Émilie, Marquise du Châtelet-Laumont (1706-1749)

The birth of Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet-Laumont, came on 17 December, 1706. As her long formal name suggests she was born into an elite aristocracy, a French woman, for whom marriage was the only way one could find a secure place in society. Her father, Louis-Nicolas, Baron de Breteuil, owned land in Touraine and an extravagant house in Paris. Louis-Nicolas was a favorite of the court, from which he retired upon the death of Louis XIV, in 1751. Gabrielle Émilie was nine years old when her father settled down and they lived in the large house in Paris overlooking the Tuileries, the year was 1697. Emilie was a bright youngster, enough so that her father took notice and by the age of twelve she was being tutored in Latin, Italian, and English. Her cousins account recorded in Mme du Châtelet (Ehrman, 1986, p. 18) states, she stood out as an awkward teenager. "She was a colossus in all her limbs-- a marvel of strength and a prodigy of clumsiness. She had terrible feet and formidable limbs." Émilie was studious and disciplined, rash and spontaneous, attributes which led to her recieving a much more serious education than most females of her time. She took to mathematics and the sciences, being exposed to distinguished guests of her parents at l' Hotel Breteuil, such as Fontenelle and Voltaire, the latter with whom she will cultivate a life long relationship.

On 20 June 1725, at the age of 19, Gabrielle Émilie was married to Florent Claude Chastellet (the spelling Châtelet was introduced by Voltaire) (p. 18). Florent Claude was a military man, his ancestors could be traced to Charlemagne and the like. The couple inherited the estates of Cirey from Florent Claudes mother, an estate which would eventually house Émilie and Voltaire. This is where they would cultivate some of their finest works. The Marquis, Florent Claude, and the Marquise Gabrielle Émilie were also given the government of Semur-en Auxiois in Burgundy, where the Marquis was a frequent visitor.

Gabrielle gave birth to a daughter and a son in 1726 and 1727 respectively. She also gave birth to a third child in 1733. The Marquis was frequently absent in military duty and the Marquise consequently lived in his townhouse in Paris where she engulfed herself in an extravagant social life. Popular intellectual life centered around cafe's and salons where she would meet and discuss various topics with popular 'thinkers' of the time. Émilie took much interest in opera, theater and gambling, which became an expensive habit for her. During this period Gabrielle Émile had an affaire with the Comte de Guébriant.

Still, Madame du Châtelet was evidently more interested in preserving the marriage than her husband, and it is said when he wanted to end it she actually faked a suicide though apparently no harm was done. They separated and she then surrounded herself with many men, though it was their intellectual stature that ultimately mattered to her. These men included the Duc de Richelieu, Maupetuis and Voltaire. Of these, it was only her relationship with Voltaire which was to endure and blossom for the remainder of her life. The Marquise spent most of the time with Voltaire at Cirey. This is where all of the experiments that led to her Newtonian works were conducted. They studied day and night. Toward the end of her life she had even ceased to be the social enthusiast she once was and her studies were non-stop. In January 1749 Mme du Châtelet told Voltaire she was pregnant. Though the pregnancy was by Saint-Lambert with whom in her later years she had fallen in love, Mme du Châtelet, Saint-Lambert and Voltaire plotted to make it appear as if the Marquis du Châtelet was the father. It worked. On September 4 she gave birth to a daughter. Six days later she died and soon after so did the child.

Êmilie and the Philosophers

The philosophy of Descartes during the seventeenth century set up a certain resistance to the establishment in terms of religion, government, literature and science. The main fuel for this fire came in the way of 'reason' . This new light fashioned itself in the contemplation of the established ideas in all these areas and often rejected dominant thought in these areas. These intellectuals were called les philosophes. Many intellectuals of the time were members of this school of thought, including the royal Prince Frederick of Prussia, though when he became King, he put none of it into practice. This is where Gabrielle Émilie stood and she associated herself with others of this school. This opposition to the established thought of her time would prove a difficult task especially given the general exclusion of women from the intellectual realm noted by both Madame du Châtelet herself and Mary Wollstonecraft in her critique of Rousseau's Sophie.

Chatelet Time Line

Chatelet Time Line Sources

Internet Resources

• Jane Birkenstock has produced a fine web page for the Chateau Circey that has much interesting information about Madame du Chatelet and Voltaire.

Bibliography

• Institutions de Physique. More than half of the twenty chapters of her book are concerned with science, that is physical, i.e. matter, gravity, weight, equilibrium etc.. Eighteenth century France found itself contemplating the interconnectedness of metaphysics and physics at the time of Émilie's writing.. In respect to matters of metaphysics she claimed: "it is certain that there are a number of points in metaphysics which lend themselves to demonstrations just as rigorous as the demonstrations of geometry, even if they are different in kind." (p. 47).. Thus, included in her introduction to the explanation of the work of Newton was a discussion of the metaphysics of Liebniz. "Emilie's exposition of German Philosophy was remarkably clear." (p. 47). Mme du Chatelet was interested in bringing Metaphysics into the picture and provide it to prove the 'sufficient reason' for the universe as described by scientists'. From the most physical of science to the existence of God, Institutions de Physique was a major accomplishment. Émilie's interest in the principle of sufficient reason and Leibniz' attempt to explain the origin of evil may have played a role in Voltaire's discussion of these topics and his ridicule of Leibniz in Candide. Voltaire agreed with Pierre Bayle, that it was not possible, as Leibniz believed, to explain rationally the role which evil plays in the divine plan.

