his young family by making transfers. During 1743-1748. the first philosophical works of Diderot appeared (“Philosophical Thoughts” (1746), “Alleys, or the Walk of a Skeptic” (1747), “Immodest Treasures” (1748), “Letters about the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (1749)), indicating the transition to positions first of deism, then of atheism and materialism. Due to his latest work, Diderot was arrested for several months.

Seen the light in the 50s. the plays “The Bastard Son or Trials of Virtue” (1757) and “The Father of the Family,” as well as the stories and novels written subsequently, spoke of a new artistic approach, the desire to talk about the lives of ordinary people belonging to the third estate, loyalty to humanistic ideals, were written in realistic, understandable, devoid of verbal frills manner.

Denis Diderot gained fame for his many years of hard work on the “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts” (1751-1780), which systematized the scientific postulates of the time and became a powerful educational tool, a kind of manifesto of the French Enlightenment. The original plan of the publisher A.F. Le Breton, which arose in the early 40s, assumed an adaptation of an already existing English encyclopedia. However, in the end it was transformed into the release of an independent publication, which Diderot was entrusted to head. For a quarter of a century he supervised the preparation of 28 volumes, he himself wrote about 6 thousand articles, collaborated with Voltaire, Rousseau, Holbach, Montesquieu, and with recognized specialists in various sciences and arts. The publication of the Encyclopedia was accompanied by various difficulties, but Denis Diderot managed to save his brainchild from closure.

Catherine II offered him to publish the Encyclopedia in Russia, but Diderot refused, continuing to maneuver between dangerous reefs in his homeland. From October 1773 to March 1774, he stayed in Russia at the invitation of the Empress, proposed for consideration a project of a public education system, based on the principles of classlessness and providing for free primary education. A disease of the gastrointestinal tract put an end to his biography on July 31, 1784; at this time he was in Paris.

