Abstract

Madame de Staël's views on religion have perplexed modern readers. People agree that she was «religious» her whole life, but exactly what this means has remained unclear. Many find her religious views vague and contradictory. This essay argues that de Staël is best understood as a reformer and religious seeker who was searching for a new or updated religion that might bring «calm to the soul» of French citizens while also helping to foster the civic values they needed to sustain a liberal constitution. This new religion would combine some aspects of the «reasonable Calvinism» of her upbringing and those of more sentimentalist and mystic varieties that she explored as an adult.