Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, has become a worldwide cultural icon generally associated with tactical brilliance, ambition, and political power. His distinctive features and costume have made him a very recognisable figure in popular culture.
Few men in human history have elicited both as much hatred and admiration, and have divided opinion so much. From the beginnings of his military and political career, by seizing power through the coup of 18 Brumaire (1799), Napoleon inscribed himself in the grand historical narrative of modernity and in the memory of men through a tumultuous and exceptional destiny. His meteoric rise, initially achieved through victorious military conquests, the unprecedented scale of his final defeats, as well as his two exiles, have made this major figure in the history of France and Europe a legendary character.
He has been portrayed in many works of fiction, his depiction varying greatly with the author's perception of the historical character. On the one hand, Napoleon has become a worldwide cultural icon who symbolises military genius and political power. For example, in the 1927 film Napoléon, young general Bonaparte is portrayed as a heroic visionary. On the other hand, he has often been reduced to a stock character and has frequently been depicted as a short and "petty tyrant", sometimes comically so.
Origin and construction of the Napoleonic myth
Napoleon Bonaparte is the primary architect of his own legend. In his work "Napoléon journaliste," Antonin Périvier [fr] writes: "Bonaparte, and later Napoleon, directed all the publicity at his disposal solely towards himself and for his exclusive benefit".[1] From the First Italian Campaign in 1797, he established propaganda in his favor by publishing bulletins in Italy intended to glorify his military actions and influence public opinion. On July 20, the "Courier of the Army of Italy" appeared, followed on August 10 by "France as Seen by the Army of Italy," and in Paris, the "Journal of Bonaparte and Virtuous Men," which was published under the initiative of his brothers Joseph and Lucien on February 19, 1797. In these publications, he highlighted his actions and commented on the political situation in France. They included dithyrambic epigraphs such as: in the Courier, "Bonaparte flies like lightning and strikes like thunder. He is everywhere and sees everything; he is the envoy of the great nation," and in the Journal of Bonaparte: "Hannibal slept in Capua, but the active Bonaparte does not sleep in Mantua".[2] These newspapers and the propaganda they spread in France helped distinguish Bonaparte from other generals of the Republic and contributed to the rise of his popularity in public opinion.
Maurice Duverger emphasizes the importance of the propaganda orchestrated by Napoleon, the parades, and celebrations surrounding his victories in the functioning of his regime: the people and courtiers repeated that the rain would stop and the sun would appear when he showed himself. "Napoleon continues to fascinate all theorists of political power; is it not because his dictatorship appears singularly modern? His authority takes on a charismatic character that aligns with our modern cult of personality[3]." This cult is widely propagated by the soldiers of the Grande Armée, who rely on the emperor in the most difficult moments, but also by the clergy, who, from the Concordat of 1801, present Napoleon as the envoy of providence.[4]
Fine art
Art contributes to the Napoleonic legend during the emperor's lifetime through propaganda paintings, sculptures, engravings, or prints by artists such as David or Antoine-Jean Gros, among others. Paintings created after Napoleon's life, or even long after his death, mostly express a nostalgia for France under Napoleon. For example, Édouard Detaille's "The Dream" (which is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris) depicted in a highly patriotic allegory French soldiers from 1870 sleeping, with the distant memory of the victorious Grande Armée in the clouds. This type of painting, showing nostalgia for a victorious and united France, is one of the foundations of the Napoleonic legend, as they all visually represent the increasingly distant memory of a mythical France.