28. “The Nun” by Diderot
Summary: The story is written in the form of notes from the heroine addressed to the Marquis de Croimare, whom she asks for help and for this purpose tells him the story of her misfortunes.
The heroine's name is Maria-Suzanne Simonen. Her father is a lawyer and has a large fortune. She is not loved in the house, although she surpasses her sisters in beauty and spiritual qualities, and Suzanne assumes that she is not Mr. Simonen's daughter. Parents invite Suzanne to become a monk at the monastery of St. Mary under the pretext that they were broke and would not be able to give her a dowry. Suzanne doesn't want to; she was persuaded to remain a novice for two years, but at the end of her term she still refused to become a nun. She is imprisoned in a cell; she decides to pretend that she agreed, but in fact she wants to publicly protest on the day of her tonsure; For this purpose, she invites friends and girlfriends to the ceremony and, answering the questions of the priest, refuses to take a vow. A month later she is taken home; she is locked up, her parents do not want to see her. Father Seraphim (the confessor of Suzanne and her mother), with the permission of her mother, informs Suzanne that she is not the daughter of Mr. Simonen, Mr. Simonen guesses this, so that the mother cannot equate her with legitimate daughters, and the parents want to minimize her part of the inheritance, and therefore she has no choice but to accept monasticism. The mother agrees to meet with her daughter and tells her that her existence reminds her of the vile betrayal on the part of Suzanne's real father, and her hatred of this man extends to Suzanne. The mother wants her daughter to atone for her sin, so she saves a contribution to the monastery for Suzanne. He says that after the incident at the monastery of St. Maria Suzanne has nothing to think about her husband. The mother does not want Suzanne to bring discord into the house after her death, but she cannot officially deprive Suzanne of her inheritance, since for this she needs to confess to her husband.
After this conversation, Suzanne decides to become a nun. The Longchamp Monastery agrees to take it. Suzanne is brought to the monastery when a certain Madame de Monis has just become abbess there - a kind, intelligent woman who knows the human heart well; she and Suzanne immediately develop a mutual sympathy. Meanwhile, Suzanne becomes a novice. She often becomes despondent at the thought that she will soon become a nun, and then she runs to the abbess. The abbess has a special gift of consolation; all the nuns come to her in difficult times. She consoles Suzanne. But as the day of her tonsure approaches, Suzanne is often overcome by such melancholy that the abbess does not know what to do. The gift of consolation leaves her; she can't say anything to Suzanne. During her tonsure, Suzanne is in deep prostration and later does not remember at all what happened that day. In the same year, Mr. Simonen, the abbess and mother of Suzanne die. The gift of consolation returns to the abbess in her last moments; she dies, anticipating eternal bliss. Before her death, her mother gives a letter and money for Suzanne; The letter contains a request to the daughter to atone for her mother’s sin with her good deeds. Instead of Madame de Monis, Sister Christina, a petty, limited woman, becomes abbess. She is carried away by new religious movements, forces nuns to participate in ridiculous rituals, and revives methods of repentance that exhaust the flesh, which were abolished by Sister de Monis. At every opportunity, Suzanne praises the former abbess, does not obey the customs restored by Sister Christina, rejects all sectarianism, learns the charter by heart so as not to do what is not included in it. With her speeches and actions, she captivates some of the nuns and gains a reputation as a rebel. She cannot be accused of anything; then they make her life unbearable: they forbid everyone to communicate with her, constantly punish her, prevent her from sleeping, praying, steal things, spoil the work Suzanne has done. Suzanne contemplates suicide, but sees that everyone wants it, and abandons this intention. She decides to break the vow. To begin with, she wants to write a detailed note and give it to one of the laity. Suzanne takes a lot of paper from the abbess under the pretext that she needs to write a confession, but she begins to suspect that the paper was used for other records.
During prayer, Suzanne manages to hand over the papers to Sister Ursula, who treats Suzanne in a friendly manner; this nun constantly removed, as far as she could, the obstacles placed in Suzanne's way by other nuns. They search Suzanne, they look for these papers everywhere; The abbess interrogates her and cannot achieve anything. Suzanne is thrown into the dungeon and released on the third day. She gets sick, but soon recovers. Meanwhile, the time is approaching when people come to Longchamp to listen to church singing; Since Suzanne has a very good voice and musical abilities, she sings in the choir and teaches other nuns to sing. Among her students is Ursula. Suzanne asks her to forward the notes to some skilled lawyer; Ursula does it. Suzanne is a big hit with the public. Some of the laity become acquainted with her; she meets with Mr. Manuri, who has undertaken to manage her business, talks with people who come to her, trying to interest them in her fate and acquire patrons. When the community learns of Suzanne’s desire to break her vow, she is declared cursed by God; You can't even touch it. They don't feed her, she asks for food herself, and they give her all sorts of garbage. They mock her in every possible way (they broke her dishes, took furniture and other things out of her cell; at night they make noise in her cell, break glass, throw broken glass at her feet). The nuns believe that Suzanne has been possessed by a demon and report this to the senior vicar, Mr. Hébert. He arrives and Suzanne manages to defend herself from the charges. She is placed on equal footing with the rest of the nuns. Meanwhile, Suzanne's case in court is lost. Suzanne is forced to wear a hair shirt for several days, flagellate herself, and fast every other day. She gets sick; Sister Ursula takes care of her. Suzanne's life is in danger, but she recovers. Meanwhile, sister Ursula falls seriously ill and dies.
Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Manouri, Suzanne was transferred to the Arpajon Monastery of St. Eutropia. The abbess of this monastery has an extremely uneven, contradictory character. She never keeps herself at the proper distance: she either brings herself too close or moves away too much; sometimes she allows everything, sometimes she becomes very harsh. She greets Suzanne incredibly kindly. Suzanne is surprised by the behavior of one nun named Teresa; Suzanne comes to the conclusion that she is jealous of the abbess. The abbess constantly enthusiastically praises Suzanne, her appearance and spiritual qualities, showers Suzanne with gifts, and releases her from services. Sister Teresa suffers and watches over them; Suzanne can't understand anything. With the appearance of Suzanne, all the unevenness in the abbess’s character was smoothed out; The community is going through a happy time. But Suzanne sometimes finds the behavior of the abbess strange: she often showers Suzanne with kisses, hugs her and at the same time becomes very excited; Suzanne, in her innocence, does not understand what is going on. One day the abbess comes to see Suzanne at night. She is shivering, she asks permission to lie under the blanket with Suzanne, snuggles up to her, but then there is a knock on the door. It turns out that this is Sister Teresa. The abbess is very angry, Suzanne asks to forgive her sister, and the abbess eventually forgives. It's time for confession. The spiritual leader of the community is Father Lemoine. The abbess asks Suzanne not to tell him about what happened between her and Suzanne, but Father Lemoine himself questions Suzanne and finds out everything. He forbids Suzanne to allow such caresses and demands to avoid the abbess, because Satan himself is in her. The abbess says that Father Lemoine is wrong, that there is nothing sinful in her love for Suzanne. But Suzanne, although very innocent and does not understand why the abbess's behavior is sinful, nevertheless decides to establish restraint in their relationship. Meanwhile, at the request of the abbess, the confessor changes, but Suzanne strictly follows the advice of Father Lemoine. The behavior of the abbess becomes completely strange: she walks the corridors at night, constantly watches Suzanne, watches her every step, is terribly lamented and says that she cannot live without Suzanne. The fun days in the community are coming to an end; everything is subject to the strictest order. The abbess moves from melancholy to piety, and from that to delirium. Chaos reigns in the monastery. The abbess suffers greatly, asks to pray for her, fasts three times a week, and flagellates herself. The nuns hated Suzanne. She shares her grief with her new confessor, Father Morel; she tells him the story of her life, talks about her aversion to monasticism. He also opens up completely to her; it is revealed that he also hates his position. They see each other often, their mutual sympathy intensifies. Meanwhile, the abbess begins to develop a fever and delirium. She sees hell, flames around her, and speaks of Suzanne with immeasurable love, idolizing her. She dies a few months later; Soon Sister Teresa also dies.
Suzanne is accused of bewitching the deceased abbess; her sorrows are renewed. The confessor convinces her to run away with him. On the way to Paris, he encroaches on her honor. In Paris, Suzanne lives in some kind of brothel for two weeks. Finally she escapes from there and manages to enter the service of a washerwoman. The work is hard, the food is bad, but the owners treat me well. The monk who kidnapped her has already been caught; he faces life in prison. Her escape is also known everywhere. Mr. Manuri is no longer there, she has no one to consult with, she lives in constant anxiety. She asks the Marquis de Croamard to help; she says that she just needs a job as a maid somewhere in the wilderness, in obscurity, with decent people.
Diderot's work in the genre of fiction was significant. He owns three novels and the dialogue “Ramo’s Nephew.” Of these four works, three - the most significant - were published after his death.
The idea of ​​“The Nun” (1760) matured gradually under the influence of sensational revelations of secrets hidden behind the monastery walls, cases of wild fanaticism, which became especially frequent in the late 50s of the 18th century, during the next clash between supporters of the Orthodox Roman Church and the Jansenists. Monastic life became the subject of public discussion. Diderot took an active part in this.
In the novel “The Nun,” the author’s entire attention is focused on the main character, Suzanne Simonen, and the plot of the story is simple. In this novel by Diderot, three planes constantly intersect, which helps the writer to reveal the essence of human nature. This is a social plan that determines the place of the main character Suzanne in the family and society: an illegitimate daughter and unloved sister, she is persecuted by her family and turns out to be an outcast in the eyes of society. The content of the novel is Suzanne's resistance to the united family and society that want to isolate her. The second plan is a religious plan: the monastery becomes the main place where the events of the novel take place. The third plane is the plane of nature with its laws. Comparison with nature reveals the unnaturalness and unreasonableness of social and religious laws.
Diderot shows that the monastery is by no means a peaceful abode for those who devote themselves to serving God. This is a forced hostel for those who are not needed by society. Life in the monastery violates the natural rights of man; its inhabitants are deprived of their freedom and thereby corrupted. Having vowed to live in poverty, obedience and chastity, the nuns actually live by different, directly opposite laws - they are cruel, treacherous, vengeful, insidious, selfish. There are two types of people living in the monastery. Some are hypocrites who have come to terms with their position and benefit from it. Others are sincere believers. Diderot compared the ability to experience sincere religious feelings with an anomaly, a pathology in the psyche. The kind and fair abbess of the first monastery, Sister de Mauni, falls into a state of prayerful ecstasy and reaches the point of insanity, which leads her to illness and death. Another abbess - of the Arpajon monastery - falls physically and morally because of her unnatural passion.
The main character of the novel, a girl from the lower classes, endowed with purity of thoughts and actions, seemed to illustrate the idea, popular at that time, that innate moral nobility prevails over nobility of origin. Diderot gave his novel the form of notes addressed by the heroine to her patron. Diderot's dislike for memoirs of any kind is widely known, so how can one explain his choice? At the beginning of the novel, the heroine Suzanne Simonen must overcome her shyness in order to write with possible revelation and simplicity. Indeed, the spontaneity of intonation in “The Nun” is striking. This is not a memoir in the usual sense of the word, not a description of events more or less colored by a personal attitude, but a hot confession, a new genre of secular literature.
The fate of the main character Suzanne provides an opportunity for Diderot to experimentally explore human nature. To do this, he places an inexperienced girl full of vitality in an exceptional situation that prevents the manifestation of these forces. The monastic environment, hostile to human nature, causes her not just fear, but physical rejection. Suzanne expresses her irreconcilable hostility towards the monastery in the words: “I was born with this.” This is the voice of nature itself, whose laws cannot coexist with violence, for everyone has the right to freedom and happiness.
Diderot endows Suzanne with intelligence, the ability to understand the motives of others' behavior and self-analysis. Suzanne is touching, but not helpless. With visible softness, this is a strong, unbending character. Realizing the insignificance of that school of hypocrisy and skillful seduction, where the nuns “blame the world that they love, but which they do not know,” she persistently searches for a way out. The desire and love for freedom is the basis and key to all Suzanne’s actions and actions. She shows imprudence and neglect of property; the material motives that forced her mother to betray her are completely unknown to her. It was not “a demon that possessed her,” as the surrounding nuns think, but a higher need for freedom grew in her.
The impetus for writing “The Nun” was the story of a certain Margarita Delamare, who ended up in a monastery after a scandalous divorce, under the threat of a correctional home for women of easy virtue. Remaining the only heir to her parents' fortune, she filed a lawsuit to break the vow of poverty and leave the monastery. The court rejected the claim, the battle for the inheritance was lost, but Margarita did not run anywhere. She remained in the monastery for life; she had nothing to do in freedom. This everyday ending seems more natural and more consistent with Diderot's root idea that the feelings and interests of the individual are determined by the needs of the person. And Suzanne? Suzanne is fleeing from corruption of spirit and body. She cannot agree with the social role assigned to her; her character and the surrounding environment contrast sharply and force her to fight. The depiction of character in development is realism. The image of Suzanne is the image of a new person. Diderot solves the most difficult artistic task of creating a character that is exceptional in its ordinariness: a typical folk character.
Diderot's own sister was a nun and went crazy; her brother, who put on a priestly cassock, suddenly changed his previously friendly character. Diderot himself also visited Jesuit colleges. The field of action of the novel was known to Diderot not only from other people's stories; he himself lived the life of his heroes. First to see, then to write - these are the true words of Diderot. It was he who brought the element of observation to the creative laboratory of realism.
The novel “The Nun” is distinguished by its deep psychologism. The heroine’s mental turmoil is undergoing an evolution: from doubts, from feelings of protest and anger, she moves on to open rebellion. In addition, this is a journalistic work that affirms personal and public human rights. The problems posed by Diderot went beyond the debunking of monastic life. The image of a monastery, connected by numerous threads with the entire structure of feudal society, grows in the novel into the image of a perverted civilization of the 18th century.

