Not all preceptors were saints3 reading minutes

While Rousseau's writings paved the way for a literature of intimate education, they also gave shape to the stereotypical vision of the preceptor that dominated the French literary landscape until Stendhal.

According to Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, one of the most eminent literary critics of the 19th century, all men of letters are led, through their works, to speak of themselves. Admittedly, this thesis continues to divide literary theorists. However, it seems that for several centuries there has been a subject in which the writer's personal experience has generally served as the basis for his writings: education.

Rousseau was undoubtedly a pioneer in this field, confiding in us about some of the traumas of his childhood and outlining a new approach to training the younger generation in his Emile.