1.1. camille desmoulins in the eyes of contemporaries: was he really THAT emotional?
i’m starting a series of posts dedicated to the subject of camille desmoulins’ portrayal in european dramas of xix-xx centuries. i’m going to post it rather irregularly, since i’m travelling right now, and because of artfight, but i’ll try nonetheless!
before we begin to analyse dramatic works that include the figure of camille desmoulins as one of the characters, let us consider how the personality of camille desmoulins was perceived during his lifetime, both by people who knew him personally, and by those who weren’t exactly friends with him but still had to encounter his texts and statements in the political space.
given that this paragraph is devoted to a review of the views of contemporaries, it is worth noting that many of the presented opinions are going to be highly subjective sometimes and may not reflect the real historical situation. propaganda is one of the most powerful tools in politics; often the statements of certain frev politicians may be backed not so much by their real opinion on desmoulins as by a desire to support or, on the contrary, to accuse desmoulins/the dantonists/club des cordeliers of something. and we’ll also investigate the impression camille made on his contemporaries and the image that was formed around him during his lifetime.
since i’m already posting on frevblr, i will omit describing his biography :D we all know at least some basic facts about desmoulins’ life. yet the semi-mythical stories surrounding camille's image begin as early as his adolescence. fleury tells of camille desmoulins' strange behaviour when he returned to guise on vacation in 1784. the guests who had gathered to dine with the young student, had heard that he became very emotional when the topic of conversation touched on republican ideas. one of the guests deliberately provoked desmoulins by denying all his theses, from which camille, angry, trembling and almost crying, got up from the table, threw a dinner-napkin on his head, jumped on the table and spoke at length about his principles. he really likes jumping on furniture to say his speeches, eh?
later on, when camille became a famous journalist, there are also stories of how emotional he might get in comparison to other people. according to joachim vilate, on hearing the sentence of the еribunal révolutionnaire to execute the brissotins, camille, although he himself had contributed to the decision, became extremely agitated and threw himself into the arms of vilate, crying out loud about how he is killing them all and how he wants to leave.
and, of course, then there’s this well-known speech by robespierre in jacobin club of 18 nivôse, when, discussing camille, robespierre called him “a child with good intentions, but who was led astray by bad company”.
then there are stories about his behaviour during the imprisonment, but, in my opinion, the emotional reactions of his in this case, if they were true, are quite valid - imagine being arrested and not knowing what will happen to your wife - death probably awaits her. needless to say, many people would probably cry in this situation.
so, the patrol tasked with arresting desmoulins and danton found the former in tears, though in a remarkably calm state of mind.
while imprisoned, camille wrote in his letters to lucile: "the thought of my solitude, the dreadful bars that separate me from you, overcame all my firmness of soul. i burst into tears, or rather I sobbed, crying out in my tomb. lucile! lucile! oh my dear lucile, where are you?". the original letter bears traces of his tears.
on his way to the scaffold, seized by rage and despair, laughing nervously and agitated, camille tried to tear the ropes and, tearing his shirt to shreds, addressed the crowd with a last appeal.
in conclusion of this post, the image of camille's personality was already formed during his lifetime: he appears as a charismatic journalist, gullible, overly influenced by emotions. his image wasn't always of a crybaby, though! marat spoke of him as a man whom ‘nature made so cheerful, so witty, so friendly’. if you read more about what marat wrote about and to desmoulins, if anything, he finds him funny and amusing.
many historical episodes documented by contemporaries show that camille was indeed characterised by sensitivity and emotionality - whether the episodes themselves were true or not.
stay tuned for the next 1.2 chapter, "the image of camille desmoulins in the context of conservative reaction and gender discourse"!
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