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Chapter 5 - The Republic to Come

Hugo, Quatrevingt-treize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2022

Michèle Lowrie  and
Barbara Vinken
Michèle Lowrie
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Barbara Vinken
Affiliation:
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
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Summary

Civil war has beset France yet again. Victor Hugo reacts to the slaughter of the Commune in 1872 by telling – like Vergil, Lucan, and Augustine – a story from the past. Quatrevingt-treize is set during the Terror (1793) following the French Revolution. Paradigmatic characters and places instantiate ideologies that have mapped positions since ancient Rome. As in Augustine, no history has managed to overcome civil war. Christianity has merely enabled the shift to a new form of domination in monarchy. A new republic is needed that will refound France – a universal paradigm like Rome – on secularized Christian values that will finally bring new order to the world.

Keywords

French RevolutionTerrorclemencygraceguillotinetransfigurationChrist in Glorydivine right of kingsmotherallegory
Type
Chapter
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Civil War and the Collapse of the Social Bond
The Roman Tradition at the Heart of the Modern
 , pp. 193 - 255
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • The Republic to Come
  • Michèle Lowrie, University of Chicago, Barbara Vinken, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
  • Book: Civil War and the Collapse of the Social Bond
  • Online publication: 06 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009029995.007
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  • The Republic to Come
  • Michèle Lowrie, University of Chicago, Barbara Vinken, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
  • Book: Civil War and the Collapse of the Social Bond
  • Online publication: 06 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009029995.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Republic to Come
  • Michèle Lowrie, University of Chicago, Barbara Vinken, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munchen
  • Book: Civil War and the Collapse of the Social Bond
  • Online publication: 06 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009029995.007
Available formats
×