How artists shape feeling in the French Revolution

The artist's role in the French Revolution concerns Romanticism, which began alongside the Revolution and grew in reaction to the social transformation it caused. What can readers understand about how art and literature shaped revolutionary feeling? The lessons consider how creative work engaged with revolutionary ideas and public life.

2 articles, 1 book · about 18 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   the role of the artist in the french revolution · Wikipedia · 6 min read

   Shelley incorporated themes including hatred of kings, faith in the natural goodness of man, and desire for a revolution into his works, themes shaped by the French Revolution. Byron's role as an artist in the French Revolution was not that of a true revolutionist: he was "the arch-apostle of revolt, of rebellion against constituted authority." Byron admitted that he resisted authority but offered no substitute.

2. Read
   

   These Daring Revolutionary-Era Artists Promoted the Patriot Cause From the Heart of Enemy Territory · Smithsonian Science · 12 min read

   In prints and oils, sculpture, poetry and drama, Prince Demah, Robert Edge Pine and Patience Wright promoted the American cause while working in London. Historian Zara Anishanslin says visual, performing and literary arts also had a unique ability to reach Colonial audiences.

3. Book
   

   Les Misérables · Bookshop.org

   Les Misérables by Victor Hugo follows Jean Valjean's effort to protect Fantine's baby daughter, driven to prostitution by poverty; its story of injustice, heroism and love.

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