Ridicule
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher during the Enlightenment period of the eighteenth century. Rousseau had distinct views that were, at times, unlike other philosophers. Examples of Rousseau's criticisms of society and its citizens are demonstrated in the movie Ridicule. Ridicule is defined as "to make fun of," implying a "deliberate often malicious belittling" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). Rousseau's critique was not merely an attempt to make society and its individuals objects of laughter, but to encourage, like other thinkers, progress of civilization through the "improvement and ultimate transformation of society" (Levack et al. 565). Rousseau was an atypical thinker who tries to grasp an emotional and passionate side of man. Contrary to Rousseau's emotionalism, the character of Mathilde is a single-minded individual and unaware of her emotions. Mathilde's primary concern is her study of science. Her interest in science and nature overshadows and, eventually, removes any of her feelings of love. She agrees to marry a rich, old noble, Monsieur Montalieri, so she can use the income from the marriage to finance her scientific experiments. In Rousseau's The Social Contract, emphasis is pl
Rousseau agrees with the other Enlightenment thinkers on the domesticity of women. He goes to the court to see the king only to raise the much-needed money for his life's work. Rather than controlling domestic matters, the wealthy women use "their conversational skills to direct and facilitate the discussions" of the salon ( Levack et al. To see the king, one's wit, ancestry, deception, and bed partners are all valued over other qualifications, such as the excellence and quality of the person's idea or plan. Mathilde is rational in her decision to marry Montalieri. The aristocrats of the court are not interested or concerned with social matters other than the ones that please themselves. Since wit is used in the court of Versailles for humiliation, as well as for pleasure, those who master the art of ridicule can acquire the attention of the king. He puts any of his private and personal ambitions after the betterment of his society. Another of Rousseau's belief is that man is essentially good, a "noble savage" when in the "state of nature," the condition man was in before the creation of civilization and society. The character of the aristocrat Ponceludon demonstrates Rousseau's idea of the general will. Ponceludon travels to the court at Versailles hoping that King Louis XVI will provide financial aid for his drainage project of the swamps near his home. He thinks logically on whether to reject the court and accept the sweet Mathilde or to grasp the place by the king's side through the sexual favors of Countess de Blayac who is a power channel at court that consorts with the finest wits for her own social ambition.
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