Le Dernier banquet des Girondins Historical study or “scène ­historique”?

Charles Nodier devoted a large portion of his creative output to history, while refusing to call himself a historian. He saw himself as a witness to a period rich in upheavals of all kinds. The tale is therefore the form most in keeping with this stance. He makes a notable exception with Le Dernier banquet des Girondins, which he writes in a hybrid form close to the “scène historique,” without deciding to adopt all of its criteria, and adjacent to the historical drama, without wanting to give up narration altogether.