Jacques Roux
Jacques Roux | |
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Jacques Roux (French pronunciation:
Radical revolutionary
In 1791 Roux was elected to the
Roux consistently fought for an
He became popular enough that, as the split between the
Manifesto of the Enragés
In a controversial 1793 address to the
Soon, Roux's incendiary rhetoric was igniting
Death
On 14 January 1794 Roux was informed that his case was going to be tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Upon hearing this news, Roux pulled out a knife and stabbed himself several times, but failed to land a fatal blow. Less than a month later, on 10 February 1794, while recovering in prison, Roux stabbed himself again, this time succeeding in killing himself. He was 41.[5]
As the Enragés movement began falling apart,
In popular culture
In Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade, Roux is portrayed by an asylum patient in the Marquis de Sade's dramatization of Jean-Paul Marat's assassination. The actor's lines come under fire by the asylum directors, who have cut his dialogue. In most productions, the actor portraying Roux is costumed in a straight jacket, which symbolizes the asylum's desire to restrain political radicals such as himself.
Roux was portrayed by Alan Rickman in a monologue for the television short Revolutionary Witness. In the monologue, Roux performs a sermon in a ruined church the day before he is brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal, where he laments the current direction of the revolution. He argues that the poor, despite aiding in the revolution, are still being oppressed and dying while the rich are still powerful. He also narrates his life, regaling anecdotes from his youth all the way to the revolution. He believes that, due to his populist and progressive beliefs, he is "too revolutionary for the revolution." As his sermon comes to an end, he promises that he will not defend himself, but attack his opponents, promising that, should he be found guilty, he will "die like friend Marat, through struck down by a better hand, [his] own." In the last seconds of the monologue, Roux pleads to his listeners to continue fighting, arguing that "the revolution isn't complete."[8]
Roux (played by Elias Toufexis) is featured in a mission in French Revolution-set Assassin's Creed Unity, in which the player is tasked with assassinating him.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Jacques Roux". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
- ISBN 9780252008559 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Enragé". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2011.
- ISBN 9780674470613 – via Google Books.
- ^ JSTOR 286155.
- ^ Roux, Jacques (1793). Manifesto of the Enragés. Translated by Abidor, Mitchell. Paris.
- ^ Rose, R.B. (1965). The Enragés: Socialists of the French Revolution. London: Cambridge University Press. pp. 36–48.
- ^ Barnes, Peter. "Revolutionary Witness: The Preacher". Retrieved April 16, 2024.