29. Diderot's dramatic theory
I couldn't find a summary. I copy the table of contents with a brief explanation.
I. About dramatic genres. - About the habit of peoples. About the boundaries of art. About human injustice. You need to find satisfaction in your work. Strive to gain recognition from friends. Expect general recognition from future times. The gap between genres. Dramatic system.
II. About serious comedy. - Qualities necessary for a poet of this genre. Objection. Answer. Judge the works of the spirit by themselves. The importance of serious and moral comedy, especially for corrupt peoples. About some scenes from “The Imaginary Benefactor.” About morality. Second objection. Answer. “The Judge”, comedy, rough plot. How to judge a dramatic work. About human nature. About the performance. About fiction. About the poet, about the novelist, about the actor. On the common goal of all imitative arts. An example of a moral and touching picture.
III. About the type of moral drama. - Its rules and advantages. About impressions. About applause.
IV. About the type of philosophical drama. - The Death of Socrates, a rough sketch of this drama. About ancient drama and its simplicity.
V. About dramas, simple and complex. - Simple drama is preferred, and here's why. The difficulty of conducting two intrigues at the same time. Examples taken from The Girl from Andros and The Self-Tormentor. Notes on the construction of “Father of the Family.” Inconvenience of introducing multiple events.
VI. About burlesque drama. - About its action and movement. It requires a kind of gaiety. Not everyone can succeed in it. About Aristophanes. How the government should use a good farce writer. About action and movement in general. About its growth.
VII. About the plan and dialogue. -Which is more difficult. About the qualities a poet needs to draw up a plan. About the qualities needed for dialogue. The outline and dialogue should be written in one hand. One plot can give rise to many plans; but if characters are given, speech must correspond to them. There are more plays with good dialogue than plays that are well constructed. Each poet draws up a plan and conceives scenes in accordance with his talent and character. About self-talk and its benefits. Lack of young poets.
VIII. About the sketch. - Aristotle's thought. Poetics of Aristotle, Horace and Boileau. An example of a sketch of a tragedy. An example of a comedy sketch. Advantages of a sketch. A means to enrich it and develop events.
IX. About events. - About the choice of events. Moliere and Racine, quotes. About random events. About rock. Objection. Answer. Terence and Moliere, quotes. About threads. About threads stretched in vain. Moliere, quotes.
X. About the plan of tragedy and the plan of comedy. -Which plan is more difficult? Three positions. The author of comedy is the creator of his genre. What serves as his example? It is more useful to compare poetry with history than with painting. About the wonderful. Imitation of nature in a combination of extraordinary events. About simultaneous events. About romantic embellishments. About illusion. Illusion is a constant quantity. About drama and romance. Telemak, quotes. Tragedies based entirely on fiction. About a family tragedy. Should I write it in verse? Conclusion. About the poet and versifier. About imagination. About reality and fiction. About the philosopher and poet. They are consistent and inconsistent in the same sense. A word of praise for the imagination. Imagination is ordered. To redeem the miraculous with the ordinary. About the composition of the drama. Write the first scene first and the last scene last. About the mutual influence of scenes. Objection. Answer. About the "Father of the Family". About Goldoni's "True Friend". About "Bad Son". A response to the critics of "Bad Son". About simplicity. About reading ancient authors. About reading Homer. Its usefulness for the dramatic poet is confirmed by the passages cited.
XI. About interest. - Don't think about the viewer. Should he be privy to events or kept in the dark? The absurdity of general rules. Examples from "Zaire", "Iphigenia in Tauris" and "Britannica". A subject that requires omissions is thankless. Evidence cited from Terence's "Father of the Family" and "Mother-in-Law." About the effect of monologues. About the nature of interest and its growth. About poetic art and about those who wrote about it. If someday a man of genius writes his own poetics, will the word spectator appear there? Other samples, other laws. Comparison of a painter with a dramatic poet. The poet's attention to the viewer constrains the poet and interrupts the action. Moliere, quotes.
XII. About the exhibition. - What it is? In comedy. In tragedy. Is there always exposure? About the prologue or the moment the action begins. It is important to choose it well. You need to have a censor who is talented. Explain only what needs to be explained. Neglect the little things. Start strong. However, a strong start has its disadvantages.
XIII. About characters. - Characters should contrast with positions and interests, and not with each other. About the contrast of characters. Exploring this contrast. Contrast is generally a negative phenomenon. The contrast of characters repeated repeatedly in the drama would make it intolerable. An assumption that supports this idea. Contrast reveals artificiality. Leads to new romantic embellishments. Constrains the formation. Makes dialogue monotonous. If the contrast is done well, the plot of the drama will become ambiguous. Evidence borrowed from Moliere's The Misanthrope and Terence's The Brothers. Dramas without contrast are the most truthful, the simplest, the most difficult and the most beautiful. There are no contrasts in tragedy. Corneille, Plautus, Moliere, Terence, quotes. Contrast of feelings or images is the only thing I accept. How do I interpret it? Examples from Homer, Lucretius, Horace, Anacreon, Catullus, Natural History, On the Mind. About Poussin's painting. On the contrast of virtue. About the contrast of vice. A real contrast. Imaginary contrast. The ancients knew no contrasts.
XIV. On the division of action and on acts. - About some arbitrary rules for the appearance of an actor and the first mention of him; the actor's return to the stage; broken down into acts of almost equal duration. An example of the opposite.
XV. About intermissions. - What it is? What is their law? The action doesn't stop even during intermissions. In a well-composed play, each act might have a title.
XVI. About the scenes. - See your character when he goes on stage. Put speeches into his mouth according to the events taking place on stage. Forget about the actor's talent. The mistake of modern authors, which the ancients also fell into. About mimic scenes. About conversation scenes. About scenes built on pantomime and speech. Simultaneous scenes. Episodic scenes. Advantages and rare examples of these scenes.
XVII. About tone. - Each character has its own tone. About the joke. On the truthfulness of speech in philosophy and poetry. Paint with passion and interest. How unfair it is to confuse the poet with the character. About a man and a genius man. Difference between dialogue and scene. Comparison of dialogues between Corneille and Racine. About the connection of dialogue through feelings. Examples. Dialogue of Moliere. “Learned Women” and “Tartuffe”, quotes. About Terence's dialogue. "Eunuch", quotes. About individual scenes. Scenes are harder to write when the plot is simple. The viewer's misconception. About the scenes of “Bad Son” and “Father of the Family”. About the monologue. The general and perhaps the only rule of dramatic art. About caricatures. About the weak and exaggerated. Terence, quotes. About davs. About lovers of the ancient and modern scenes.
XVIII. About morals. - About the benefits of performances. About the morals of actors. About imaginary exaggeration in performances. About the morals of the people. A people cannot differ equally in all dramatic genres. About the drama under various governments. About comedy in a monarchical state. Flaws. About poetry and poets of the enslaved and humiliated people. About poetic morals. About ancient morals. About nature, which is close to poetry. About the time that foreshadows the birth of poets. About genius. About the art of embellishing morals. The whims of enlightened peoples. Terence, quotes. Causes of inconstancy of tastes.
XIX. About the scenery. - Show the scene as it is. About theatrical painting. Two poets cannot simultaneously express themselves with equal brilliance. About musical drama.
XX. About the costumes. - About bad taste. About luxury. About the performance "Orphans from China". About the characters in “Father of the Family” and their clothes. Speech addressed to the famous actress of our days.
XXI. About pantomime. - About the performance of Italian actors. Objection. Answer. About the game of the main characters. About playing minor characters. Pedantry in the theater. Pantomime is an important part of drama. The veracity of facial expressions. Examples. It is necessary to describe the game. When and where does its effect occur? Terence and Moliere, quotes. It is always clear whether the poet is attentive or careless to pantomime. If he is careless, she cannot be brought into his drama. Moliere wrote it. Our most humble submissions to our critics. Places unknown to ancient authors and why? Pantomime is an important part of the novel. Richardson, quotes. Scene of Orestes and Pylades and pantomime. Death of Socrates and pantomime. Laws of composition common to painting and dramatic action. The difficulty of theatrical action from this point of view. Objection. Answer. The benefits of written pantomime. What is pantomime? What does the poet who writes it tell the people? What does he say to the actor? It is difficult to write, but easy to criticize.
XXII. About authors and critics. - Comparison of the critic with certain savages and with a stupid hermit. The futility of the author's role. The futility of the critic's role. Complaints from some and others. Public fairness. Criticism of the living. Criticism of the dead. The wavering success of The Misanthrope is a consolation to unsuccessful authors. The author is the best critic of his work. Authors and critics are neither sufficiently honest people nor sufficiently educated. The connection between taste and morality. Advice to the author. An example offered to authors and critics in the person of Arist. Arista's conversation with himself about truth, goodness and beauty. End of discussion about dramatic poetry.
In the second half of the 50s, Diderot created a new holistic concept of dramatic art (“Discourses on dramatic poetry”, 1758, “Conversations about the “Bad Son””, 1758, later - “The Paradox of the Actor”, 1773 - 1778). Recognizing the enormous educational role of the theater, Diderot destroyed many of the principles of classicism, which, having become conventions, hampered the development of literature and prevented the penetration of new content into the theater. Diderot demanded realistic truthfulness and ideological content from works for the theater. The plot must be based on a vital event, the soul of the new theater must be a “private” person in “private circumstances”, therefore, the playwright’s task is to reproduce the prose of life. According to the theory of classicism, everyday life was depicted in lower genres and was ridiculed. Diderot insisted on the high social significance of “private existence” and, to prove this, proposed a new scheme for dividing into genres. This is a hilarious comedy that depicts the funny and the vicious; a serious comedy telling about the virtue and duty of man, and a tragedy reproducing family misfortunes and national disasters. However, Diderot recognized the main genre as bourgeois drama, which combines the characteristics of serious comedy and tragedy.
The theme of the bourgeois drama is the depiction of a bourgeois family, in which the enlighteners saw the prototype of society; they believed that the principles of natural politics were most fully manifested in it. Heroes must be shown in their social functions, which determine the actions, psychology, character of the characters, depending on the real situation of a person in reality. Conflicts must be drawn from real-life problems. Thus, in the theater it is necessary to depict a picture of the life and morals of the third estate. One of the problems of the bourgeois drama is the problem of family virtue, which consists of fulfilling one’s duty, the ability to restrain passions with reason, repent of a bad deed, and forgive the guilty. This is the subject of Diderot’s dramas “The Bastard Son” (1757) and “The Father of the Family” (1758).

