# Marquis de La Fayette — The Rights of Man character guide

> Marquis de La Fayette in The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** M. de la Fayette, de la Fayette, Lafayette

**First appearance:** 0013-to-m-de-la-fayette

## Snapshot

The French aristocrat who crossed an ocean to fight for American freedom and now stands at the center of France's own revolution.

## Who they are

Lafayette is Paine's friend of nearly fifteen years, tested in difficult situations in America and consulted across Europe, and the man to whom Paine dedicates his second part. Their only disagreement is pace: Lafayette supposes reform accomplishable in fourteen or fifteen years, Paine believes mankind ripe in far less. Paine's warning that it is as injurious to let good principles linger as to push them too fast frames Lafayette as the cautious ally — sincere, esteemed, and perhaps too easily deceived by courtly manners.

## Relationships

### [King John](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/king_john)

_professional_

King John and Lafayette had a formal relationship, likely as a monarch and a French military officer involved in revolutionary conflicts.

### [Charles Calonne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/charles_calonne)

_professional_

Calonne and Lafayette were French political figures, with Calonne as a finance minister and Lafayette as a reformer, often at odds over policy.

### [Count de Broglie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/count_de_broglie)

_professional_

Broglie and Lafayette were fellow French nobles and military officers, likely cooperating in revolutionary or court affairs.

### [King John](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/king_john)

_professional_

King John and Lafayette had a formal relationship, likely as a monarch and a French military officer involved in revolutionary conflicts.

## In the story

### [Editor's Introduction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/editor-s-introduction)

Friend of Paine and idol of France; summoned Paine as an adviser in forming a new French constitution.

### [The Rights of Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/the-rights-of-man)

Paine addresses a dedicatory epistle to Lafayette, honoring his contributions to liberty.

### [Part First: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/part-first-being-an-answer-to-mr-burke-s-attack-on-the-french-revolution)

Mentioned in connection with the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

### [Paine's Preface to the English Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/paine-s-preface-to-the-english-edition)

Implied as one of the friends of the Revolution in France to whom Paine promised an answer to Burke's pamphlet.

### [Observations on the Declaration of Rights](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/observations-on-the-declaration-of-rights)

Quoted in the closing apostrophe about the monument to Liberty

### [Miscellaneous Chapter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/miscellaneous-chapter)

Paine quotes Lafayette's statement: 'For a nation to be free, it is sufficient that she wills it,' contrasting it with Burke's view of English liberties.

### [Part Second: Combining Principle and Practice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/part-second-combining-principle-and-practice)

Presented as a key figure in the French Revolution, embodying the application of rights.

### [French Translator’s Preface (1792)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/french-translator-s-preface-1792)

Paine's dedicatory epistle to Lafayette was suppressed; the translator questions Lafayette's sincerity, suggesting he deceived Paine with courtly artfulness.

### [To M. de la Fayette](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/to-m-de-la-fayette)

Dedicatee of the treatise; Paine acknowledges their long friendship and shared principles, differing only on the timing of reforms.

### [Of Constitutions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/iv-of-constitutions)

Paine references the French National Assembly and its declaration, which Lafayette helped draft.

### [Ways and Means of Improving the Condition of Europe: Interspersed with Miscellaneous Observations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/v-ways-and-means-of-improving-the-condition-of-europe-interspersed-with-miscellaneous-observations)

Mentioned in the context of the French Revolution and the Declaration of Rights.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/endnotes)

Mentioned as a source of information about the French Revolution.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/marquis_de_la_fayette
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters