Robert Darnton

them.

And do you remember how we were talking in the Mara episode about how Robert Darnton has this thing about so many of the revolutionaries have a sense of disappointment, frustration, personal, professional in their early lives that gives them a sense of resentment and unfinished business.

And I wonder if that's the case with Robespierre.

I mean, he definitely has a, there's something gnawing at him, isn't there? Yes.

Anyway, uh, Marat submitted these findings to the French Royal Academy of, um, Sciences, and they said, "This is idiocy from you." You know, they rejected him, and he felt humiliated.

Now, actually, Robert Darnton, the great historian of 18th century France, points out that this feeling of hu- humiliation on the part of a provincial young man is very, very common among the leaders of the revolution.

You know, you can go through a lot of these characters, and they are from the provinces, they're from small towns, they've come to the big city, they feel rejected and ostracized by this sort of establishment figures, and this fuels a lot of their rage once the revolution starts.

I mean, isn't that the stereotype of revolutionaries, that it's people who've got just enough academic background to feel that they deserve better of society and then don't get it?