Denis Diderot was an intellectual of his time, a French writer and philosopher. The Encyclopedia he compiled, which he completed in 1751, brought him the greatest fame. Along with Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau, he was considered one of the ideologists of the third estate in France, a popularizer of the ideas of the Enlightenment, which are believed to have paved the way for the Great French Revolution of 1789.

Childhood and youth

Denis Diderot was born in 1713. He was born in the small French town of Langres. His mother was the daughter of a tanner, and his father made knives.

Parents decided that Denis Diderot would become a priest. To do this, they sent him to a Jesuit college, from which he graduated in 1728. Two years earlier, the boy officially became an abbot. Biographers note that during this period the hero of our article was an extremely religious person, constantly fasted and even wore a hair shirt.

Arriving in Paris to complete his education, he entered the Jesuit College of Louis the Great, and a little later, in all likelihood, the Jansenite educational institution - d'Harcourt. Here he received the profession of a lawyer, since his father encouraged him to pursue a legal career. Presumably, just the conflicts that arose between the Jansenites and the Jesuits turned him away from his chosen path.

In 1732, Denis Diderot received a master's degree from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris. Instead of a career as a priest, he seriously thinks about becoming a lawyer, but as a result he prefers the lifestyle of a free artist.

Refusal of a priestly career

In a short biography of Denis Diderot, you need to pay attention to his personal life. In 1743, he married Anne Toinette Champion, who owned a linen shop.

At the same time, it is reliably known that marriage did not prevent him from having affairs with other women. He is believed to have been romantically involved in the mid-1750s with Sophie Volland, for whom he remained attached almost until his death.

After the wedding, Denis Diderot, whose biography is quite interesting and full of all sorts of ideas, initially made money through translations. In the 40s he worked with the most famous works of Stenian, Shaftesbury, and James. His first independent literary works date back to the same period. They testify to the courage and mature mind of a fairly young author. In 1746, his “Philosophical Thoughts” were published, and later - “Alleys, or the Walk of a Skeptic”, “Letter on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted”, “Indiscreet Treasures”. Apparently, by this time Diderot had already turned into a deist, and soon into a convinced materialist and atheist. At that time, these books by Denis Diderot were classified as freethinking, for which he was arrested in 1749. He served his imprisonment at Vincennes Castle.

Work on the "Encyclopedia"

Diderot first encountered work on the Encyclopedia in 1747. The idea of ​​the capital's publisher Breton to translate the so-called “General Dictionary of Crafts and Sciences” into French appeared several years ago. But no editor could cope with this task.

Diderot worked on the project together with D'Alembert. As a result, one of them came up with the idea of ​​completely abandoning the translation of the English dictionary, and preparing an independent publication that would be unique. In any case, it was thanks to Diderot that the work on the Encyclopedia acquired the scope that turned it into a real manifesto of the Enlightenment.