Famous novelist Honoré de Balzac illustrates the admiration of the French and many Europeans by writing in "A Conversation Between Eleven O'Clock and Midnight," an excerpt from "Contes Bruns": "Who will ever explain, depict, or understand Napoleon? A man represented with his arms folded, and who did everything, who was the greatest force ever known, the most concentrated, the most mordant, the most acid of all forces; a singular genius who carried armed civilization in every direction without fixing it anywhere; a man who could do everything because he willed everything; a prodigious phenomenon of will, conquering an illness by a battle, and yet doomed to die of disease in bed after living in the midst of ball and bullets; a man with a code and a sword in his brain, word and deed; a clear-sighted spirit that foresaw everything but his own fall; a capricious politician who risked men by handfuls out of economy, and who spared three heads—those of Talleyrand, of Pozzo de Borgo, and of Metternich, diplomatists whose death would have saved the French Empire, and who seemed to him of greater weight than thousands of soldiers; a man to whom nature, as a rare privilege, had given a heart in a frame of bronze; mirthful and kind at midnight amid women, and next morning manipulating Europe as a young girl might amuse herself by splashing water in her bath! Hypocritical and generous; loving tawdriness and simplicity; devoid of taste, but protecting the arts; and in spite of these antitheses, really great in everything by instinct or by temperament; Caesar at five-and-twenty, Cromwell at thirty; and then, like my grocer buried in Père Lachaise, a good husband and a good father. In short, he improvised public works, empires, kings, codes, verses, a romance—and all with more range than precision. Did he not aim at making all Europe France? And after making us weigh on the earth in such a way as to change the laws of gravitation, he left us poorer than on the day when he first laid hands on us; while he, who had taken an empire by his name, lost his name on the frontier of his empire in a sea of blood and soldiers. A man all thought and all action, who comprehended Desaix and Fouché."[6]
The Count of Monte Cristo
Napoleon plays an indirect yet utterly important part in Alexandre Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo. The novel starts in 1815 with Napoleon exiled on the island of Elba. Here we learn that he hands a letter to the protagonist Edmond Dantès to give to one of his chief (fictional) supporters in Paris - Noirtier De Villefort, the president of a Bonapartist club. Dantès is unaware that Villefort is an agent of the exiled Emperor and that the letter Napoleon handed him contained instructions and plans about Napoleon's planned return to Paris. Dantès' rivals include Mr. Danglars, his long-time unspoken rival and shipmate, who first reports Dantès to the authorities as a Bonapartist, and Gérard De Villefort, the opportunistic son of Noirtier and staunch royalist, who, in order to protect his father from being outed as a Bonapartist, burns the letter and uses its former existence to frame Dantès and have him imprisoned in the Château d'If until his escape after 14 years and seeks vengeance upon those who wronged him.
Doctor Who
Napoleon features prominently in the BBCDoctor WhoPast Doctor AdventureWorld Game, in which the Second Doctor must avert a plot to change history so that Napoleon is victorious. In an alternate timeline created by the assassination of the Duke of Wellington prior to Waterloo, Napoleon is persuaded to march on to Russia after the victory at Waterloo, but he dies shortly afterwards, his empire having become so overextended that the various countries collapse back into the separate nations they were before, thus degenerating into a state of perpetual warfare. (This situation is made worse due to the intervention of the Doctor's old enemies the Players).
In 2013, Applied Mechanics produced Vainglorious, an epic, 26-actor immersive performance with Mary Tuomanen portraying Napoleon.[7]
Vengeance Is Mine (1899) by Andrew Balfour is a novel revolving around Napoleon's exploits during the Hundred Days and the Battle of Waterloo.[8]
Moreton Hall's novel General George (1903) focuses on the Pichegru Conspiracy plot to assassinate Napoleon.[8]
The Thunderer (1927) by L. Adams Beck (writing as "E. Barrington") is a historical novel revolving around the romance between Napoleon and Joséphine.[8]
In Thomas B. Costain's historical novelThe Last Love (1963), a dying Napoleon, banished to St. Helena, tells his story to his lone companion, a girl who acts as his English translator.
Napoleon is an important character in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, where considerable space is devoted to Tolstoy's interpretation of his historical role. He consequently also appears in the adaptations and films of this novel, listed in the following section.
Napoleon appears briefly in the first section of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, and is extensively referenced in later sections.
Napoleon is one of the two main characters in Simon Scarrow's The Revolution Quartet, which details Napoleon's life from his birth to his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo alongside that of Arthur Wellesley's.
