ABSTRACT
Denis Diderot admired Samuel Richardson's technique from the outset; moreover, the stated purpose of his own plays was to spread virtue through society at large, and Richardson's success showed how popular moralizing literature could be. In the course of 1760, Diderot began work on his 'Richardsonian' novel La Religieuse. And towards the end of 1761, he writes his Eloge de Richardson. Diderot's implied rejection of intentionalism allows him to misread the English author's portrayal of virtue and its necessary basis in religion. But even after Suzanne Simonin has entered the nunnery that is not available to Clarissa, Diderot continues to borrow elements from Richardson. Diderot surely intended that whoever was moved by Suzanne's example, be it after his death, would be illuminated by the 'Richardsonian' torch which he, the campaigning philosoplte, holds aloft. Suzanne's decision to enter the convent is based on purely theological notions of intercession and expiation.
