Persian Letters

“When my first master conceived the cruel plan of entrusting his wives to me, and forced me, with flattering attentions that veiled a thousand threats, to part for ever with my very self, I was weary of the harsh tasks that were my daily lot, and believed I was sacrificing my passions to my repose and to my fortune. Unhappy man!”

Each letter written by a eunuch, and especially those that share intimate details about their personal histories, is powerful in its styling, written in a register distinct from the didacticism of other letters. The chief eunuch here confesses to a fellow slave of the self-delusion that has made him yield to his master and give up his manhood and normal development to guard the women of the harem.

“I can see exactly what is happening, Troglodytes; your virtue is becoming burdensome; in your present situation, without a leader, you have to be virtuous in spite of yourselves, for otherwise you could not survive, you would fall into the misfortunes of your earliest forefathers; but you find this yoke too heavy to bear, you prefer to be subject to a prince and to obey his laws, which would be less strict than your own customs; you know that then you will be able to satisfy your ambition, amass riches, and live a life of ease and self-indulgent pleasure; and that, as long as you avoid serious crime, you will have no need of virtue.” 

The story of the Troglodytes, which Usbek relates to Mirza over four letters, was inspired by Montesquieu’s reading of The Adventures of Telemachus by Archbishop Fénelon, which is based on Homer’s Odyssey and suggests altruism and parliamentarism as a new basis for governing. In this excerpt, the man chosen as king ponders the fatal loss of self-induced virtue, which will inevitably lead to vice—morality must be personal and not dictated for it to function.

“I therefore resolved to set aside my Persian clothing and dress instead as a European, to see whether anything in my appearance would still astonish. From this test I learnt my true worth: stripped of my exotic finery, I found myself appraised at my real value, and I had good reason to complain of my tailor, through whom I’d lost, in an instant, the attention and esteem of the public; for suddenly a dreadful void surrounded me; sometimes I’d pass an entire hour in a group of people without anyone looking at me, or giving me an opportunity to open my mouth; but if someone in the circle happened to mention that I was Persian, I’d immediately hear a buzzing around me: ‘Oh! Oh! Monsieur is Persian? That’s most extraordinary! How can someone be Persian?’” 

Rica discovers the relative nature of apparent national difference. The realization that it is only his Persian clothing that renders him exotic in the eyes of Parisians triggers his vanity and patriotism. This also speaks of the superficial nature of perception in French society.