In an Archie comic story featuring Jughead Jones, he is inadvertently transported by ambulance to a mental hospital. At first he protests, but relents upon hearing how well the patients are fed. When a nurse asks for his name, he replies "Napoleon Bonaparte."[9] A later update changed this to him saying "You know who I am, Sonic! I am the genius, Dr. Robotnik!"[10]
The collection If, or History Rewritten assembles numerous alternate history essays written in the first four decades of the 20th century. Napoleon has varying roles in many of them.
Napoleon is a character in Treason's Tide by Robert Wilton, published in February 2013 by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books; it is set during the summer of 1805. This novel was originally issued in June 2011 as The Emperor's Gold.
In the alternate history novel Napoleon in America (2014) by Shannon Selin, Napoleon escapes from St. Helena and winds up in the United States in 1821.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke takes place partially during the Napoleonic Wars, and features Jonathan Strange fighting in Spain, and also plaguing Napoleon with nightmares. Lord Wellington also plays a large part in this novel.
Javier Sierra's novel La Pirámide Inmortal deals with an apocryphal story about Napoleon spending a whole night in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Mary "Jacky" Faber, in the Bloody Jack series of novels, meets Napoleon in My Bonny Light Horseman, having infiltrated Napoleon's armies as a British spy.
Napoleon appears as a minor character in the Grimm novel The Icy Touch.
In The Queen's Fortune: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty that Outlived the Empire (2020), by Allison Pataki, Napoleon plays a prominent role in the story of his first fiancée, Désirée Clary.
In Grandville (2009–2014) by Bryan Talbot, France won the Napoleonic Wars and invaded Britain, and the world is populated mostly by anthropomorphic animals. Britain eventually regains its independence after a long campaign of civil disobedience and anarchist bombings, the Bonaparte Dynasty rules the empire until Emperor Napoleon XII is killed by Detective Inspector Archibald LeBrock of Scotland Yard when he discovers the Emperor is part of a conspiracy to reconquer Britain in order to steal its oil.
In film:
The Furies: T.C. likens himself to Napoleon and keeps a bust of him in his office.
The Swan: Beatrix is mortified to find Napoleon's name on Nicolas's blackboard; he later proposes a toast to Napoleon.
Computer and video games
The campaigns of Napoleon have been depicted in the sixth installment of the Total War series, Napoleon: Total War. Players have a chance to follow Napoleon's Italian, Egyptian, or Russian campaigns.
Napoleon is featured in Assassin's Creed Unity as a supporting character. He also appears as the main antagonist in its downloadable content mission, Dead Kings.
Napoleon appears in Scribblenauts and its sequels as someone the player can summon.
The first expansion pack to Europa Universalis III, Napoleon's Ambition, bears his name and expands the game to cover his whole reign.
The game Mount & Blade: Warband features an expansion pack called Napoleonic Wars where the player can compete online as a soldier from one of many countries involved in the Napoleonic Wars.
Napoleon appears in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order as an Archer-class servant.
Napoleon is a real-time strategy game that was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance. It was one of the console's launch titles in Japan and only saw international release in France under the title L'Aigle de Guerre.
Napoleon appears in the mobile visual novel game Ikemen Vampire by Cybird as one of the dateable characters.
Napoleon appears in Psychonauts. In the game, he is portrayed as a figment of his descendant Fred's mind. He manifests within Fred's mind annoyed that Fred is a Bonaparte yet can't win a simple war game, and forces Fred to play until Raz helps him win.
Napoleon is featured in the 2018 role-playing game The Council as a supporting character.
