The Nun by Denis Diderot essays

The Nun by Denis Diderot essays The Nun was written by Denis Diderot, a Frenchman who was editor for the Encyclopedie and a key figure throughout the Enlightenment period. The Nun is a fictious collection of memoirs by Suzanne Simonin, a young French girl forced into becoming a nun by her parents, specifically her mother. Her memoirs detail the struggles she has with being pushed into the religious life, and the torture she goes through as she tries to escape a life of God. It is a wonderful book showing the struggles of a young woman as she tries to gain her freedom. Diderot not only shows his distaste for the Church Hierarchy, but also the notion of the institution being involved with religion, and human rights and freedoms being taken away from those involved with the church. Diderot shows that convents are not quite, what the public perceives them to be. He shows them as a monarchy led by a supreme ruler (mother superior) and if a nun does not obey, she will be subject to treatment similar to a prisoner of war. When I got back to my cell I felt terrible pains in my feet, I looked down and saw that they were covered in blood from cuts made by bits of glass they had spitefully thrown in my path (110). Suzanne, as much as she despises the ways of the convent, is in actuality a faithful Catholic. She prays often to God and carries out her duties in accordance with the rules of the convent. Suzanne's problems, and also Diderot's problem, is not with the Catholic religion at all, but rather with the hierarchy and the rigid laws created by people, which force others into roles they do want to be in. People perceive convents as places of worship full of saintly figures obeying Gods wishes; Diderot attacks these institutions though and portrays them as vicious p laces that force their will upon young nuns/monks. Although Sister Suzanne is a strong believer in Catholicism and very devoted to God, she is not someone that wants to live her life as a nun. ...