The Revolutionary Rebirth of Jean-Paul Marat

This chapter provides a close analysis of the writings and actions of Jean-Paul Marat during one of the great turning points, both of his life and of the French Revolution: the summer of 1789. It traces how Marat, the Swiss-born doctor and aspiring scientist, author of an English-language political tract denouncing despotism and conspiracy in Britain, began to comment on and take a role in French revolutionary politics. A close examination of his writings, from his early Offrande à la patrie to the first issues of Le publiciste parisien (the original title of his famous newspaper L’ami du peuple), shows how Marat developed the key elements of his revolutionary political thought: in particular, the notion of the gap between political representation and popular will, the role of public opinion in breaching this gap, and the power of denunciation to enlighten that opinion and alert the people against its enemies. In these months, Marat the journalist found his revolutionary voice and political identity.