Désirée (1954), played by Marlon Brando. Laurence Olivier was impressed by Brando's interpretation of Napoleon, praising on The Dick Cavett Show that, "[It], I think, was immeasurably the best ever Napoleon [...] I have ever seen. Simply marvelous, simply because of his own particular quality of being so easy, so easily bringing a sense of genius to a character who was a genius."[15]
The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel: "The Vicomte De Villier is to be Executed"[16] and "New Recruits are Needed by the League"[17] (NBC, 1952–53), actor unknown at this time. He is also prominently mentioned in the episode "The Ghosts of Martin's Folly".[18]
Children's Hour: "The House of the Pelican" (six-part serial) (BBC Home Service, 1954), portrayed by Robert Harris
England's Harrowing (two-part series) (BBC Third Programme, 1960), portrayed by Malcolm Keen
Animal Grab: "La Foire d'Empoigne" (BBC Third Programme, 1962), portrayed by Malcolm Keen
Napoleon in Love (BBC Radio 4, 1969), portrayed by Marius Goring
Five Morning Comedies: "Keep Your Hands Off My War" (BBC Radio 4, 1970), portrayed by Clive Swift
The Dynasts (seven-part series) (BBC Home Service, 1970), portrayed by Maurice Denham
St. Helena (BBC Radio 4, 1972), portrayed by Lee Montague
Midweek Theatre: "Eagle and Spider" (BBC Radio 4, 1973), portrayed by Cyril Shaps
The Day of Destiny (BBC Radio 4, 1974), portrayed by Barry Foster
Napoleon Aboard HMS Bellerophon (BBC Radio 4, 1975), portrayed by Cyril Shaps
Vanity Fair (ten-part serial) (BBC Radio 4, 1978), portrayed by Harold Kasket
I Dream of Jeannie: "My Master, Napoleon's Buddy", Jeannie sends Tony back in time to advise Napoleon (Aram Katcher), who suspects Tony of being a spy and plans to execute him.
During the Napoleonic Wars, a nursery rhyme warned children that Napoleon ravenously ate naughty people.[22]
Ludwig van Beethoven had originally conceived of dedicating his Third Symphony to Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the ideals of the French Revolution, and Napoleon as their embodiment. According to Beethoven's pupil, F. Ries, when Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor in May 1804, Beethoven became disgusted and went to the table where the completed score lay. He took hold of the title-page and tore it up in rage.
Napoleon was the topic of many sea shanties following his death, most notably the song "Boney was a Warrior."
A poem by the German poet Heinrich Heine, published in 1822 and titled "Die Grenadiere," or "Die beiden Grenadiere" ("The Two Grenadiers"), evokes the fascination exerted by the French Emperor on his men.
Hector Berlioz composed his "Te Deum" in his honor in 1849.
The Ani DiFranco song "Napoleon" satirises the desire to continuously "conquer"; more specifically musicians who sign with big labels, thus employing "an army of suits" in order to "make a killing" rather than just "make a living".
Another Bob Dylan song, "Like a Rolling Stone", from his seminal album Highway 61 Revisited references Napoleon: "You used to be so amused/At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used".
The Bee Gees song "Walking Back to Waterloo" from their 1971 album Trafalgar references Napoleon: "I wish there was another year, another time/When people sang and poems rhymed/My name could be Napoleon".
Swedish Pop group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with the song "Waterloo", which uses the battle as a metaphor for a person surrendering to love similar to how Napoleon "surrendered" [sic] at Waterloo.
The Al Stewart song "The Palace of Versailles", from his 1978 album Time Passages, is filled with references and allusions to the French Revolution. One line specifically references Napoleon: "Bonaparte is coming/With his army from the south".
The Mark Knopfler song "Done with Bonaparte" from his 1996 album Golden Heart is sung from the viewpoint of a soldier in Napoleon's army. The song recalls the soldier's many battles serving in Napoleon's Grande Armée.
The Tori Amos song "Josephine" from her 1999 album To Venus and Back is sung from the viewpoint of Napoleon during his unsuccessful invasion of Russia.
Iced Earth released the song "Waterloo" on their album The Glorious Burden, which details Napoleon's defeat at the Battle Of Waterloo.
Bonaparte is the stage name of German-Swiss singer/producer Tobias Jundt.