Over the next quarter of a century, the hero of our article continues to supervise the work on the book of knowledge, which by that time has grown to 17 volumes of articles alone, which are accompanied by another eleven volumes of illustrations. Even considering the biography of Denis Diderot briefly, you need to dwell on the large number of obstacles that he managed to overcome on his way. In addition to the already mentioned imprisonment, this is also the suspension of work for reasons beyond the control of the editor, the crisis due to which D "Alembert left the project, the ban on the publication and its careful and scrupulous censorship.

It was not until 1772 that the first edition of the Encyclopedia was finally completed. Almost all the great minds of the Enlightenment who were in France at that time took part in its creation - Voltaire, Holbach, Rousseau, Montesquieu.

Manifesto of the Age of Enlightenment

The result of their joint work was a universal body of modern knowledge. Separately, it should be noted that in articles devoted to political topics, no preference was deliberately given to any form of government. And the praise that the authors addressed to the Republic of Geneva was accompanied by remarks that such a state structure is possible only for relatively small territories, to which France itself does not belong. Pluralism in its pure form dominated on the pages of the Encyclopedia, because writers in some articles advocated a limited monarchy, while in others they adhered to the absolute option, seeing only it as the basis of social welfare.

At the same time, it was separately noted that subjects have the right to resist despots, and kings must obey the law, help the poor and disadvantaged, and defend the faith of their people.

The authors of the Encyclopedia advocated easing the lot of the common people. However, to achieve this goal, they did not call for the establishment of democracy in the country, but turned to the government, drawing the attention of officials and ministers to the need for reforms in education, the economy (fair taxation, the fight against poverty).

Philosophical views

The basic ideas of Denis Diderot in the field of philosophy were formulated by him back in 1751 in the treatise “Letter on the Deaf and Dumb for the Edification of Those Who Hear.” In it he examines the problem of cognition in the context of the symbolism of words and gestures.

In 1753, he published “Thoughts on the Explanation of Nature,” which he created in the image and likeness of the works of Bacon, polemicizing with the rationalistic philosophy of Leibniz and Descartes. For example, he refuted the theory of innate ideas.

When the philosophy of Denis Diderot was formed, he categorically rejected the dualistic teaching dedicated to the bifurcation of the spiritual and material principles. He argued that in the world there is only matter that can have sensitivity, and all the diverse and complex phenomena that occur in real life are the result of the movement of its particles. Confirmation of this can be found in quotes from Denis Diderot:

Religion prevents people from seeing because it forbids them to look under pain of eternal punishment.

Take away the fear of hell from a Christian, and you take away his faith.

The God of Christians is a father who values ​​his apples extremely and his children very little.

His philosophical views also included thoughts about the influence of various external factors on the individual. Among the ideas of Denis Diderot one can find the statement that a person is solely what his environment and upbringing can make of him. Moreover, every action he performs is a necessary act in the general worldview.

Attitude to politics

Considering the worldview of Denis Diderot, the main thoughts and ideas of the philosopher and writer, it should be noted that, according to his political convictions, he was a supporter of enlightened absolutism, agreeing with Voltaire on this. Diderot also refused to trust the masses, whom he considered incapable of solving state and moral issues.

In his opinion, the ideal political system is a monarchy ruled by a sovereign endowed with philosophical and scientific knowledge. Diderot was convinced that the union of philosophers and rulers was not only possible, but also necessary.

Moreover, his own materialistic teaching was directed against the clergy. The ultimate goal was to transfer state power into the hands of philosophers.

Diderot was wrong about this. As one can judge from history, monarchs respected philosophers, but did not allow them to really influence practical politics. For example, when Diderot came to Russia in 1773, responding to the invitation of Catherine II, they spent hours having sublime conversations, but at the same time, the Russian empress was skeptical about his projects to destroy luxury at court, direct the freed funds to the needs of the people, and also about the organization universal free education.

Diderot received a large sum of money from Catherine for his library, and he was given a salary for its maintenance.

Creation

Diderot began to actively engage in creativity in the 50s. He publishes two plays - "The Father of the Family" and "The Bastard Son, or Trials of Virtue." In them, he categorically rejects the rules of the then dominant classicism, striving to create a bourgeois, bourgeois-sentimental drama, which he ultimately succeeds in. In most of his works, the conflicts that arise between representatives of the third estate come to the fore; their life and behavior in the most ordinary situations are described.

His classic works include the story “The Nun,” which we will talk about in more detail, and the novels “Ramo’s Nephew” and “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master.” For most contemporaries, these books remain unknown, since the author practically does not succeed in publishing them during his lifetime.

It is worth noting that all these works are united by realism, amazing prudence and a transparent, extremely clear style of storytelling. Reading Diderot's works has always been easy because they are almost completely devoid of verbal embellishment.

In most of his works one can find rejection of the church and religion, commitment to humanistic goals, idealized ideas about human duty.

The aesthetic and philosophical principles that Diderot proclaims can also be traced in his attitude to the fine arts. From 1759 to 1781, he regularly published reviews of Parisian salons in his friend Grimm's handwritten newspaper, called Literary Correspondence. By subscription, it is sent to influential princes and monarchs.

"Nun"

This is one of Diderot's most famous works. It depicts the depraved morals prevailing in a nunnery. In the book “The Nun” by Denis Diderot, the story is told from the perspective of a young novice who does not realize what feelings she is experiencing.

Critics note in this work an amazing combination of psychological truth with naturalism that was extremely bold for that time. All this makes Denis Diderot's story "The Nun" one of the best prose works of the 18th century, at least in France. In addition, this is an excellent example of anti-religious propaganda.

The impetus for writing this book was a real story that the author learned about. In the 50s of the 18th century, the secrets of the convent were exposed. In pre-revolutionary France, church life was one of the most exciting and pressing topics.

The story itself begins with an episode in which the main character Suzanne, who is an illegitimate child, is forcibly sent to a nunnery. In fact, she is betrayed by her own mother, but the girl still loves her and does not reveal the secret of her origin, although this could help her free herself. Instead, she makes several attempts to escape from the monastery in order to gain freedom, one of which ends successfully.

"Ramo's Nephew"

Another famous work by Diderot is the novel Rameau's Nephew. Many literary scholars consider it the pinnacle of the creativity of the hero of our article.

Catherine II, who corresponded and was on friendly terms with Voltaire, was interested in Diderot's work on the famous Encyclopedia. As soon as she took the throne, she immediately proposed moving the publication to Russia. Behind this lay not only her desire to strengthen her reputation, but also an attempt to satisfy the interest of the educated and enlightened part of Russian society in this work.

Diderot refused this offer, but agreed to sell his unique library to the empress for 50,000 livres. Moreover, the books themselves remained at his complete disposal until the end of his life. He became the custodian of works in his home in the status of the empress's personal librarian.

At the invitation of Catherine, he stayed in St. Petersburg from October 1773 to March 1774. During this time he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.

When he returned to France, he wrote several essays devoted to the possible introduction of Russia to European civilization. His skeptical statements about Catherine’s policies aroused her anger, but they became known in Russia after the philosopher’s death.

In 1784 he died in Paris at the age of 70.

