“Ninety-three” was the war of Europe against France, and of France against Paris. And what was the Revolution? It was the victory of France over Europe, and of Paris over France. Hence the immensity of that terrible moment?, ’93, greater than all the rest of the century.”
Ninety-Three was Victor Hugo’s last novel. His desire to write a book about the French Revolution began in 1862, and for a decade, he outlined, structured, and researched a historical fiction. He started writing the novel in 1872 while he was residing in Guernsey. When the book was published in 1874, under the original title Quatrevingt-Treize, the great author was 72.
Hugo’s Ninety-Three follows three protagonists during the height of the French Revolution. As the uprise against the Revolution rages in Brittany region and the war between the “Whites” (Royalists) and the “Blues” (Revolutionaries) intensifies, Gauvain, Lantenanc, and Cimourdain have a unique perspective and role on the revolutionary events of 1793.
When the story begins, the Breton royalist, the Marquis de Lantenac, is at sea and about to land on French soil. His goal is clear, to lead the counter-revolutionaries in the war against the armies of the Republic. His ultimate mission is to enable the British troops to land in France to support the royalists. Upon his landing in Brittany, Lantenac quickly realizes that he’s wanted and that the leader of the Republican Army in Brittany is no other than his nephew, Gauvain. Gauvain is a local nobleman who rallied the Republic and its progressive ideals. His mission is to suppress the revolt and implement the revolutionary government’s laws in this rebel region. The republican and the royalist couldn’t be more different. However, they each attempt to accomplish their mission, and each is ready to die for their cause. When a third protagonist named Cimourdain enters the novel, he introduces a different side of 1793. He’s a former priest and agent of the Committee of Public Safety. He’s sent to Brittany to ensure that Gauvain ruthlessly conducts the war. Cimourdain is also connected to Gauvain in a personal way. He was Gauvain’s preceptor and considers him like a son.
Amid this civil war, Hugo intertwined the main characters to a secondary character whose storyline is not the core of the novel but turns out to be central. The story of Michelle Fléchard, a poor helpless peasant woman and her three toddlers, will reveal the contradictions and nuances that Lantenac, Gauvain, and Cimourdain harbour.
From Paris to Brittany, from sea to land, and from the bocages to large forests of Brittany, the characters are thrust into the Terror years of a Revolution that ultimately puts an end to one thousand years of the divine right of kings and the structure of privilege.
Ninety-Three is in the tradition of the great historical fiction of the 19th century. We smoothly slide from the historical and political context to the intimacy and psychology of our characters. It is history through the confrontation of fictional characters. The novel provides a history lesson for those of us who have a great interest in the French Revolution. At the same time, the development of the characters takes us into human nature in times of civil war and tremendous political and social changes. They are so closely intertwined and yet so different from each other. And at the same time, loyalty to their beliefs seems to be their common compass.
If there’s one thing that our characters have in common regardless of their political beliefs is consistency. Lantenac is the embodiment of the Ancien Regime. His fierce defense for the monarchy and the feudal order makes him uncompromising and inflexible. We sense that Lantenac has zero doubts about the action that he has undertaken. In his conversations with other protagonists, Lantenac taps into the values and societal order that ruled France for one thousand years. He can’t seem to begin to fathom the new social changes that the Revolution sparked. His love for the monarchical system overthrown by the Revolution and his desire to reestablish it is stronger than anything else, including blood family if they passed “to the other side” among the Republicans, like his nephew Gauvain.
Both Gauvain and Cimourdain personify the Republican side. However, as soon as the Cimourdain enters the story, we quickly notice that even if they’re on the same side, they both stand on different ends of the revolutionary spectrum. Gauvain stands for the idealistic strength and modernism of the Republic. He carries the hope of a regenerated revolution founded on an aristocracy with renewed, luminous and fraternal values. In contrast, Cimourdain symbolizes the logical, relentless, and meticulous part of the Republican camp. To a certain extent, his behaviour has personified that logic that led to the Terror.
Through their interactions, we notice how Lantenac and Cimourdain have similar mindsets even though they’re on opposite sides. Both of them are ruthless, cold, and are intransigent in their values.
As I was reading the book, I was mind blown by Hugo’s constant use of antithesis and contrast. In addition to the opposing forces between revolutionary and reactionary and between progressive and traditional. The places where the action takes place are also paradoxical. Paris is the birthplace of the Revolution, and the orders given by the Convention come from there. Hugo created a fantastic scene where Robespierre, Danton, and Marat have political and military discussions about the Revolution. However, the theater of action where our protagonists confront each other takes place in remote territory, on the coasts of northern Brittany. But perhaps, the most riveting anthesis that Hugo dresses is between the Tourgue and the guillotine. The Tourgue is a fortress that belonged to Lantenac’s ancestors for centuries and where Gauvain grew up. As the story unfolds, the fortress is opposed and compared to the guillotine. “Fifteen hundred years were condensed in la Tourgue, the Middle Ages, vassalage, serfdom, feudalism; in the guillotine, one year, ’93; and these twelve months counterbalanced these fifteen centuries.” Hugo explains that la Tourgue represented the monarchy in a tragic comparison, and the guillotine represented the Revolution. The opposition between the two was quite fascinating.
I loved this book, but I would only recommend it to people who love history. If you have a great deal of interest in the French Revolution, this book is for you. I find Hugo’s long descriptions necessary to grasp the importance of the political and military context. But I would understand that for some people, these long digressions might be boring. Overall the political and historical context is impeccable, and the characters are riveting. Dickens, Balzac, and Dumas wrote great novels that took place in the French Revolution, but Victor Hugo’s Ninety-Three is a landmark of the historical fiction genre.
4.5/5