Comics
Although no masterpieces have emerged from the Napoleonic adventure in the realm of comics or bandes dessinées, unlike painting or cinema, the comic book remains an art form quite inspired by the character of Napoleon. Notable works dedicated to the Emperor include those by Roger Lécureux and Guido Buzzelli, which recount Napoleon's entire life in a realistic drawing style and with great sobriety in the storyline. Other comics of the same genre narrate the life or periods of Napoleon's life, such as "Napoléon Bonaparte" by Guy Hempey (script) and Pierre Brochard (artwork), as well as the three albums in the series "Napoléon" by Belgians Liliane Funcken and Fred Funcken: "The Sultan of Fire," "The Fall of the Eagle," and "Waterloo (Battle) (1815)."
However, the myth of Napoleon is often caricatured, featuring megalomaniacs who believe themselves to be the Emperor. This is the case with Jean-Marc Rochette, who achieved certain commercial and critical success (winning awards at the Angoulême International Comics Festival) with "Napoléon et Bonaparte," which tells the burlesque adventures of two madmen, both believing themselves to be the famous military leader. Also worth mentioning, in the realm of comedy, is the work of Gotlib, who featured Napoleon Bonaparte in his "Rubrique-à-brac," as well as the series "Godaille et Godasse," which depicts his family stories.
British political cartoons of the period depicted Napoleon as a short man and the image of him as being short continues to be widespread today.[23] Confusion has sometimes arisen because of different values for the French inch (pouce) of the time (2.7cm) and for the Imperial inch (2.54cm).;[24] he has been cited as being from 1.57 metres (5ft 2in), which made him the height of the average French male at that time,[25] and up to 1.7 metres (5ft 7in) tall, which is above average for the period.[note 1][27] British Rear-Admiral Frederick Lewis Maitland, who had daily contact with Napoleon on Maitland's ship for twenty-three days in 1815, states in his memoirs that he was about 1.7 metres (5ft 7in).[28] Some historians believe that the reason for the mistake about his size at death came from use of an obsolete French yardstick.[25] Napoleon was a champion of the metric system (introduced in France in 1799) and had no use for the old yardsticks. It is more likely that he was 1.57 metres (5ft 2in), the height he was measured at on St. Helena, since he would have most likely been measured with an English yardstick rather than a yardstick of the Old French Regime.[25]
Napoleon's nickname of le petit caporal has added to the confusion, as some non-Francophones have mistakenly interpreted petit by its literal meaning of "small". In fact, it is an affectionate term reflecting on his camaraderie with ordinary soldiers. Napoleon also surrounded himself with the soldiers of his elite guard, required to be 1.83m (6ft) or taller,[citation needed] making him look smaller in comparison.
Napoleon's name has been lent to the Napoleon complex, a colloquial term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people who are physically short. The term is used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of their lives.[29]
The Napoleon Delusion
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most famous individuals in the Western world. As delusional patients sometimes believe themselves to be an important or grandiose figure (see delusion), a patient claiming to be Napoleon has been a common stereotype in popular culture for delusions of this nature.
In the 1922 film Mixed Nuts, Stan Laurel plays a book salesman whose only volume for sale is a biography of Napoleon. When the character receives a blow to the head, he comes to believe that he is Napoleon and is subsequently admitted to a mental institution.[30]
In the 1925 Fleischer movie "Ko-ko Nuts", Koko the Clown goes to an asylum, where there is a whole Napoleon department for people who think they're Napoleon.
In the Bugs Bunny film Napoleon Bunny-Part, the actual Napoleon is dragged away by psychiatric attendants, who believe he is delusional.[31]
The song "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" was recorded by Jerry Samuels billed as Napoleon XIV. Some other versions of the song were made with lyrics referencing the Napoleon delusion (such as a Spanish version entitled "Soy Napoleon") or with the artist's name referencing a fictitious emperor.
In The Emperor's New Clothes, Ian Holm plays Napoleon who stumbles into the grounds of an asylum and finds himself surrounded by other "Napoleons" - he cannot reveal his identity for fear of being grouped with the deluded.[32] Holm also played a less-than-serious Napoleon in the 1981 film Time Bandits.
