Diderot - The Nun
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The Nun by Denis Diderot
Written in 1760, revised later and first published posthumously in 1796
English translation by Francis Birrell 1928
The Nun was actually first conceived and written as a hoax played by Diderot and a friend of his upon their friend the Marquis de Croismare. The Marquis had sojourned to his estate in Normandy and, finding country life much to his liking, was reluctant to return to Paris and the company of his friends. Diderot recalled that the Marquis had once taken a strong interest in a case where a nun who had been forced by her family to enter a convent against her will had filed a lawsuit to be allowed to renounce her vows. Diderot concocted a series of letters from this nun to the Marquis recounting how, after years of oppression and temptation, she had escaped from the convent and was now in hiding in Paris imploring his aid. Diderot later reworked the letters into a novel, which was published after his death.
The nun, Susan Simonin, was one of three daughters of a middle class couple. Though she was the most attractive and talented, she was the least favored because she was actually the offspring of Mme. Simonin and an unnamed lover. To avoid an expensive dowry, her parents coerced her into entering a convent. Though she is a devout believer, modest, chaste and dutiful, Susan has no taste for conventual life. Susan's complaints and appeals make her hateful to her Superior, who sees that she is punished and ostracized. Even her friends can offer her little hope. "If you are relieved of your vows," one asks, "what will happen to you? What will you do in the world? You have good looks, intelligence, and talents. But I am told that is all useless for a woman who remains virtuous, and virtuous I know you will always be."
Sister Susan is transferred from one convent to another. In one institution a particularly noxious Superior nearly kills the girl by having her flogged, confining her in a dungeon, and feeding her only scraps of food tainted with filth. In another convent her Superior falls hopelessly in love with Susan and won't relent in her kisses and caresses. Susan remains completely innocent of sexual matters and finds the other nun's attentions only somewhat embarrassing. When the Superior has an orgasm, Susan tries to run off to summon medical aid.
Denis Diderot was an atheist, but The Nun is not anti-religious or anti-Catholic. He is attacking only the idea of monasticism. He maintains that most monks and nuns were either forced or coaxed into taking vows before they were old enough to understand what they were doing, and that the vast majority would leave their cloister if allowed. "Are convents then so necessary to the constitution of a state? Did Jesus Christ institute monks and nuns? Can the Church not possibly get on without them? What need has the Bridegroom of so many foolish virgins? Or the human race of so many victims?... Are all the regulation prayers one repeats there worth one obol given in pity to the poor? Does God, Who made man a social animal, approve of his barring himself from the world?"
As a literary work, The Nun is a bridge between the 18th century novels about female abduction by Samuel Richardson (whom Diderot highly admired) and the subsequent Gothic movement. M. G. Lewis, author of The Monk, and Charles Robert Maturin, in Melmoth the Wanderer, may have lifted scenes directly from Diderot's novel.
Written in 1760, revised later and first published posthumously in 1796
English translation by Francis Birrell 1928
The Nun was actually first conceived and written as a hoax played by Diderot and a friend of his upon their friend the Marquis de Croismare. The Marquis had sojourned to his estate in Normandy and, finding country life much to his liking, was reluctant to return to Paris and the company of his friends. Diderot recalled that the Marquis had once taken a strong interest in a case where a nun who had been forced by her family to enter a convent against her will had filed a lawsuit to be allowed to renounce her vows. Diderot concocted a series of letters from this nun to the Marquis recounting how, after years of oppression and temptation, she had escaped from the convent and was now in hiding in Paris imploring his aid. Diderot later reworked the letters into a novel, which was published after his death.
The nun, Susan Simonin, was one of three daughters of a middle class couple. Though she was the most attractive and talented, she was the least favored because she was actually the offspring of Mme. Simonin and an unnamed lover. To avoid an expensive dowry, her parents coerced her into entering a convent. Though she is a devout believer, modest, chaste and dutiful, Susan has no taste for conventual life. Susan's complaints and appeals make her hateful to her Superior, who sees that she is punished and ostracized. Even her friends can offer her little hope. "If you are relieved of your vows," one asks, "what will happen to you? What will you do in the world? You have good looks, intelligence, and talents. But I am told that is all useless for a woman who remains virtuous, and virtuous I know you will always be."
Sister Susan is transferred from one convent to another. In one institution a particularly noxious Superior nearly kills the girl by having her flogged, confining her in a dungeon, and feeding her only scraps of food tainted with filth. In another convent her Superior falls hopelessly in love with Susan and won't relent in her kisses and caresses. Susan remains completely innocent of sexual matters and finds the other nun's attentions only somewhat embarrassing. When the Superior has an orgasm, Susan tries to run off to summon medical aid.
Denis Diderot was an atheist, but The Nun is not anti-religious or anti-Catholic. He is attacking only the idea of monasticism. He maintains that most monks and nuns were either forced or coaxed into taking vows before they were old enough to understand what they were doing, and that the vast majority would leave their cloister if allowed. "Are convents then so necessary to the constitution of a state? Did Jesus Christ institute monks and nuns? Can the Church not possibly get on without them? What need has the Bridegroom of so many foolish virgins? Or the human race of so many victims?... Are all the regulation prayers one repeats there worth one obol given in pity to the poor? Does God, Who made man a social animal, approve of his barring himself from the world?"
As a literary work, The Nun is a bridge between the 18th century novels about female abduction by Samuel Richardson (whom Diderot highly admired) and the subsequent Gothic movement. M. G. Lewis, author of The Monk, and Charles Robert Maturin, in Melmoth the Wanderer, may have lifted scenes directly from Diderot's novel.
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