Denis Diderot, Le Père de Famille [The Family Father]

Louise Crowther (University of Manchester)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.04: French Writing and Culture: Eighteenth-Century and the Enlightenment, 1700-1800.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Severine Genieys-Kirk (University of Edinburgh), Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge), Síofra Pierse (University College Dublin), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1758

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Le Père de famille [The Family Father] was written during 1757-58 and appeared in November 1758 along with its accompanying work De la Poésie dramatique [Of Dramatic Poetry]. The play appeared in the middle of a period of turmoil for Diderot: the once intimate friendship that Diderot had enjoyed with Rousseau had ruptured irreparably and publicly; not only did Rousseau take offense at Diderot’s less than subtle attack, in Le Fils naturel [The Natural Son], on those (Rousseau being a case in point) who abandon society and friendship for a life of seclusion, but they also differed in their views on theatre. Whereas Rousseau accused the theatre of corrupting morals, Diderot wanted the theatre to become a school for virtue whereby it would have “des missions [...] morales (puisqu’il s’agit de prêcher la vertu)” (Ménil,...

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1347 words

Citation: Crowther, Louise. "Le Père de Famille". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4070, accessed 09 June 2026.]

Denis Diderot, Le Père de Famille [The Family Father]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

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