« Émue de pitié et encore plus d’indignation » : Sentiments moraux et réflexion politique dans les œuvres révolutionnaires d’Isabelle de Charrière

Abstract

This article explores the interplay between pity and indignation in the revolutionary works of Isabelle de Charrière, particularly in Lettres trouvées dans des porte-feuilles d’émigrés (1793). It argues that these two sentiments structure a moral and political response to the violence of the Revolution, and advances two key claims: first, that Charrière’s indignation arises from a form of pity rooted in sympathetic identification with the suffering of others; and second, that this indignation is directed at the widespread insensitivity demonstrated by both aristocrats and revolutionaries. The article further shows how Charrière’s writing, following in the footsteps of Rousseau, seeks to elicit these two moral affections in the reader, thereby assuming both an ethical and performative function. Through a close textual analysis of the characters and their development, the study highlights the central role of compassion in shaping moral judgement and in critiquing the sacrificial logic underlying the Terror.