The Nun

Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.2

Word count: 457K words
Chapters: 46

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.La religieuse by Denis DiderotAuthor: Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: May 15, 2009

Editor's review

La Religieuse is a novel Diderot left unfinished in his lifetime and which appeared only after his death. Told in epistolary form, it follows the heroine Suzanne, confined to a convent by her family and repeatedly petitioning to be released from her vows, gradually exposing the repression of conventual institutions and the distortions of human nature. Its value lies not in sensational scandal but in a restrained, calm narration that lets readers judge for themselves: whether vows are made of free will, and whether religious authority may override personal consent. Diderot embeds philosophical debate in concrete situations, giving abstract propositions flesh and blood. For Chinese readers, the original French preserves the distinctive rhythm and ironic tone of the epistolary form. It serves as an accessible introduction to eighteenth-century French Enlightenment narrative and religious critique, and rewards reading alongside relevant entries of the Encyclopédie to observe different facets of Diderot's thought. Read slowly and attend to shifts in the narrator's tone and to the silences.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars of French literature and Enlightenment thought who need direct access to the French text
Readers interested in conventual institutions, religion, and individual freedom
Intermediate to advanced learners of French seeking to build reading experience with literary originals
Literature students studying epistolary narrative technique

Not a good fit for

General readers with no French who depend on translations
Readers seeking light entertainment who dislike discursive writing
Readers sensitive to religious subject matter or oppressive plots

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then return to Suzanne's petitions and the replies to study the narrative strategy.
Keep a French dictionary or a parallel translation at hand; work through the vocabulary of religious institutions before a second reading.
Read alongside Diderot's other fiction to observe the consistency of his narrative technique and intellectual concerns.
Note shifts in the narrator's tone as you read, using them as clues to the character's situation.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a complete novel?

La Religieuse was left unfinished at Diderot's death and published posthumously; the surviving text was assembled by later editors. It is not a complete version finalized by the author. Read it as a work of unfinished character, attentive to its open and broken narrative threads.

Can I read this book without knowing French?

This is an electronic edition of the original French text. Readers without French should first consult a translation to grasp the content, then return to the original for comparison. Intermediate and advanced learners of French can use it for close reading of a literary classic.

Does the electronic edition include notes or an introduction?

The e-books provided by this project consist mainly of public-domain original texts and usually contain no scholarly notes or introduction. Readers are advised to consult relevant literary histories or research literature to understand the eighteenth-century French religious and intellectual background.

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About the author

Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784 Author

Denis Diderot (1713–1784) was a major French writer and thinker of the Enlightenment; public information about the details of his life is limited, and the surviving record centers largely on his works. The collection holds fourteen of his works, spanning novels, philosophical dialogues, and letters, with representative titles including Jacques the Fatalist and His Master, Rameau's Nephew, The Nun, Supplement to the Voyage of Bougainville, and The Indiscreet Jewels. His writing often uses dialogue and narrative to explore free will, religious asceticism, moral hypocrisy, and social custom, in a witty and argumentative style that blends storytelling with philosophical reflection and at times bold, direct satire. Many of his works were unpublished or circulated narrowly during his lifetime, but they gained growing attention later and have had a lasting influence on the European novel and on Enlightenment thought.