Line #12 Literature/NinetyThree


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninety_three_hugo.png]]
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3	''Ninety-Three'' (''Quatrevingt-treize'') is the last novel by Creator/VictorHugo, published in 1874. The setting is the year 1793 of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, which means the ReignOfTerror, and especially the War in the Vendée, a peasant uprising leading a royalist and pro-Church counterrevolution violently repressed by the Republic.
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5	The story focuses on the Marquis de Lantenac, a nobleman from Brittany who fled to England and secretly comes to Vendée to take the lead of the uprising and prepare a British landing. On the side of the Revolution are Gauvain, a nobleman leading one of the armies sent by the Republic to quench the uprising, and Cimourdain, a former priest whose role is to keep a civilian (and non-noble) eye on Gauvain.
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7	Interesting note: Creator/AynRand wrote an introduction to one of the editions to this novel. This intro was later included in her ''Romantic Manifesto''.
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11	!This novel has examples of the following tropes:
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13	* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: At one point in the book, Marat approaches two of his friends, one who is former aristocrat and the other a former priest, and asks their help to make sure a new law will be instaured. They both complain that nobody will listen to them, since they respectively are a noble and a priest. Marat's answer?
14	-->"And nobody will listen to me, I am Marat."
15	* AntiVillain: Lantenac is a ruthless man who doesn't hesitate to [[YouHaveFailedMe punish people's incompetence with death]] and have women executed. However, his ruthlessness is motivated by a devotion to the royalist cause rather than cruelty, and he draws the lines at harming children, [[spoiler:even willingly letting himself arrested to save them.]]
16	* AuthorTract: this is a Victor Hugo novel, after all, but he can pull it off.
17	* BoisterousBruiser: The "Redcaps" (who presents themselves at the very beginning). Most prominently their leader Radoub, a seargent who turns out to be a OneManArmy and wisecracker of proportions.
18	* ChekhovsGun: the ladder, [[spoiler:the secret escape route]].
19	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: the royalists are “''les blancs''” (“the whites”) and the republicans are “''les bleus''” (“the blues”).
20	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Michelle Fléchard at the beginning of the novel, when she is surrounded by a company of revolutionaries, interrogating her on whether she is of the white or the blue: "Now I understand; You are French, I am Breton!"
21	* {{Determinator}}: Michelle Fléchard, whose children have been taken hostage by Lantenac.
22	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Cimourdain shoots himself in the heart at the exact moment his surrogate son is executed. On his own order.]]
23	* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Discussed at the end of the novel, in the conversation between Cimourdain and Gauvain. Gauvain, being TheIdealist, chooses to take his execution with honor in the name of the good republic he holds dear, while Cimourdain defends the PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny. The discussion is also a juxtaposition between RousseauWasRight and HobbesWasRight.
24	* GracefulLoser: Lantenac surrenders without a fight when Cimourdin arrests him, even approving his action.
25	->— Je t'arrête, dit Cimourdain. (''“I arrest you,” said Cimourdain.'')
26	->— Je t'approuve, dit Lantenac. (''“I approve you,” said Lantenac.'')
27	* GreyAndGrayMorality: The book despicts both royalists and republicans with sympathetic and ruthless characters, without really making one side look eviler than the other. It's flat-out stated Cimourdain and Lantenac [[NotSoDifferentRemark are pretty much just as ruthless as each others]], and [[VillainHasAPoint Lantenac's final speech does raise many good points about the Revolution]].
28	* HeelRealization: Lantenac [[spoiler:deciding to save the children]]. Gauvain, deciding to save Lantenac (because he saved said children).
29	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Danton, Robespierre and Marat.
30	* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: ''Averted'', which was quite a rarity for the time of its publication; neither of the two sides get romanticized, and both Republican and Vendeeans get their share of atrocities and sympathetic sides.
31	* IDieFree: Played straight by Gauvain, shouting "Vive La Republique" (long live the Republic) before he is executed.
32	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: [[spoiler:played straight]].
33	* LastStand: Lantenac and eighteen men in a stronghold against Gauvain and four and a half thousand soldiers.
34	** Also ''the Claymore'' facing the French navy while Lantenac escapes in a rowboat.
35	* MagneticHero: Gauvain is so beloved by his own soldiers they [[spoiler:practically beg Cimourdain to not execute him at the end.]]
36	** Unless you consider him a villain, Lantenac counts as well; the number of his men willing to sacrifice themselves for him is spectacular.
37	* TheMentor: Cimourdain is this to Gauvain.
38	* MoralityPet: Gauvain to Cimourdain, to the point nobody expected [[spoiler:the latter to have the former executed for helping Lantenac escape]]. In the end, [[spoiler:Cimourdain shoots himself when Gauvain dies.]]
39	* MoreExpendableThanYou: how Lantenac's people consider themselves.
40	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Tellmarch, upon realizing the man he saved the day before (on the condition that he ''did not come to do evil'') just ordered a whole town torched and women shot down.
41	-> — Si j'avais su ! (''“If only I knew!”'')
42	* OffWithHisHead: a ''lot'' of talk of [[PublicExecution guillotining people]], which is TruthInTelevision, but it only actually happens once, in the very last page.
43	* OhCrap: Cimourdain when he finds Gauvain in the cell instead of Lantenac.
44	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: most soldiers have no shoes.
45	* ShadowArchetype: Lantenac and Cimourdain are both this to each others; it's outright stated the only real difference between them is that they defend opposite causes.
46	* ShotAtDawn: both sides have mostly stopped taking prisoners. And a guillotine is too bulky.
47	* TakingTheBullet: Cimourdain does this for Gauvain when they first are reunited. He survives the shot, however.
48	* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Radoub has plenty of time for insulting Chante-en-hiver during the time Chante-en-hiver needs to aim a pistol at him from a few meters away.
49	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: a lot of them, often in WallOfText, and all about someone's flaws.
50	* TokenEnemyMinority: While the revolutionary heroes are French, most of the peasant army they fight consists of Bretons. This was TruthInTelevision, but the author seems to have ''some'' problems with his leanings towards flat-out racism when he touches the subject. He tries to even the score though.
51	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Lantenac for the royalty, Church and traditions, Cimourdain for the Republic and freedom of the people.
52	* YouHaveFailedMe: A surprisingly more complex case than the usual villainous application of this trope. Lantenac has one of the sailors on his ship executed for committing a mistake when taking care of a cannon, but he actually gives a pretty good reason for his decision. The sailor's mistake caused an accident leading to the death of several of his comrads, which then left the ship defenseless against the enemy, forcing what remained of them to sacrifice themselves so Lantenac could reach France. Even the sailor's brother, after being pointed that out by Lantenac, admits he was in the right to punish him.

Context Literature / NinetyThree