ABSTRACT
In the spring of the year 1764 an unknown woman - she calls herself Henriette - addressed a long letter to the famous philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This chapter considers the correspondence between Henriette and Rousseau as the exemplary site of a social conflict on gender relations in the second half of the eighteenth century. Taking a closer look at the interaction between the two protagonists, it argues that Henriette's step to write to the philosopher opens up a space where new gender identities can emerge, challenging the boundaries of private and public spheres. The first section considers the initial sequence of Henriette's letter and the kind of relationship it establishes between herself and her correspondent. The second explores Henriette's autobiographical account of her experience of the gender situation as well as her conclusions. The third looks at Rousseau's answer to Henriette, analysing how the gendered power relation is transformed in the course is a short epistolary exchange.
