1797 Madame Stael Influence of Passion SUICIDE Justification French Happiness



Madame de Staël was an 18th-century French woman of letters known for her involvement in the French Revolution. Her letters and political writings proved to be quite important in that many of them described the tyrannical character and military plans of Napoleon. However, one of her most controversial works was also one of her most influential to German writers such as Goethe.



‘De l’Influence des Passions’ was a treatise in which she outlined the emotions or feelings of individuals and nations. She describes the influence of emotion on crime, arguments on government policy with regard to emotional reactions, as well as the causes of suicide. The controversy, however, arises out of her depictions of suicide, seeming to praise it rather than mark it as a crime – justifying it as a way to seek happiness or avoid negative emotion. Note these passages from her book:

“The felicity of man is more necessary to him than life; he will commit suicide to escape from misery… Men capable of resolving to commit suicide venture to explore this grand path of happiness.”



Item number: #13163

Price: $499



STAEL, Anne-Louise Germaine



De l'influence des passions : sur le bonheur des individus et des nations



Paris : Dufart, 1797.



Details:

Collation: Complete; 2 volumes in 1

Vol. I – [2], 179, [1]

Vol. II – [2], 200

References:

Quotes from 1798 Cawthorn English translation

Language: French

Binding: Leather; tight & secure

Size: ~5.5in X 3.5in (14cm x 9cm)



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