Abstract

Only modern conceptions of friendship involve women and are thought also by women. Unlike La Rochefoucauld and other male moralists, in her Traité de l’amitié, as well as in her Réflexions nouvelles sur les femmes, Mme de Lambert describes a form of sentimental friendship between woman and man that cannot be distinguished from love. By examining the Traité in conjunction with the Réflexions, my article will show that Mme de Lambert’s view of friendship deserves attention for two reasons. On the one hand, she revised Montaigne’s reflections to include women in the realm of friendship. On the other hand, she revived Madeleine de Scudéry’s politics of tenderness to defend women’s intellectual freedom. Disclosing what is at stake in Mme de Lambert’s conception of friendship will allow to highlight an interesting aspect of her political thought.