Voltaire's correspondence: An epistolary novel

This dissertation studies Voltaire's correspondence not as an historical, biographical and anecdotal document, but as a literary text, perhaps Voltaire's greatest work of fiction: an epistolary novel of which Voltaire himself is the central character. The first chapter traces the simultaneous evaluation of fictional writing and letter writing throughout the history of western literature, and examines theories of epistolarity from antiquity up to the present day. The second chapter deals more specifically with the publishing of Voltaire's correspondence, and the role of both the author and various editors in determining which private letters have a sufficient literary status to justify their publication. Chapter Three, Four and Five examine Voltaire's correspondence with his mistress Madame Denis from 1745 to 1750, with the Tronchin family of Geneva from 1754 to 1765, and with the encyclopediste Jean le Rond d'Alembert from 1746 to 1778. Each correspondence is approached as an integral literary work, with a unique style, thematic structure, cast of characters and plot. Voltaire's relationship with his correspondents, the epistolary language created within specific correspondences, and the metamorphosis of the writer's fictional self through the individual letters are examined in detail to determine to what extent epistolary writing can be considered fictional writing. Various intertextual sources, including fables, drawings, poems, manuscript letters, and articles from l'Encyclopedie are used to support the thesis that letter writing is a form of fictional representation.