In the 2nd half of the 50s, Diderot created a new holistic concept of drama. art (a number of special theoretical works devoted to issues of drama and theater: “On dramatic poetry” 1758, “Conversations about the “Bad Son”” 1758, later - “The Paradox of the Actor” 1773-78). Recognizing the enormous educational role of the theater, D. destroyed many of the principles of classism, which, having become conventions, interfered with the development of literature and prevented the penetration of new content into the theater. D. demanded realism from directors for the theater. truthfulness and ideology. The plot must be based on a vital event, the soul of the new theater must be a “private” person in “private circumstances”, therefore, the playwright’s task is to reproduce the prose of life. According to the class theory, everyday life was depicted in lower genres and was ridiculed. D. insisted on high society. significance of “private existence” and, rejecting the normative aesthetics of Boileau, to prove this he proposed new genre division scheme: a funny comedy that depicts the funny and vicious; a serious comedy, telling about the virtue and duty of man, and a tragedy, reproducing family misfortunes and national disasters. However, D. recognized the “middle” genre as the main genre - bourgeois drama, which combines the signs of serious comedy and tragedy (according to FEB: serious drama depicting conflicts occurring within the family in relations between people of the 3rd estate).

The theme of the bourgeois drama is the depiction of a bourgeois family, in which the enlighteners saw the prototype of society: in it the principles of nature were most fully manifested. politicians. In the structure of this drama, the determining factor is not the characters, but the “positions”. Heroes need to be shown on their social media. functions, which are defined actions, psychology, character of characters, depending on the real position of a person in action (as opposed to class). Conflicts must be drawn from real-life problems.

[The principles of dramaturgy, formulated in the theoretical works of Diderot, marked a genuine revolution in the theater, and the “serious genre” substantiated by him was called upon to counter the tragedy of classicism on stage.

Diderot's reflections on the art of the actor retain the value and poignancy. The “Paradox of the Actor” emphasizes the objective nature of this art. Diderot stands for an actor who reflects, controls his emotions, draws on extensive life experience, is well educated, and perceives the dramatic text with a deep understanding.]

One of the problems of the bourgeois drama is the problem of family virtue, which consists of fulfilling one’s duty, the ability to restrain passions with reason, repent of a bad deed, and forgive the guilty. This is the subject of Diderot’s dramas “The Bastard Son” (1757) and “The Father of the Family” (1758).

In the last drama, M. d'Orbesson, the “father of the family,” becomes the ideal conductor of natural politics. His attitude towards household members and servants is reasonable and serves the interests of society; he strictly judges his son, who, as it seems to him, is squandering his fortune, ruining his health, discrediting his name; he dissuades his daughter from going to the monastery, he sympathizes with the poor tenant and takes little money from him; he gives a reprieve to the debtor, etc. Based on the conviction that “we must blame the unfortunate conditions that spoil a person, and not his nature,” D. shows how the power of an ambitious villain, a rich relative of Commander D., is burdensome for all family members 'Ovile has torn the whole family apart. The conflict in the drama rests on the fact that the father of the family himself becomes a victim, in his own words, of “secular mores, cruel prejudices that subject nature to pitiful conventions.” Following the blessing. ideological plan, D. endows his bourgeois heroes with high civic virtues, which openly contradicted the egoistic. and the acquisitive nature of their real prototypes [okay, be gentle here, otherwise the ideology is rushing:/]; this limited the stage performance. the possibilities of his drama, the characters were atypical, and the plots were conflict-free; D.'s dramas are more likely not dramas, but sermons in faces.

The absence of a large socially significant conflict significantly reduces the importance of D. drama. The very idea of ​​​​creating a serious genre, its theory. justification had a much greater influence on the fate of drama and theater in the 18th century than drama itself. pr-nia D.

For ticket 206:I couldn’t find a summary, here’s the table of contents with explanations

