Upon entering the Louvre, I was struck by the statues of the French philosophers that lined the courtyard’s walls. Everyone from Montaigne to Montesquieu had their images captured in stone, but the two statues that garnered my attention the most were those of Rousseau and Voltaire:

In his “French Revolution,” William Blake cites these two philosophers as sources of inspiration for the people of France in their quest to take action against the French monarchy and three estates system of the National Assembly. Blake wrote that, “Driven out by the fiery cloud of Voltaire, and thund’rous rocks of Rousseau, / They dash like foam against the ridges of the army, uttering a faint and feeble cry” (276-277). Blake recognized the influence Enlightenment thinkers had on French revolutionaries, whose beliefs in fundamental human and civil rights should act as a basis for all governmental practices. However, in the same quote provided by Blake, we can see that the poet recognized the violence and feeling of futility that comes with revolution.

In the painting we saw at the Louvre—Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”—we see Lady Liberty leading a group of valiant men into battle, while beneath their feet lie mounds of slaughtered men. In the lower left-hand corner, even, there is a man whose clothes have been stolen from his dead body. This painting captures much of the violence and futility Blake meant to capture in referencing the inspiration Rousseau and Voltaire brought to the French. While the “Commoners” (as Blake calls them in his poem) rush out with excitement and Enlightenment ideals in their minds, they are met with death and destruction at the hands of the French Army. Furthermore, they become enemies of themselves, either through becoming purely idealistic (as symbolized by the fighters following Lady Liberty) or from hurting one another (symbolized by the naked dead man).

Some of the revolutionaries became enemies to their cause by becoming both idealistic and self-destructive. Maximillien Robespierre, for one, became idealistic about the future of France to the point that he would not allow anyone to speak poorly of the revolutionary cause and made uttering negative opinions about the cause punishable by death. In doing so, he not only limited the freedom of speech but directly acted against the Enlightenment principles of Rousseau and Voltaire that inspired the revolution in the first place. This is why I think Blake assigns “fiery clouds” and “thund’rous rocks” to Rousseau and Voltaire. While their ideals encouraged revolution, it was idealism that also perverted the movement and in-part led to the Reign of Terror.