Voltaire’s School of Suicide Learning from the Other and Killing Oneself in L’Orphelin de la Chine

This article examines a moment in Voltaire's 1755 play L'Orphelin de la Chine, an adaptation of a thirteenth-century Chinese drama. The heroine of this piece prepares to commit suicide after a speech in which she cites the example of Japanese suicide practices. This episode marks a rupture in Voltaire's treatment both of China and of suicide. More profoundly, it questions the relationship between two of his goals for theater: depicting the customs of foreign cultures and inspiring virtue.