The novels published by Isabelle de Charrière before the French Revolution offer a perceptive account of the psychology and the social climate of the late eighteenth century. The anti-Freudian psychoanalysis of the neurologist and psychiatrist Heinz Kohut (1913-81) is used in this study as a means of developing an awareness of the position of the fictional characters. Feminist and Freudian readings of Charrière’s novels of the 1780s have stressed the ‘closed’ deterministic atmosphere of contemporary society; this new study emphasises what can be called the ‘modern’ side of the novels: patriarchal society and individual needs confront each other and allow the relationships to be seen in a new light. By means of Kohut’s notion of ‘selfobject’ a rich insight is gained into the complex relationships described by Isabelle de Charrière.

The novels published by Isabelle de Charrière before the French Revolution offer a perceptive account of the psychology and the social climate of the late eighteenth century. The anti-Freudian psychoanalysis of the neurologist and psychiatrist Heinz Kohut (1913-81) is used in this study as a means of developing an awareness of the position of the fictional characters. Feminist and Freudian readings of Charrière’s novels of the 1780s have stressed the ‘closed’ deterministic atmosphere of contemporary society; this new study emphasises what can be called the ‘modern’ side of the novels: patriarchal society and individual needs confront each other and allow the relationships to be seen in a new light. By means of Kohut’s notion of ‘selfobject’ a rich insight is gained into the complex relationships described by Isabelle de Charrière.