The Revolt of the Angels · Chapter
Chapter XXI explained
Nectaire recounts the history of religious conflict, the Reformation's destruction of beauty, the rise of science and reason, the intellectual salons of the Enlightenment, the disappointments of Napoleon, and his eventual retreat to a pasto
What happens
Nectaire recounts the history of religious conflict, the Reformation's destruction of beauty, the rise of science and reason, the intellectual salons of the Enlightenment, the disappointments of Napoleon, and his eventual retreat to a pastoral life awaiting the return of Dionysus.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Blind Faith
Nectaire criticizes both Catholic and Protestant reformers for their destructive zeal and intolerance.
Knowledge and Enlightenment
The chapter celebrates the rise of science, reason, and freethinking during the Enlightenment.
Art and Beauty
Nectaire laments the destruction of medieval art and anticipates Dionysus's return to restore beauty.
Human Nature and Folly
The narrative highlights human folly in war, religious persecution, and Romanticism.
Characters to notice
- Nectaire
Narrates his personal history as a demon witnessing the Reformation, Enlightenment, and Napoleonic era.
- Iahveh
Referenced as the jealous God and old Jew whose spirit of violence is compared to Napoleon's.
- Satan
Implied as the speaker's master or fellow demon in the struggle against heretics.
- Dionysus
Mentioned as the future restorer of beauty and gladness, bringing back the Golden Age.
Key passages
“These mad apostles and their mad disciples made even demons like myself, even the horned devils, look back longingly on the time when the Son with his Virgin Mother reigned over the nations dazzled with splendours”
The iconoclastic reformers were so destructive that even demons missed the beauty of medieval Catholic art and worship.
Nectaire expresses nostalgia for the aesthetic richness of pre-Reformation Christianity.
“Without publicly denying the god of their ancestors, men of intellect submitted to his mortal enemies, Science and Reason”
Intellectuals quietly turned away from traditional religion and embraced science and reason.
Describes the shift during the Enlightenment toward secular thought.
“It is a great sin to deprive oneself of a pleasure.”
Denying oneself pleasure is a serious wrongdoing.
Quotes the Epicurean philosopher Bernier to illustrate the spirit of the age.
“He loved the game of chance, and it pleased him to tempt fortune by urging pygmies in their hundreds and thousands against each other. It was the game of a child as big as the world.”
Napoleon treated war like a colossal game, sending countless men to their deaths.
Nectaire criticizes Napoleon's reckless ambition and disregard for human life.
“I await, while cultivating this enclosure, that still distant day when the great Dionysus shall come, followed by his Fauns and his Bacchantes, to restore beauty and gladness to the world”
I tend my garden and wait for Dionysus to return and bring back joy and beauty.
Nectaire's hopeful vision of a pagan revival and the end of human folly.