“[…] the free-thinking Madame de Charrière’s Caliste (1787) is a minor masterpiece of psychological analysis that compels attention, so well observed is it, so intelligent […]. That Madame de Charrière should have fascinated, if only for a short time, Benjamin Constant, can cause no surprise. No better example of her light malicious irony, reminiscent of Beaumarchais, can be found than in an earlier short story (Le Noble, 1763) – which offended the social susceptibilities of her entourage. […]”