The Discworld novel Making Money features a character who believes himself to be Lord Vetinari, imitating Vetinari's mannerisms and entertaining delusions of grandeur. It is later revealed that the local hospital has an entire ward for people with the same delusion, where they engage in competitions to determine who is the "real" Vetinari.
In an episode of cult 1960s British TV sci-fi show The Prisoner called "The Girl Who Was Death", which unusually for the series was a light-hearted comedy tale parodying the spy thriller genre, the villain Dr. Schnipps (Kenneth Griffith) believed that he was Napoleon and acted accordingly, at one point asking the protagonist Number Six (Patrick McGoohan), "You're not the Duke of Wellington, are you?"
In the first episode of season 2 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles titled "Return of the Shredder" (1988), Scientist and Inventor, Baxter Stockman is seen in a jail cell with a man in Napoleonic garb spouting off dialogue in a French accent.
In an episode of Night Court, Judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson) is placed in a jail cell along with a number of 'mentally disturbed' inmates all dressed as Napoleon. His court defence attorney (played by Markie Post) sees him and exclaims "Oh sir. They put you in with the little generals".
The award-winning video game Psychonauts features a mental patient, Fred Bonaparte, locked in an obsessive mind-game with his distant ancestor Napoleon, who is fighting for his mind.
↑ Napoleon's height was 5ft 2 French inches according to Antommarchi at Napoleon's autopsy and British sources put his height at 5foot and 4 British inches: both equivalent to 1.4m.[26] Napoleon surrounded himself with tall bodyguards and had a nickname of le petit caporal which was an affectionate term that reflected his reported camaraderie with his soldiers rather than his height.
References
↑ Antonin Périvier, "Napoléon journaliste", 1918, p. 37.
↑ Maurice Choury, Les grognards et Napoléon, Perrin, 1968https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Les_grognards_et_Napol%C3%A9on/l8dXDwAAQBAJ?hl=fr&gbpv=1&dq=culte+de+la+personnalit%C3%A9,+napol%C3%A9on&pg=PT39&printsec=frontcover
1 2 3 4 5 Daniel D. McGarry, Sarah Harriman White, Historical Fiction Guide: Annotated Chronological, Geographical, and Topical List of Five Thousand Selected Historical Novels. Scarecrow Press, New York, 1963 (pp. 255–70)
↑ Napoleon's height was put at just over 5 pieds 2 pouces by three French sources (his valet Constant, General Gourgaud, and Francesco Antommarchi at Napoleon's autopsy) which, using the French measurements of the time, equals around 1.69m. ( "La taille de Napoléon Bonaparte (Napoleon Bonaparte's height)". www.1789-1815.com. 2002-11-25. Retrieved 2008-05-28.) Two English sources (Andrew Darling and John Foster) put his height at around 5ft 7ins, equivalent, on the Imperial scale, to 1.70m. This would have made him around average height for a Frenchman of the time. ( "La taille de Napoléon (Napoleon's height)". La Fondation Napoléon. Retrieved 2008-05-30. "How tall was Napoleon?". La Fondation Napoléon. Retrieved 2005-12-18.) Nonetheless, some historians have claimed Napoleon would have been measured with a British measure at his autopsy, since it took place in St Helena, implying the 5ft 2ins is an Imperial measure, equal to about 1.58 meters. On the other hand, Francesco Antommarchi, Napoleon's personal physician, due to his hostility to the British, may never have used their yardstick to measure his emperor. (Antommarchi, F. G (1826). The Last Days of Napoleon: Memoirs of the Last Two Years of Napoleon's Exile. London: H.Colburn. pp.p157. Retrieved 2007-11-01.)
↑ Sandberg, David E.; Linda D. Voss (September 2002). "The psychosocial consequences of short stature: a review of the evidence". Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 16 (3): 449–63. doi:10.1053/beem.2002.0211. PMID12464228.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
