Why? It's absurd, but it's rather funny. And, as I said, despite the fact that revolutionary justice is somewhat corrupt in the protagonist's city, the other revolutionaries are loyal to their friends and their country and they're neither ugly nor austere. In fact, a lot of the Vendéens wore black and looked ugly, so... Not to mention being murderous, incestuous, and very bad at fighting--two aristos armed with swords are beaten by the protagonist with a wooden pitchfork.