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Belle van Zuylen is a notable woman in Dutch history, particularly in the histories of the city of Utrecht and its university, where she attended lectures. She was only allowed to listen to them, because women were not allowed to study for real yet. She is one of the most well-known Dutch women in literary history. Belle became known for her liberal beliefs and her criticism of social and political inequalities. She was a supporter of the Enlightenment ideals, and believed in the power of reason and tolerance. Her ideas often clashed with those of the aristocracy and her family. Her life and written works have been of great value to the literary and intellectual development of her time, and her legacy can be seen well into the present day.

Childhood and family

On 20 October 1740, she was born under the name Isabelle Agneta Elisabeth van Tuyll van Serooskerken in Zuylen Castle. This sixteenth-century castle, located just outside the city of Utrecht, was a summerhouse to Belle and her family. The family would often spend the winters in their city residence at the Kromme Nieuwegracht in Utrecht. Belle came from a prominent aristocratic family in the Netherlands. Her family, the family Van Tuyll van Serooskerken, was of Dutch nobility and wealthy. Thanks to her family's social position and wealth, Belle received an excellent education; better than that of many women and even men in her time. Together with her six younger brothers and sisters, she was educated at home by French-speaking governesses in various languages, mathematics, physics and theology. She also attended lectures at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. She was only allowed to listen to them, though, because women were not allowed to study for real yet.

Belle had many different interests. For instance, she occupied herself with writing, including poetry, making music, drawing, gardening and crafting. She had her own writing room at Zuylen Castle and when she was twenty years old (in 1763), she anonymously published her first book, written in French, as was common among nobility at that time. Le Noble (The Nobleman) casts a critical light on eighteenth-century aristocracy. One example of this is that the main character in the book was not allowed by her parents to marry the man she was in love with, because he was of lower nobility. The book was not well-received among Belle's family and her father probably withdrew it after he found out his daughter had written it.

In the eighteenth century, it was common for women from the aristocracy to marry influential men for money and status. However, Belle did not want to be forced into a marriage and lose her independence that way. James Boswell had proposed marriage, but Belle turned him down because he wanted to forbid her from writing with men without his permission. She therefore wrote to him: “I have no talent for subservience.” It was important to Belle to have the freedom to write letters, as she loved doing that. Hundreds of letters by her have been preserved. One of her most loyal correspondents was Constant d’Hermenches. They met at a court ball in The Hague in 1760. For sixteen years, they stayed in contact with each other by writing letters. Belle had to keep this exchange of letters a secret, for d’Hermenches was nineteen years older than her and he was also already married. Belle therefore let him know he should burn her letters after he had read them. He never did, which is why we know quite much about Belle's life and her thoughts. A number of her letters are currently kept in The Utrecht Archives.

At 31 years old, Belle married Charles-Emmanuel de Charrière, her brothers' former private tutor. Although he was of lower lineage, he did give her the freedom she desired. The wedding took place in the Chapel of Zuilen, but the married couple soon moved to the Swiss Colombier, where Emmanuel lived. This was where Belle wrote many letters, books and pamphlets. This gained her international fame under the name Madame de Charrière.

Belle van Zuylen and the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. Rational thinking, science and individualism took centre stage in it. Belle corresponded with important persons from this movement, such as David Hume, Rousseau and Voltaire, but she also contributed to the Enlightenment herself.

One of her most famous works is the epistolary novel 'Zélide', published in 1796 under the pseudonym Zélide. This work shined a light on the restrictions women experienced in her time, and pleaded for more freedom and self-determination for women. It is thanks to this and other texts by Belle that she is also called a Feministe avant lettre. Belle already had feminist ideals before the rise of feminism.

Despite the emphasis on freedom, equality and justice, many writers from the Enlightenment kept quiet about slavery. Belle did not explicitly speak out against slavery either, while a big part of her fortune can be traced to revenues from colonies in Asia and the Transatlantic trade routes. It is thanks to her and her family's large fortune that Belle had the space and received the opportunities to develop herself into a highly-educated woman with her own opinion.