ABSTRACT
The fall of Robespierre on 9 Thermidor Year II precipitated a dramatic reversal in the politics of the French Revolution. This chapter argues the literary legend of the revolution aimed to transform two of its leaders, Danton and Robespierre, into monsters of mythical proportions. It suggests that the legends were forged in the early days of liberal capitalism, Danton is saved as a figure of intense economic activity. It considers the feminization of Robespierre's voice. The effect of Robespierre's and Danton's transformation into mythical beasts corresponded as well to a way of accounting for their lifestyle and sexuality. In spite of the devotion Robespierre inspired in an important school of revolutionary historians, not Ernest Hamel, nor Louis Blanc, nor any of the most fervent Jacobins ever succeeded in fully reversing the monsterization their hero had undergone at the hands of Thermidorian politicians and Romantic writers.