• Translation and commentary on Newton's Principia Mathematica. Mme du Châtelet translated Newton's Principia Mathematica, from Latin into French and she added a commentary. most of which was based on her work with the scientist Clairaut. Also a section on tides which she summarized from a prize essay by Daniel Bernoulli. Most of the commentary, however, was her own. Mme du Châtelet's refusal to abandon the metaphysical basis of physics makes this translation and her additions a key defining point of Emilie's work. Though she finally came to a reasonably clear understanding of Leibniz and even courageously "improved" upon his philosophy, she ultimately abandoned Leibniz and devoted herself entirely to Newton. Still, "The fairest judgment would probably be that Voltaire did more to popularize Newton in France, while she did more to popularize science in general, Newtonian and Leibnizian alike." (p. 58)

• Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees, a Rendering and a Feminist Manifesto. Châtelet also translated Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees though the rendering was loose and she put Mandeville to her own uses. Mandeville's work was a collection of essay's including, 'An Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue'. A controversial collection that was condemned all over Europe, Mme du Châtelet believed it was one of the best moral books ever written. She believed though, that Mandeville did not write well and often got carried away. 'I have corrected those passages and cut anything that which only relates only to the English and their customs' (p. 59). The conclusion of the translators preface, reflecting on the task of this translation, states:

  "I feel the full weight of the prejudice which so universally excludes us from the sciences; it is one of the contradictions in life that has always amazed me, seeing that the law allows us to determine the fate of great nations, but that there is no p lace where we are trained to think...Let the reader ponder why, at no time in the course of so many centuries, a good tragedy, a good poem, a respected tale, a fine painting, a good book on physics has ever been produced by women. Why these creatures who se understanding appears in every way similar to that of men, seem to be stopped by some irresistible force, this side of a barrier. Let the people give a reason, but until they do, women will have reason to protest against their education...If I were king...I would redress an abuse which cuts back, as it were, one half of human kind. I would have women participate in all human rights, especially those of the mind. It would seem as if they were born only to deceive -- this being the only intellectual exercise allowed them. The new education would greatly benefit the human race. Women would be worth more and men would gain something new to emulate...I am convinced that either many women are unaware of their talents by reason of the fault in their edu cation or that bury them on account of prejudice for want of intellectual courage. My own experience confirms this. Chance made me aquatinted with men of letters who extended the hand of friendship to me...I then began to believe that I was a being with a mind..." (p. 61)

  This is a perfect example of the extent to which her dedication to quality, in regards to science, but more dramatically to intellectual works of women in general.

• Three chapters of the Grammaire Raisonée. Voltaire had a great interest in language and this interest was shared by Mme du Châtelet. She wrote three chapters of a Grammaire raisonnee. This work on grammar was not published by her ( it was found among some of Voltaire's papers). It is known only that it was written after 1736. The work was influenced by the writings on grammar by Antoine Arnould and Claude Lancelot. In the chapters by du Châtelet, she makes a number of references to the writings of these men and their demonstrations of the logical relation between reason and language. She believed if we are to understand the rules of language it is necessary to understand the rules of logic.

• Examen de la Genèse (The Examination of Genesis, the Commentary of a Philosopher). Voltaire and Mme du Châtelet discussed biblical accounts on a daily basis and took many notes on the matters that interested them and the Examination of Genesis, the commentary of a philosopher is Mme du Châtelet's account of these meetings and her findings. Critical as they are she comes to some interesting conclusions. Passages such as this: "How amusing to have the first three days marked off by a morning and an evening, before the sun was created on the fourth day." (p. 73) reflect the witty and uninhibited questioning of the Bible Mme du Châtelet uses on the basis of reasoning and scientific thought. She does not even hesitate to suggest what the biblical text should have said. While Émilie and Voltaire, like many philosophes, rejected revealed religion, Voltaire, at least, thought that natural religion demonstrated the existence of God.

• A Discourse on Happiness. Published well after Châtelet's death, the Discours sur le bonheur, A personal view was probably written between May, 1746 and April, 1748, during which time she was hard at work translating Newton's Principia Mathematica (p. 78). Discussions and personal reactions to major issues of the time including, virtues, happiness, the abandonment of prejudice, passion and illusion. She was addressing these issues and presenting her argument to a specifi c group of people. The people she was addressing were the elite and her argument was concerning their happiness, which would come with the suspension of prejudice as a defining point for a rational person. This is also one of the major objects of the philosophes. It contains political views, which focus on the well being of society, though the audience of this work is the elite. She writes: "This does not apply to thieves and murderers, they are not to be found in the class of those to whom I am writing ." (p. 82)