Taking the Bastile; Or, Pitou the Peasant A Historical Story of the Great French Revolution

"Taking the Bastile; Or, Pitou the Peasant" by Alexandre Dumas is a late 19th-century historical novel that unfolds during the French Revolution, where Ange Pitou, a young peasant, gets caught up in the revolutionary events and seeks to discover his role amid the turmoil. Dumas crafts a narrative of courage, social transformation, and the pursuit of freedom, highlighted by the pivotal event of storming the Bastille. A man named Gilbert travels across a snow-covered rural region in the beginning of the novel to find a peasant woman called Madeline Pitou. Gilbert gives her a baby to raise at her home because both parents died in a tragedy. While Gilbert is giving Madeline the child, he shows both joy and sadness for the baby's future. We see Gilbert's connections with Madeline and her family, as well as the love and complexities of country life and the approaching changes on the horizon. The beginning builds the stage for the rise of the main character, Ange Pitou, hinting at themes of grief, relationships with parents, and the Revolution's radical influence.