Napoleon Bonaparte Profile - Essay Example

Napoleon Bonaparte It is hard to deny that the world wouldn’t have reached the state it is now in without great historical contributions of people. Since the ancient times, people have been the power shaping the world and pushing it forward on the way of development and progress. History knows a great number of people, who produced much impact on progress, culture and political arena. Thereby, among the remarkable political figures of the past, the personality of Napoleon Bonaparte holds a very special place, for the contribution of this controversial and complex person to global culture and history is difficult to overrate. Living between 1769 and 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte was a great military commander and a prominent diplomat. A huge milestone in the history of the Western world is inseparably connected to this little controversial person (Roberts, 2014). The emperor became famous not only for his bright intellect, but also for his engrossing ambitions and breathtaking career. Although childhood and youth of the future emperor in Corsica were rather ordinary, with no signs of the future power and splendor, he managed to develop his own point of view in terms of politics and strong self-confidence. His revolutionary patriotic feelings drove him to the military service at a rather early age of 16 and eventually made him a great emperor and commander, whose aim was to not only expand and preserve the borders of the French empire, but also to gain global dominance (Riley, 2007). In his attempts to establish positive relations with the British Empire, the great commander was led by the ides that “France and England, in alliance, might govern the world” (Napoleon). Historical and literary sources virtually redund with the data about Bonaparte’s personality and records of his sayings, thus, the modern reader can construct the comprehensive portrait of the emperor based on the synthesis of the information presented in various written sources. At the same time, numerous portrayals of Napoleon created by different painters enable creating an image of the figure in our perception. We clearly see that – as it is pictured in visual art – Napoleon was far from being handsome, yet he had much of charm and artistry in his nature. The short man with just 157 cm in height, Napoleon is often depicted wearing the military uniform of white and dark blue and his famous three-cornered hat, which is reported to have been designed by him personally. With his look calm and cold, he stands on the background of his study surrounded by papers and elegant furniture of the 18th century. Strong jaw, thin long nose looking a little bit unnatural on his face and high forehead – these are the characteristic features of the great emperor’s appearance illustrated in the painting by Jacques-Louis David, the prominent painter of the French revolution. The portrayed man cannot be described as pleasant-looking or handsome in any way, yet the coldness of his gaze evokes impression of power and charisma. In addition, the emperor is always depicted serious – there are no paintings where he has at list a shadow of a smile. The emperor had a great number of unique extraordinary features, which made him genius or at least unusual. He never respected anyone truly, except his mother and nanny, yet he was very capricious and self-willed even in childhood: being punished, Napoleon screamed himself hoarse. However, he could never be force to apologize – the typical set of features for a man descending from Corsica: pride, self-exaltation and obduracy. The governor had brilliant memory, extensive knowledge in many areas including mathematics and could read up to 2000 words per minute. His working capacities went beyond the borders of standards, as he was able to work up to 18 hours and afford himself only 3 to 4 hours of rest. At the same time, despite being an extremely brave and decisive military commander and governor, who would fearlessly lead his army in the battlefield, he had fear for cats, ailurophobia. Personal life and attitude towards women constitute another intriguing part of Napoleon’s life. He was an illustrious specimen of a sexist, considering women lower creatures: “We have spoilt everything by treating women far too well. It was wrong of us to put them on a level with ourselves” (Napoleon). Also, he once said that the greatest woman was that who “has borne the greatest number of children” (Napoleon). Thereby, it is quite understandable that his perception of women was purely patriarchal and sexist, implying the role of the woman of a mere child-bearer and an obedient wife. However, he was enchanted by his first wife, Josephine, as they met for the first time, and later tolerated her affairs with other men, being sure that the good stable marriage was crucial for political career. On the other hand, if his woman wanted something done, he would do the contrary, as he stated himself. Anyway, women and love didn’t excite this man much: he himself state that he had never been truly in love (only with Josephine a little), because one’s life was too precious to give it to the other person. Nevertheless, his reason and tolerance in marriage didn’t often manifest itself in his attitude towards his subordinates and people who surrounded him. The man, vain enough to have an obsessive striving to be the best in each and every area of his life, he surrounded himself with people shorter and uglier than him. In contrast to his profound condescension and sexist treatment of women, Bonaparte demonstrated great loyalty and pride regarding his army. He considered his men heroes and longed to establish genuine trust-based relationships with them. In this respect, many scholars consider this feature to be the crucial condition that made Bonaparte a great commander and governor, whose name has been holding its place in history. “Napoléon encouraged a real sense of camaraderie between himself and his men. The soldiers of his Grande Armée came to feel deep affection for the general they called their "Little Corporal"—a nickname that itself testifies to the democratic bond forged between Napoleon and his men» (Blaufarb). The governor managed to combine discipline and supportive attitude towards the soldiers and thus often visited them by campfires on the eve of the great battles. Once, Napoleon saw that one of his soldiers had fallen asleep at watch. However, Bonaparte didn’t execute him or put him to justice. Instead, he took the soldier’s weapon and stood in his place. This deed can serve as an evidence of prudence and reason – Napoleon found it crucial to gain trust among his soldiers. Moreover, owing to his extraordinary memory abilities, he could remember thousands of soldiers by names. Concluding this portrayal of Napoleon Bonaparte, it would be reasonable to mention that, despite his illustrious success in military commanding and state affairs, he was still a rather controversial personality combining great achievements with morbid ambitiousness and superiority complex. Having encouraged the revolution and establishment of the empire, Bonaparte got obsessed with the idea of global dominance and believed that power over entire Europe can be concentrated in the hands of a single person – and it should be him, of course. Such approach accompanied by ambitions created a cult of the personality in France, which could be compared to those that existed in Europe more than a century later, in the 20th century. Therefore, we could say that – due to certain similarities – Bonaparte’s personality might be associated with two major dictators of the previous century – Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. He, as these two governors, had an extraordinary ability to “excite the masses” (Napoleon) and successfully did that to achieve his goals and rebuild Europe at his disposal. This man was an ace in the field of propaganda - he possessed an exceptional capability to convince; and he created his image himself with his appearance, his unusual characteristic features and his great deeds. The stunted unsmiling man in a uniform and a peculiar hat, holding his arm between the buttons of his neat waistcoat on most of his portraits; a sexist, an extremely vain person and a talented commander loyal to his people – this is how the history presents the personality of Napoleon Bonaparte. Works Cited Roberts, Andrew. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014. Print. Napoleon I (Emperor of the French). Great Thoughts from Napoleon. Cosimo, Inc., 2004. Blaufarb, Rafe. "Napoléon: What Made Him Great?." Military History 28.6 (2012): 35. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 9 Mar. 2015. Riley, Jonathan. "How Good Was Napoleon?." History Today 57.7 (2007): 37-39. History Reference Center. Web. 9 Mar. 2015. Read More