Jean Bart: The Fate of a Legendary Hero in the Nineteenth Century

Heroes quickly become the property of the public they serve, and their fate depends less on historical fact than on the demands of a changing society. Jean Bart, who rose from corsair to chef d'escadre under Louis XIV, was legendary even in his own day for his extreme courage. Three literary allusions to the legend illustrate the evolution of heroism in the nineteenth century. The transformation of the concept is evident in allusions by Balzac in Le Lys dans la vallee, by Baudelaire in "Le Mauvais Vitrier," and by Zola in Germinal A symbol of individual heroism in love, for Balzac, in the service of art for Baudelaire, Bart becomes symbolic of a new political force, collective heroism, in Germinal. (EL)