Book Description

The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Translated by W. Conyngham Mallory. The Confessions is an autobiographical book by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In modern times, it is often published with the title The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in order to distinguish it from Saint Augustine's Confessions. Covering the first fifty-three years of Rousseau's life, up to 1765, it was completed in 1769, but not published until 1782, four years after Rousseau's death, even though Rousseau did read excerpts of his manuscript publicly at various salons and other meeting places.The Confessions was two distinct works, each part consisting of six books. Books I to VI were written between 1765 and 1767, and published in 1782; books VII to XII were written in 1769–1770, and published in 1789. Rousseau alludes to a planned third part, but this was never completed. Though the book contains factual inaccuracies — particularly, Rousseau's dates are frequently off, and some events are out of order — Rousseau provides an account of the experiences that shaped his personality and ideas. For instance, some parts of his own education are clearly present in his account of ideal education, Emile, or On Education.Rousseau's work is notable as one of the first major autobiographies. Prior to his writing the Confessions, the two great autobiographies were Augustine's own Confessions and Saint Teresa's Life of Herself. Both of these works, however, focused on the religious experiences of their authors. The Confessions was one of the first autobiographies in which an individual wrote of his own life mainly in terms of his worldly experiences and personal feelings. Rousseau recognized the unique nature of his work; it opens with the famous words: I have resolved on an enterprise which has no precedent and which, once complete, will have no imitator. My purpose is to display to my kind a portrait in every way true to nature, and the man I shall portray will be myself.Not long after publication, many other writers (such as Goethe, Wordsworth and De Quincey) wrote their own similarly-styled autobiographies; however, Leo Damrosch argues that Rousseau meant that it would be impossible to imitate his book, as nobody else would be like Jean-Jacques Rousseau.The Confessions is also noted for its detailed account of Rousseau's more humiliating and shameful moments. For instance, Rousseau recounts an incident when, while a servant, he covered up his theft of a ribbon by framing a young girl — who was working in the house — for the crime. In addition, Rousseau explains the manner in which he disposes of his five children, whom he had out of wedlock with Therese Levasseur. In spite of its path-breaking features, Confessions is understood by Rousseau researchers to be a widely inaccurate autobiography.