The dangerous liaisons

The analysis of the social mask in Rousseau and Diderot

Abstract

We intend in this article to develop the theme of the social mask in Rousseau and Diderot. Rousseau was a critic of the over-civility of his society, by him characterized as social mask. His criticisms can be found in works such as the Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality among men and in Emile. He sought, thus, moral and social transparency. Diderot, however, seems to assimilate the metaphor of the social mask in such a way as to demonstrate that if society is already corrupted, the truth can be discovered under the masked veil of irony. This assumption can find foundation in Rameau's nephew, written published posthumously. Our objective is to relate the theme of the social mask in Rousseau and Diderot with the film Dangerous liaisons directed by Stephen Frears, trying to perceive the construction of the social mask metaphor in the latter. We propose to search the index of transparency in Rousseau, and, in Diderot, we will seek to perceive the immoral character that becomes useful when telling the truth through irony. We will check if there is a possibility to affirm the preponderance of one of the interpretations - that of Rousseau or that of Diderot - in relation to the film, or if, in fact, we can only analyze it from the coexistence of both social criticisms.