The Theatre is the Opium of the People: A Voice of Dissent from Waldow’s Reading of Rousseau

ABSTRACT This paper questions Waldow reading of Rousseau’s ‘Letter to M D’Alembert’ [Letter]. It claims that Waldow fails to address the social and political argument that lies behind Rousseau’s critique of the theatre and, as a result, her conclusions are misplaced. First, Rousseau does not seek to quench critique rather his aim is to show that the theatre distracts us from our real concerns in life and thus quells discontent and, indeed, the possibility of dissent. Second, Rousseau does not refer to the naturally intact morals of the Genevans but argues that the Genevans are closer to the state of nature and thus less corrupt. Finally, his account of the state of nature in the Letter is not at odds with his own views about the state of nature. Just as in his other writings, he uses the state of nature as a heuristic device to justify his claim that social relations give rise to vice and virtue. It is a necessary fiction that provides us with the principle of hope that things could be otherwise.