The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen · Chapter
The Baron makes a speech to the National Assembly, and drives out all the members—Routs the fishwomen and the National Guards—Pursues the whole rout into a Church, where he defeats the National Assembly, etc., with Rousseau, Voltaire, and Beelzebub at their head, and liberates Marie Antoinette and the Royal Family. explained
The Baron, returning from India through Switzerland, learns of the French nobility's disenfranchisement and Queen Marie Antoinette's suffering.
What happens
The Baron, returning from India through Switzerland, learns of the French nobility's disenfranchisement and Queen Marie Antoinette's suffering. He confronts the National Assembly, threatens them, and after a scuffle, drives them out and locks the doors. He then presents himself as the sole parliament to the King, but is attacked by rallied Assembly members, National Guards, and fishwomen. He defeats them, converts some, and pursues the rest into a church turned into a monument to Voltaire. There, he battles and overcomes the specters of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Beelzebub, causing the building to collapse. He returns to the palace, is embraced by the Queen, and escorts the royal family to safety near Mont-Medi before returning to England.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Politics and Society
The Baron's absurd one-man takeover of the National Assembly and his mock-knighting of fishwomen satirize revolutionary politics and the chaos of the French Revolution.
The Marvelous and the Absurd
The appearance of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Beelzebub as supernatural specters, and the Baron's supernatural victory over them, exemplify the marvelous and absurd tone.
Critique of Human Nature
The portrayal of the Assembly members, fishwomen, and the revolutionary mob as irrational, violent, and easily terrified critiques human folly and mob mentality.
Self-Aggrandizement and Heroism
The Baron presents himself as the sole savior of the French monarchy, single-handedly defeating entire armies and supernatural beings, highlighting his exaggerated self-importance.
Characters to notice
- Baron Munchausen
Narrator and protagonist; single-handedly defeats the National Assembly, fishwomen, and the specters of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Beelzebub, then rescues the French royal family.
- Voltaire
Appears as a meager skeleton specter with a lyre and dagger, leading the Assembly's invocation; the Baron compels him to renounce his errors.
- Marquis de Bellecourt
Not directly mentioned in this chapter; included as a placeholder for canonical completeness.
- Hilaro Frosticos
Not directly mentioned in this chapter; included as a placeholder for canonical completeness.
- Pope Ganganelli
Not directly mentioned in this chapter; included as a placeholder for canonical completeness.
- Vulcan
Not directly mentioned in this chapter; included as a placeholder for canonical completeness.
- Sphinx
Not directly mentioned in this chapter; included as a placeholder for canonical completeness.
- The Captain
Not directly mentioned in this chapter; included as a placeholder for canonical completeness.
Key passages
“I went to the cavern of these Anthropophagi, assembled to debate, and gracefully putting the hilt of my sword to my lips—'I swear,' cried I, 'by the sacred cross of my sword, that if you do not instantly reinstate your king and his nobility, and your injured queen, I will cut the one half of you to pieces.'”
The Baron enters the National Assembly's meeting hall, dramatically swears on his sword, and demands they restore the king, nobility, and queen, threatening to kill half of them if they refuse.
The Baron's theatrical threat to the Assembly sets the stage for his violent intervention.
“I seized that cursed skeleton Voltaire, and soon compelled him to renounce all the errors he had advanced; and while he spoke the words, as if by magic charm, the whole assembly shrieked, and the pandemonium began to tumble in hideous ruin on their heads.”
The Baron grabs the skeletal specter of Voltaire and forces him to recant his philosophical ideas, causing the entire building to collapse on the assembly.
The Baron's supernatural victory over Voltaire symbolizes the defeat of Enlightenment thought in this fantastical counter-revolutionary narrative.
“Ah, thou flower of nobility,' cried she, 'were all the nobles of France like thee, we should never have been brought to this!'”
Queen Marie Antoinette exclaims that if all French nobles were as heroic as the Baron, the revolution would never have happened.
The Queen's praise reinforces the Baron's self-aggrandizing role as the ideal noble savior.
