Persian Letters (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (Author), C. J. Betts (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1973 | ISBN-10: 0140442812 | ISBN-13: 978-0140442816 | Edition: 14th

This richly evocative novel-in-letters tells the story of two Persian noblemen who have left their country - the modern Iran - to journey to Europe in search of wisdom. As they travel, they write home to wives and eunuchs in the harem and to friends in France and elsewhere. Their colourful observations on the culture differences between West and East culture conjure up Eastern sensuality, repression and cruelty in contrast to the freer, more civilized West - but here also unworthy nobles and bishops, frivolous women of fashion and conceited people of all kinds are satirized. Storytellers as well as letter-writers, Montesquieu's Usbek and Rica are disrespectful and witty, but also serious moralists. "Persian Letters" was a succes de scandale in Paris society, and encapsulates the libertarian, critical spirit of the early eighteenth century.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

About the Author

Charles-Louis de Scondat (1689 - 1755) was born into an eminent family of parliamentaires. He inherited the barony of Monesquieu in 1715 and published the Persian Letters anonymously five years later. Christopher Betts is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of French STudies at the University of Warwick. He has written books and articles on eighteenth-century French fiction and thought and has translated Rousseau's Social Contract

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Penguin; 14th edition (April 30, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140442812
• ISBN-13: 978-0140442816
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Persian Letters, August 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Persian Letters (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Persian Letters (Lettres Persanes) was first published in 1721 when Montesquieu was 32 years old. The book is about three Persians: Usbek, Rica, and Rhedi, who set out for Europe to study it's manners and institutions. Rhedi stops at Venice, while Usbek and Rica continue on to Paris. Very soon after their departure, there begins a brisk exchange of letters between the Persian visitors, and their wives, servants, and friends at home, as well as between the visitors themselves.One visitor, Usbek, a Persian lord, must keep in close contact with his harem of wives in his seraglio, as well as the eunuchs who guard the wives. When disorders break out in the seraglio, the eunuchs try to restore discipline by administering to two of the wives, "that chastisement which begins by shocking one's modesty, involving the deepest humiliation and takes one back to the time of her childhood." Montesquieu however, uses this framework to comment on a very wide amount of subjects. The book also attacks errors and vices that will last as long as humanity. It is sometimes witty, sometimes profound.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy in the guise of fiction, July 8, 2004

By 

Anyechka (Rensselaer, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Persian Letters (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This was one of the books I read in my History of the Enlightenment Class my junior year of college. Our brilliant professor didn't assign all of the letters to read, though, and later I went back and read all of the book, not just the ones we'd been assigned to read for class. A lot of books about the politics and philosophy of a certain period in time don't age well, but this one, for the most part anyway, sounds just as fresh and entertaining today as it did in the eighteenth century. And using the pretence of this being a collection of real letters he intercepted from some Persian houseguests, Montesquieu was able to communicate the new exciting beliefs of his age by having them be told through the so-called eyes of Usbek, Rica, and Ibben, who were experiencing this all for the very first time and having to get adjusted to a real clash of values. This also worked to his advantage in a few cases, like where Usbek is talking about how there is a magician even greater than the King of France, saying "This magician is called the Pope" and going into a whole scathing litany about the Pope. He was able to attack the King and the Church by pretending that foreign travellers were writing and believing these things.

The subplot is very interesting too. While Usbek and his friend Rica are away in France for seven years soaking up the Enlightenment, Usbek's wives, concubines, and slaves are getting more and more restless. While the cat's away, the mice will play, and the guiltiest party is the one the reader least suspects. This brings up the Enlightenment question about personal freedom, and how someone might react in such a situation. These women, and these male slaves, have never questioned their total subservience to Usbek until it becomes clear he's not going to be back for quite some time. They give in to their natural human instincts, wanting greater personal freedom and realising they don't have to be these obedient little automatons with no personal wishes or desires of their own apart from absolutely pleasing Usbek in all things. And by the time Usbek gets wind of this from his faithful eunuchs, the women and the slaves have already tasted freedom and will not go back to how things used to be without a fight. (Though I was surprised that the eunuchs never got into this rebellion against the restrictive rules too, and wondered where Zephis and Fatme, two of the other five main wives, went, since they aren't mentioned in the Chief Eunuch's first letter to Usbek telling him of the "horrible sins" which his women and slaves have been engaging in without him around.)

This book is great not only as history, but also as fiction and philosophical, political, and religious commentary, ringing as true today in many respects as it did nearly three hundred years ago.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delicious entertainment, August 1, 2001

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Persian Letters (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

There are many reasons one might choose to read this work, including reasons associated with one's studies at University, or for its historical interest, or for its views on law and justice. But, the compelling reason for me is that it provides a level of elegant discourse with such wit and charm that I would recommend it for its value as an entertainment alone. On the Spanish " Those Spaniards who do not get burnt seemed to be so attached to the Inquisition that it would be churlish to take it away from them.(p156)" On History " Here are the books on modern history. First you will see the historians of the church and the papacy, books which I read for edification, and which often have exactly the opposite effect on me.(p241)" " I observe that people here argue about religion interminably: but it appears that they are competing at the same time to see who can be the least devout.(P.101)" "There is not a single Protestant ruler who does not raise more taxes from his people than the Pope from his subjects; yet the latter are poor, while the former live in opulence. With them, commerce brings everything to life, while with the others monastacism carries death with it everywhere.(p213)" This book in short is a wonderful antidote to the protestations, statements, and self-righteousness of most living politicians and religious leaders. Relax and enjoy.