Rhetorical Analysis Of Thomas Paine's Reflections On The Revolution In France

In his work, Rights of Man, Thomas Paine criticizes Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France by emphasizing his favor of principles over imagination. Throughout Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke utilizes a variety of rhetorical devices, often painting dramatic scenes that appeal to his audience’s emotions, to convey his belief that the Third Estate should remain in power alongside the systems associated with it, such as chivalry. In contrast, Thomas Paine argues that emotion and imagination have no place in politics, and he appeals only to abstract principles. In Edmund Burke’s depiction of the March on Versailles, he laments the destruction of the monarchy and the systems associated with it by portraying Marie

Paine also asserts that one of the Garde du Corps officers started the fighting, writing that he “...appeared at one of the windows of the palace, and the people who had remained during the night in the streets accosted him with reviling and provocative language. Instead of retiring, as in a case prudence would have dictated, he presented his musket, fired, and killed one of the Paris militia. The peace being thus broken, the people rushed into the palace in quest of the offender.” Paine’s account of how the fighting began differs from Burke’s significantly, as he blames the Garde du Corps officer for unnecessarily escalating the conflict with violence. This escalation caused the revolutionaries to storm the palace. Paine also emphasizes that the Garde du Corps officer’s lack of principles, specifically prudence, caused him to kill “...one of the Paris militia.” In doing so, Paine underscores the Third Estate’s lack of principles and morals and their overall corruption and belief that working-class lives were

Rather than illustrating a conflict between two groups and highlighting his utmost favor for one, Paine offers perspectives from not only the revolutionaries, but all the palace’s inhabitants, writing, “On this tumult, not the Queen only, as Mr. Burke has represented it, but every person in the palace, was awakened and alarmed.” In focusing on everyone present, Paine’s account loses the dramatic flair and narrative nature that Burke’s account possesses. Paine does not evoke emotion among his audience, choosing to appeal to reason