I. About dramatic genres. - About the habit of peoples. About the boundaries of art. About human injustice. You need to find satisfaction in your work. Strive to gain recognition from friends. Expect general recognition from future times. The gap between genres. Dramatic system. II. About serious comedy. - Qualities necessary for a poet of this genre. Objection. Answer. Judge the works of the spirit by themselves. The importance of serious and moral comedy, especially for corrupt peoples. About some scenes from “The Imaginary Benefactor.” About morality. Second objection. Answer. “The Judge”, comedy, rough plot. How to judge a dramatic work. About human nature. About the performance. About fiction. About the poet, about the novelist, about the actor. On the common goal of all imitative arts. An example of a moral and touching picture. III. About the type of moral drama. - Its rules and advantages. About impressions. About applause. IV. About the type of philosophical drama. - The Death of Socrates, a rough sketch of this drama. About ancient drama and its simplicity. V. About dramas, simple and complex. - Simple drama is preferred, and here's why. The difficulty of conducting two intrigues at the same time. Examples taken from The Girl from Andros and The Self-Tormentor. Notes on the construction of “Father of the Family.” Inconvenience of introducing multiple events. VI. About burlesque drama. - About its action and movement. It requires a kind of gaiety. Not everyone can succeed in it. About Aristophanes. How the government should use a good farce writer. About action and movement in general. About its growth. VII. About the plan and dialogue. -Which is more difficult. About the qualities a poet needs to draw up a plan. About the qualities needed for dialogue. The outline and dialogue should be written in one hand. One plot can give rise to many plans; but if characters are given, speech must correspond to them. There are more plays with good dialogue than plays that are well constructed. Each poet draws up a plan and conceives scenes in accordance with his talent and character. About self-talk and its benefits. Lack of young poets. VIII. About the sketch. - Aristotle's thought. Poetics of Aristotle, Horace and Boileau. An example of a sketch of a tragedy. An example of a comedy sketch. Advantages of a sketch. A means to enrich it and develop events. IX. About events. - About the choice of events. Moliere and Racine, quotes. About random events. About rock. Objection. Answer. Terence and Moliere, quotes. About threads. About threads stretched in vain. Moliere, quotes. X. About the plan of tragedy and the plan of comedy. -Which plan is more difficult? Three positions. The author of comedy is the creator of his genre. What serves as his example? It is more useful to compare poetry with history than with painting. About the wonderful. Imitation of nature in a combination of extraordinary events. About simultaneous events. About romantic embellishments. About illusion. Illusion is a constant quantity. About drama and romance. Telemak, quotes. Tragedies based entirely on fiction. About a family tragedy. Should I write it in verse? Conclusion. About the poet and versifier. About imagination. About reality and fiction. About the philosopher and poet. They are consistent and inconsistent in the same sense. A word of praise for the imagination. Imagination is ordered. To redeem the miraculous with the ordinary. About the composition of the drama. Write the first scene first and the last scene last. About the mutual influence of scenes. Objection. Answer. About the "Father of the Family". About Goldoni's "True Friend". About "Bad Son". A response to the critics of "Bad Son". About simplicity. About reading ancient authors. About reading Homer. Its usefulness for the dramatic poet is confirmed by the passages cited. XI. About interest. - Don't think about the viewer. Should he be privy to events or kept in the dark? The absurdity of general rules. Examples from "Zaire", "Iphigenia in Tauris" and "Britannica". A subject that requires omissions is thankless. Evidence cited from Terence's "Father of the Family" and "Mother-in-Law." About the effect of monologues. About the nature of interest and its growth. About poetic art and about those who wrote about it. If someday a man of genius writes his own poetics, will the word spectator appear there? Other samples, other laws. Comparison of a painter with a dramatic poet. The poet's attention to the viewer constrains the poet and interrupts the action. Moliere, quotes. XII. About the exhibition. - What it is? In comedy. In tragedy. Is there always exposure? About the prologue or the moment the action begins. It is important to choose it well. You need to have a censor who is talented. Explain only what needs to be explained. Neglect the little things. Start strong. However, a strong start has its disadvantages. XIII. About characters. - Characters should contrast with positions and interests, and not with each other. About the contrast of characters. Exploring this contrast. Contrast is generally a negative phenomenon. The contrast of characters repeated repeatedly in the drama would make it intolerable. An assumption that supports this idea. Contrast reveals artificiality. Leads to new romantic embellishments. Constrains the formation. Makes dialogue monotonous. If the contrast is done well, the plot of the drama will become ambiguous. Evidence borrowed from Moliere's The Misanthrope and Terence's The Brothers. Dramas without contrast are the most truthful, the simplest, the most difficult and the most beautiful. There are no contrasts in tragedy. Corneille, Plautus, Moliere, Terence, quotes. Contrast of feelings or images is the only thing I accept. How do I interpret it? Examples from Homer, Lucretius, Horace, Anacreon, Catullus, Natural History, On the Mind. About Poussin's painting. On the contrast of virtue. About the contrast of vice. A real contrast. Imaginary contrast. The ancients knew no contrasts. XIV. On the division of action and on acts. - About some arbitrary rules for the appearance of an actor and the first mention of him; the actor's return to the stage; broken down into acts of almost equal duration. An example of the opposite. XV. About intermissions. - What it is? What is their law? The action doesn't stop even during intermissions. In a well-composed play, each act might have a title. XVI. About the scenes. - See your character when he goes on stage. Put speeches into his mouth according to the events taking place on stage. Forget about the actor's talent. The mistake of modern authors, which the ancients also fell into. About mimic scenes. About conversation scenes. About scenes built on pantomime and speech. Simultaneous scenes. Episodic scenes. Advantages and rare examples of these scenes. XVII. About tone. - Each character has its own tone. About the joke. On the truthfulness of speech in philosophy and poetry. Paint with passion and interest. How unfair it is to confuse the poet with the character. About a man and a genius man. Difference between dialogue and scene. Comparison of dialogues between Corneille and Racine. About the connection of dialogue through feelings. Examples. Dialogue of Moliere. “Learned Women” and “Tartuffe”, quotes. About Terence's dialogue. "Eunuch", quotes. About individual scenes. Scenes are harder to write when the plot is simple. The viewer's misconception. About the scenes of “Bad Son” and “Father of the Family”. About the monologue. The general and perhaps the only rule of dramatic art. About caricatures. About the weak and exaggerated. Terence, quotes. About davs. About lovers of the ancient and modern scenes. XVIII. About morals. - About the benefits of performances. About the morals of actors. About imaginary exaggeration in performances. About the morals of the people. A people cannot differ equally in all dramatic genres. About the drama under various governments. About comedy in a monarchical state. Flaws. About poetry and poets of the enslaved and humiliated people. About poetic morals. About ancient morals. About nature, which is close to poetry. About the time that foreshadows the birth of poets. About genius. About the art of embellishing morals. The whims of enlightened peoples. Terence, quotes. Causes of inconstancy of tastes. XIX. About the scenery. - Show the scene as it is. About theatrical painting. Two poets cannot simultaneously express themselves with equal brilliance. About musical drama. XX. About the costumes. - About bad taste. About luxury. About the performance "Orphans from China". About the characters in “Father of the Family” and their clothes. Speech addressed to the famous actress of our days. XXI. About pantomime. - About the performance of Italian actors. Objection. Answer. About the game of the main characters. About playing minor characters. Pedantry in the theater. Pantomime is an important part of drama. The veracity of facial expressions. Examples. It is necessary to describe the game. When and where does its effect occur? Terence and Moliere, quotes. It is always clear whether the poet is attentive or careless to pantomime. If he is careless, she cannot be brought into his drama. Moliere wrote it. Our most humble submissions to our critics. Places unknown to ancient authors and why? Pantomime is an important part of the novel. Richardson, quotes. Scene of Orestes and Pylades and pantomime. Death of Socrates and pantomime. Laws of composition common to painting and dramatic action. The difficulty of theatrical action from this point of view. Objection. Answer. The benefits of written pantomime. What is pantomime? What does the poet who writes it tell the people? What does he say to the actor? It is difficult to write, but easy to criticize. XXII. About authors and critics. - Comparison of the critic with certain savages and with a stupid hermit. The futility of the author's role. The futility of the critic's role. Complaints from some and others. Public fairness. Criticism of the living. Criticism of the dead. The wavering success of The Misanthrope is a consolation to unsuccessful authors. The author is the best critic of his work. Authors and critics are neither sufficiently honest people nor sufficiently educated. The connection between taste and morality. Advice to the author. An example offered to authors and critics in the person of Arist. Arista's conversation with himself about truth, goodness and beauty. End of discussion about dramatic poetry.

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) - French writer and playwright, philosopher and educator. In 1751 he founded the Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts. Since 1773, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Birth and family

Subsequently, the philosopher mentioned that his grandmother had an incredibly large offspring, she had twenty-two children, which indicates the strength of the female body.

Father Diderot was just as active, energetic and healthy. He inherited the family business; their family had been producing scissors, knives and similar tools for a long time. The philosopher's father was also involved in this handicraft industry; he was a cutler. But the elder Diderot did not at all resemble a village handicraftsman; the man was hardworking, self-possessed, unassuming, inclined to education, and greatly valued family life. In general, in all respects he was known as an exemplary person - a father, a worker, a family man. He had a strong influence on his famous son.

Father Diderot was also an amazing storyteller. When in the evening after a working day he sat down in his favorite big chair and began to share his stories, not only family members, but also neighbors gathered around. It was this passion for stories that he inherited from his father and Denis.

Almost nothing is known about the woman who gave life to the philosopher. Diderot barely mentions his mother in his numerous memoirs.

Education

Denis also had a younger brother, and their father dreamed that the boys would build a successful career in life, becoming priests. Therefore, he tried his best to give them a decent education. In 1723, Father Diderot sent his sons to study at the Jesuit College of Langres. The younger child was naturally less gifted than Denis, and immediately fell under the influence of the Jesuits. The eldest felt uncomfortable in the educational institution and soon announced to his father that he did not want to continue his studies.

The father did not insist, telling his son: “If you don’t want to study, it means you want to work as a cutler all your life,” and the next day he entrusted him with the job. However, no matter what Denis took on, everything fell out of his hands. After some time, he realized that it was better to study, so he collected his textbooks and went to college. The Jesuits were incredibly happy about his return, because they immediately saw in him an extraordinary talented child and wanted to use him for their own purposes. They persuaded Denis to leave her father's house and go with them to another city.

But the elder Diderot became aware of this plan, he closed the outer door of the house and hid the key. When Denis wanted to leave his home at midnight, his father stood on the threshold and asked where he was going. The young man replied that he was going to Paris. Father said: "Fine. You will go to Paris, but tomorrow afternoon.” The elder Diderot kept his promise, bought two seats on the stagecoach, and he and his son went to the capital.

Here his father did not enroll him in a Jesuit educational institution, deciding that one abbot in the person of his youngest son would be enough for the family. In 1728, Denis Diderot entered the Jansenite College d'Harcourt to study as a lawyer. For two weeks, the father sacrificed his craft and remained in Paris until he was convinced that his son liked everything: the college, the teachers, and his comrades. Only then did he go home .

