35 h 26 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 35 h 26 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the love you trust most asks you to betray everything you are taught to honour?
On the shore of Lake Geneva, Julie d'Étanges falls in love with her tutor, Saint-Preux. She is a baron's daughter; he is a learned young man without rank or fortune. In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Eloisa, their letters reveal a passion that Julie's father and the rules of their society will not allow.
Julie's lively cousin Claire d'Orbe guards their secret, but love offers no simple escape from family or conscience. Through distinct voices, Rousseau explores honesty, marriage, nature and duty. The lake and the mountains above it give this intense story a vivid setting, while its central question presses close: can passion and virtue live together?
What you’ll discover
- Love without equal standing Feel the strain between Julie's noble birth and Saint-Preux's lack of rank or money.
- Letters that bring you close Hear the lovers speak in their own voices, with tenderness, longing and difficult questions.
- A friend who speaks plainly Meet Claire, whose practical sense and lively humour stand beside the lovers' intense feelings.
- Mountains above the lake Follow Saint-Preux into the Alpine country as he seeks distance and calm.
- A difficult idea of virtue Explore what duty demands when love, conscience and a father's wishes pull apart.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love letters, confessions and the clashing voices of different people, and for anyone curious how an eighteenth century thinker pictured a good home beside lakes and mountains.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A farewell becomes a confession
- Distance cannot quiet their love
- Honor means putting things right
- Eloisa chooses duty over love
- Trust brings the lovers together
- Virtue requires repeated choices
- Ordinary duties make a good home
- Letters reveal imperfect human viewpoints
- Love changes into care and duty
Who’s who
- Eloisa D'EtangeA baron's daughter, warm and thoughtful, who loves her tutor and struggles to keep both her heart and her honor.
- The tutor, later called St. PreuxA young man of no rank, devoted and impulsive, who wants to love Eloisa without harming her.
- Clara, later Mrs. OrbeEloisa's cheerful cousin and closest friend, who keeps her secrets and guides her with wit and sense.
- Baron D'EtangeEloisa's proud father, who guards his family's honor and his given word above his daughter's wishes.
- Lord BA bold, loyal English nobleman who becomes the tutor's protector and friend and believes in philosophy.
- Mr. WolmarA calm, observant man of mature years who values reason and trusts the people around him.
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Eloisa
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau · 1761
A young tutor confesses his love to his pupil Eloisa in a letter, and a daughter's duty and a lover's oath collide.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What would you do if the person you admire most were the one person you must never love? That is the question behind Eloisa, a novel told entirely in letters.
Eloisa at a glance
- Reading time
- About 20 h 25 min16 h 10 min fast, 24 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 291,200 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1761by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A tutor's confession sets everything moving
The novel opens with a letter from a young tutor to his pupil, Eloisa. He writes that he must leave, and he asks her to be the one who sends him away. He cannot go on his own, because honor and love pull him in opposite directions.
He says he has no hope. His birth and fortune are far below hers, and her father is a baron who guards his rank. Still, he lists every small thing that undoes him: the evening games with forfeits, fingers that touch, a kiss she almost allows.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1761
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Eloisa. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/eloisa.
Rousseau, J.-J. (2026). Eloisa. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/eloisa (Original work published 1761)
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Eloisa. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/eloisa.
@book{rousseau2026eloisa,
author = {Rousseau, Jean-Jacques},
title = {Eloisa},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/eloisa},
note = {First published 1761}
}
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What is Eloisa by Rousseau about?
It tells of a young tutor and his noble pupil who fall in love against the wishes of her family. Through their letters, and those of Clara and Lord B, it follows duty, honor, marriage and the search for a good home.
Who is St. Preux in Eloisa?
St. Preux is the name the later letters give the tutor. He is a young man of modest birth who loves Eloisa, travels the world, and later joins the household at Clarens as a friend and teacher.
Is Eloisa a true story?
No, it is a novel, published in 1761. Rousseau calls himself its editor but admits a part in writing it, leaving the letters' authenticity playfully unresolved.
The author
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712–1778 · Genevan philosopher and writer
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712 and died in Ermenonville, France, in 1778. He lived in Switzerland, France, and England. He wrote philosophy, fiction, autobiography, and music. His works include Discourse on Inequality (1755), Julie (1761), and Emile (1762). His Confessions was published after his death.
More by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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