Robespierre: Hero or Villain?

Was Georges Danton or Maximilien Robespierre the hero in Andrzej Wajda’s film adaptation: Danton? During the reign of terror somewhere between 1793-1794 France, Georges Danton, played by Gerard Depardieu, is advocating the end of the terror while taking on Maximilien Robespierre and the Hebertists. In the film, we see Robespierre, played by Wojciech Pszoniak, acting as a sort of dictator towards the people. The peasants are in line for food and the montagnards are rucking up a storm due to high tensions

The French Revolution The French Revolution was one of the most traumatic events in human history. Over seven million people may have died as a result. The immediate reason was the financial crisis caused by French support for the American Revolution. France invested 2 billion pieces of silver to win the war. Her tax system could only support the government during peace. A war called for extraordinary measures. This was the beginning of the first phase of the revolution, which is referred to as

Is Man Inherently Evil? In today’s society, it’s incredibly easy to find bad news. Reports of the wrongdoings of humanity are constantly circling through the media. “Three women were kidnapped and held captive for ten years, a teenager shot up an elementary school, and a teenage girl was shot for wanting to go to school.” Many believe that mankind is born with a special form of evil and we do what we please with it. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible says otherwise. We as humans are very susceptible to

Was Napoleon Bonaparte a hero or a villain? During the Napoleonic Era, from 1799 to 1815, France became a military power gaining and controlling land throughout Europe. While some historians believe Napoleon Bonaparte was a ruthless dictator, his military accomplishments far outweigh any atrocities he committed. He helped France gain stability after the French Revolution and he also abolished the Feudal contract. Napoleon was a brilliant strategist using military tactics to cause fear and to

"The invaluable works of our elder writers re driven into neglect by frantic novels, sickly and stupid German Tragedies, and deluges of idle and extravagant stories in verse. The human mind is capable of being excited without the application of gross and violent stimulants.." William Wordsworth, Preface to The Lyrical Ballads, 1802. "..Phantasmagoric kind of fiction, whatever one may think of it, is not without merit: 'twas the inevitable result of revolutionary shocks