Little is known about Diderot's studies in Paris, but there is one reliable fact. Soon after his admission, Denis received punishment for helping one of his comrades prepare a lesson. Even then, his quality was evident, with which he went through his entire life - not sparing himself, helping others.

Teaching activities

In 1732, Denis completed his studies, and it was time to think about further work. The father insisted on a legal career and helped his son get a job in the office of a Parisian lawyer. But young Diderot, instead of managing the affairs of his boss, studied languages ​​(Italian, Greek, English, Latin) and mathematics, which he adored. His patron repeatedly wrote letters of complaint to the elder Diderot; together they tried to set the frivolous Denis on the right path, proving to him how necessary it is to have a good profession in life. To which the young man answered them: “Why do I need a profession? I love science. I’m already fine, I’m happy with everything.”

Young Diderot lost his job, and besides, his behavior greatly angered his father; he did not understand how a person could live without bringing any benefit to society. Denis's father refused all help and money, so twenty-year-old Diderot found himself on the street without a single penny. His passion for science was so strong that he was not afraid to break off relations with his family and remain poor.

Denis began giving private lessons, but the income from them was extremely meager. He had a rather strange way of dealing with students. If he saw in a teenager a gift for science, then even if he was poor and could not pay, he could sit with him from morning until late at night. He didn’t want to teach someone who was mediocre, even if he was rich. With such an attitude towards private lessons, Diderot sometimes went hungry.

At some point, he decided to deviate from his principles and got a job as a home teacher for a rich man to teach his children. The conditions were excellent: a separate room, food and an annual salary of 1,500 francs were provided. But three months later, Diderot asked to be fired. His employer did not want to let the talented teacher go and offered to double his salary. But the teacher replied: “You do everything well for me: the room is wonderful, the food, and you pay more money than I need. But I teach your children, and I myself become a child, I decline mentally. Sometimes I feel like I’m dying, and I don’t want that. I need to do science and develop. I need freedom."

Years of poverty

Denis left the rich house, and in his hungry and cold attic he was happy again. He again took up private lessons, wrote occasional articles and translations for magazines, and composed sermons for bishops. Sometimes Diderot felt so hungry that he resorted to deception. This happened with one monk who gave money to those who would enter the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites. Denis assured him several times that he wanted to become a monk, and received money for it. Soon the monk realized what was happening, and the future philosopher had to starve again.

It happened that Diderot did not have a single sou or a crumb of bread, then he went for a walk to suppress the feeling of hunger and reflect on the vicissitudes of his fate. Then he returned home to fall asleep. But one day he did not reach home and fell unconscious. Strangers realized what happened, brought him to his senses and fed him. That evening Denis swore that if he had the means, he would never refuse a beggar.

He lived like this until his marriage. He dressed casually, wore the same outfit every day: a plush frock coat with torn sleeves and black woolen stockings darned with white threads. He lived anywhere, often spending the night with his friends, who, by and large, were just as poor as he was. It happened that he found himself in bad company, but thanks to his independent character and intelligence, they did not have a detrimental influence on him.

Creation

In the early 1740s, Denis received a commission to translate “Discourses on Dignity and Virtue” by the English philosopher Anthony Shaftesbury, who was still little known in France at that time. This marked the beginning of his independent work on philosophy:

• 1746 – “Philosophical Thoughts”;
• 1747 – “Alleys, or the Skeptic’s Walk”;
• 1748 – “Immodest Treasures”;
• 1749 – “Letters about the blind for the edification of the sighted.”

His essay “Philosophical Thoughts” was published without a name and was an incredible success, expressed at least in the fact that the book was publicly burned. Diderot reached a certain maturity as a philosopher, gradually his positions changed from deism to atheism, and then to materialism. For “Letters on the Blind,” the philosopher spent four months in prison in the Vincennes fortress-prison.

Denis was smart not only in philosophy, but also in other areas: natural science, literature, painting, social sciences, theater. Given such a comprehensive education, he, together with his friend, the French philosopher and scientist Jean Leron d'Alembert, was invited to become the head of the publishing house of the Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts.

The first volume was published in 1751. In total, 28 out of 35 volumes (17 text and 11 illustrations) were published under his leadership. Diderot worked on the Encyclopedia almost until his death and wrote most of the articles on the exact sciences, religion, economics, politics, philosophy, and mechanics. During this period, he worked closely with famous French writers and philosophers Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paul Henri Holbach.

While working on the encyclopedia, two more philosophical works by Diderot were published - “Letter on the Deaf and Dumb” and “Thoughts on the Explanation of Nature”.

In 1756, a comedy by the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni accidentally fell into the hands of the philosopher. Under the impression, in 1757 Diderot wrote his first play, “The Bastard, or Trials of Virtue,” and a year later the next one, “The Father of the Family,” was published. Both works were about family relationships. In them, Denis established a new genre in theatrical and literary art - something between tragedy and comedy, which later received the name drama.

The fate of Diderot's novels and stories was even more successful. The work “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master” was recognized after the writer’s death as the best. The novel “The Nun” about the depraved morals of a convent is no less popular; it was recognized as the best work of French prose of the 18th century. The novel was filmed twice by French directors - in 1966 by Jacques Rivette, in 2013 by Guillaume Nicloux.

Connections with Russia

In the mid-1760s, Denis decided to sell his unique library; his daughter was becoming an adult, and it was necessary to take care of her dowry. Having learned about this, the Empress of Russia Catherine II made a counter proposal to Diderot: she would buy his books, but Denis should remain their custodian and become the personal librarian of the Russian ruler. In addition, Diderot received the position of personal adviser to Catherine the Great on painting issues, and it was he who came up with the idea of ​​the Hermitage collection.

In 1773 he visited St. Petersburg. Denis composed treatises for the Empress of Russia, in which he urged her to abolish serfdom and destroy luxury at court. He also proposed a project for a new public education system, which provided for free primary education. The ruler of Russia was skeptical about his proposals, but still received the Frenchman with honors and spent whole hours talking with him.

Catherine bought the philosopher's library back in 1765, but it was transported to Russia only after Diderot's death in 1784. Until this time, she paid him a certain salary for the maintenance of the library. This literary heritage consists of two groups: works that were published during the writer’s lifetime, and completely unknown prose works.

Personal life

In 1743, Diderot rented a room from the widow of a bankrupt artisan, Madame Champion. She had a young daughter, Anna, who had recently graduated from a monastery school. Denis came up with various tricks to get dates with the girl, since her mother was keeping a watchful eye on her. But the lovers still got married, performing a secret wedding ceremony at midnight.

However, the marriage was not happy, even though Diderot’s beloved daughter was born. Soon he began to cheat on his wife, and then fell in love with a woman who became the dream of his life. He met lonely Sophie Volant in 1757, when they were both over forty. Wise Sophie, who never knew the joy of family happiness and motherhood, did not demand anything from her beloved, only his letters, full of revelations and feelings. Their romance lasted about thirty years, during which time more than five hundred letters were written. Sophie Volan died five months earlier than her lover.

Death

Diderot seriously undermined his health during his trip to Russia. However, having returned to France, he did not undergo treatment and continued to engage in literary activities, was constantly overwhelmed with work and had no time to rest.

In 1784, the already weakened body was crippled by a disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Diderot died on July 31, 1784 in Paris. Since 1979, a crater on the far side of the Moon bears his name.