OLLI0072 - The Napoleons and their Cultural Impact

Course Description

Napoleon Bonaparte left his native Corsica and rose to prominence during the French Revolutionary years, eventually creating a vast empire which he ruled as Emperor in the early years of the 19th Century. His nephew, Napoleon III, rose to power in the wake of the 1848 revolution in France, and was declared emperor in 1851, ruling France until Le Débacle that Émile Zola described in one of the 20 novels he wrote about the Second Empire. The two Napoleons’ accomplishments, and foibles, are the stuff of legends, promulgated in large part by propagandists, as well as some of the great artistic figures of their respective ages. In this course, we’ll overview the achievements and disasters of these two monumental French figures, examining with particular care the impact they had upon contemporary artists, writers, dancers, and philosophers. Watch video