Embodying law in diderot’s la religieuse

Although Diderot never wrote an openly political treatise like those of his philosophe counterparts, his dramatic and fictional emphasis on bodily gesture serves to illuminate his legal conceptions, as I trace within the context of La Religieuse. Inspired by the historical case of Marguerite Delamarre, Diderot’s fictional Suzanne Simonin also endeavours to escape from the constrictions of the Church after being forced to become a nun. Suzanne struggles within the mute space of the convent to find a voice through the written word, captivating the emotional attention of the audience with her story, as if through a theatrical performance. I argue that her body instead incarnates the law, as she transforms the silence of the convent into a fermentative political space, sparking our reactions against despotism through her inscription of injustice. Diderot’s account becomes an embodied performance exceeding words, demonstrating the powerful potential for Suzanne’s story to reverberate beyond the walls of the convent and into the law itself.