Predominantly, Dickens accurately describes the continual conflict between the nobles and the commoners. During the time period of the French Revolution, there was a caste system in place with three estates: First, Second, and Third Estates.The First Estate was considered the clergy. The Second Estate consisted of 350,000 people, owning 25-30% of the land. This was considered “the nobility” having leading positions in government, military, law courts, and in the Roman Catholic Church (Spielvogel). The Third Estate divided even further based on education, occupation, and wealth. Peasants were a major part of the estate (75-80%) having little to no land on which to live. There was a middle class within the Third Estate known as the bourgeoisie, withheld by bankers, lawyers, holders of public offices, doctors, and professional people. …show more content…
Having these classes in place left room for continuous fighting and hatred towards the other. The aristocracy would belittle the peasants and raise the taxes higher and higher without paying themselves and leaving the poor with nothing. Dickens shows how little the nobles care about their people by having interactions with the different classes. He shows the absent mindedness of a noble when Marquis Evrémonde rides through the streets and his carriage hits a small child. The child's father, Gaspard, begins to weep for his son and the lord expresses his confusion and astonishment, “‘It is extraordinary to me,’ said he, ‘that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is for ever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done to my horses. See! Give him that’” (Dickens 101). The Marquis automatically blames the poor for the accident and shows no
The dissatisfaction of the nobles and the clergy was another reason why the radical stage occurred. Nobles and clergy were mad because the lost their privileges. Before the revolution, the first two estates enjoyed tax exemptions while the third estate paid for everything. Politically, the first two estates had much more power than they should have had based on their numbers. In the Estates General, each estate was represented equally. This was true even
Some people like Emmanuel Sieyès, middle-class writer who was taken by the Enlightenment ideas, believed that all of French Society lay on the backs of the third estate. On the contrary, Robespierre, the monarch at the time, believed that the third estate did not have the power to do anything important to society. The third estate had to pay taxes like the Gabelle and Taille while the first and seconds estates did not have to pay any taxes to the king. Also, the third estates had less of a representation in voting. The first and second estate could outvote the third estate every time and this was a huge inequality. The condition of the third estate was horrible but a good portion of this third estate was the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie had some wealth and social class, so they influenced the rest of the third estate about their rights, while also inspiring some lower clergies and provincial nobles and thus led to a group of rebellious people to fight the monarchy. This fight for political representation and political rights was only one cause of the French Revolution. