ABSTRACT
This chapter explores both the relationship between Thérèse Levasseur (1721–1801) and her longtime companion, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), and contemporary eighteenth-century perceptions of Levasseur. Modern biographical and scholarly studies of Rousseau often dismiss Levasseur as an “illiterate laundress” and rarely explore her role in Rousseau’s life in any depth. This essay attempts to address this neglect by examining Levasseur’s and Rousseau’s romantic relationship, and Levasseur’s life as a widow after Rousseau’s death. I argue that Levasseur and Rousseau improvised an unconventional relationship and negotiated power in ways that challenged eighteenth-century gender norms and allowed Levasseur a measure of freedom and autonomy. Yet, despite the resilient relationship that Levasseur and Rousseau built over almost three decades, many of their contemporaries found their relationship troubling and alternated between depicting Levasseur either as an “abused mistress” or as an “abusive wife.” My argument plays out along two entwined and parallel paths: on the one hand, I explore how serious consideration of Levasseur’s relationship to Rousseau might re-cast our understanding of both Levasseur and Rousseau; on the other hand, I explore how cultural prejudices effectively exiled Levasseur from the Enlightenment (and even the role of “Rousseau’s wife”) during her own lifetime.
