The Fall of Robespierre

The Fall of Robespierre

Barrere opens the play at the Thuilleries weighing how to shelter himself from the coming storm and confessing that though he scorns and hates Robespierre, the man makes him tremble. Tallien and Legendre observe Barrere's shaken manner and resolve to win him from Robespierre by dark hints that will rouse his fears into patriotism, invoking the memory of the murdered Danton and warning that if tomorrow's sun finds the Tyrant living, they themselves are dead. Robespierre, with Couthon, St. Just, and his brother, boasts of having overcome La Fayette, Roland, Vergniaud, and Brissot, and dismisses fear of the "soft luxurious" Tallien. St. Just and Couthon distrust the still-unpurified state and regret sparing Legendre and Collot d'Herbois; St. Just describes Collot as a man who buries private anguish in the tumult of slaughter. Robespierre proposes denouncing a hundred more, prompting his brother to confess sickness of blood and wish he had died at Toulon; Robespierre rebukes this pity as unworthy and vows tomorrow will bring "wholesome massacre," insisting that even if all forsake him, his own rectitude and poverty will sustain him. Left alone, Couthon meditates on how ambition disguises itself as virtue and how conscience, though called superstition, still haunts the guilty. Barrere returns to Robespierre, who argues that only terror or corrupting gold can counteract selfish plotting, and that he himself, being incorruptible, is hated for it. When Barrere calls him too fond of slaughter, Robespierre furiously recalls Barrere's own complicity in the deaths of Brissot and Danton and the bloodshed at Lyons, denouncing his newfound show of mercy as hypocrisy. Barrere resolves that Robespierre cannot weather the coming storm and goes to join Tallien. At Adelaide's house, she awaits word from Tallien and laments how liberty's turmoil has destroyed private, domestic peace; she sings of a "halcyon" domestic peace found far from state pomp. Tallien arrives, and she asks the cause of his troubled brow; he reveals that her brother's blood was spilled and that vengeance against Robespierre is intended, though Adelaide fears the Commune and the Convention's power. Bourdon l'Oise and Billaud Varennes interrupt, reporting that Henriot commands Paris's armed force for the tyrant and that Vivier's club has sworn to keep the guillotine busy. Barrere enters, declaring himself for freedom and warning that Robespierre plans instant massacre; the group resolves to rouse the Convention against him, and Tallien swears by "the holy poniard that stabbed Caesar" to kill Robespierre himself if the Convention hesitates. In the Convention, Robespierre mounts the tribune to defend his record — toppling Capet, exposing the Girondists, destroying Hébert, Rousin, and Danton's faction — and demands to know who accuses him. Billaud Varennes and Couthon spar over the decree curbing free debate; Barrere publicly proclaims Robespierre a "traitor tyrant." Robespierre protests his isolation amid a hostile faction, and a volley of accusations follows from Collot d'Herbois, Bourdon l'Oise, and others, who mock the Robespierre brothers' ambitions to divide France's armies among their allies (Couthon south, St. Just north, Robespierre ruling Paris). Robespierre Junior defends his military record at Toulon against charges of "merchant wiles." Legendre recalls Danton's death as proof of Robespierre's method of accusation without proof. St. Just attempts to address the Convention on behalf of the Committee but is denounced by Tallien for speaking beyond his orders; after dispute over freedom of debate, St. Just is allowed to speak and warns against condemning Robespierre too hastily, citing Aristides and Phocion, while attacking the credibility of his accusers. Billaud Varennes and Bourdon l'Oise catalogue Robespierre's abuses of power — protecting Henriot, promoting nobles, chaining patriots. Tallien delivers a long denunciation comparing Robespierre to Sylla and Caesar, accusing him of aiming at the crown, and invokes Brutus, vowing to kill him if the Convention fails to act. Lebas declares he will share the condemned men's fate rather than this day's guilt, and Robespierre, his brother, Couthon, St. Just, and Lebas are led off amid cries of "Down with the Tyrant." Collot d'Herbois hails Robespierre's fall, but Billaud Varennes warns Henriot may rescue him; messengers report in succession that Robespierre has indeed been freed by Henriot, that the Commune and St. Just have taken up arms, that Vivier sways the Jacobins for Robespierre, and that armed force threatens the Convention itself. Tallien declares the Convention will die rather than yield and rallies the galleries, whose citizens vow to die or save the country. Further messengers announce Henriot's capture by loyal soldiers, and Bourdon l'Oise arrives sword in hand describing how he turned the Commune's soldiery against the tyrant with cries of "Down with Robespierre." Legendre reports scattering the Jacobins and losing Vivier; Freron refuses to reenter the Club until purged of tyranny. News arrives that the people of Paris and the Sections support the Convention. Lecointre then reports that Robespierre has been taken: cornered with his allies at the Hôtel, the conspirators tried to kill themselves rather than face the law — Lebas succeeded, young Robespierre leapt from a window and broke his limb, and Robespierre stabbed himself but survived, mangled, to face further judgment; Couthon and St. Just await execution with him, facing death defiantly. Barrere then mounts the tribune to close the day, hailing it as forever hallowed, recounting France's sufferings under invasion and internal treason from Roland, Petion, Vergniaud, Brissot, Orleans, and Hébert's faction, and casting Robespierre as the last and worst traitor who wove a web of treachery behind a mask of mercy. He proclaims that France, regenerated, will never again wear a despot's yoke, and that she shall blast the pride of tyrants and liberate the world.

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge · First published 1794 · Genre: Tragedy, Drama, Political Drama · 3 chapters · 9,367 words

First lines

Scene -- The Thuilleries.

Barrere / The tempest gathers -- be it mine to seek / A friendly shelter, ere it bursts upon him.

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French Revolution · Historical drama · Politics · Tyranny · Power struggle · Death · Betrayal · Justice · Political upheaval · 18th century · Theatre · Reign of Terror

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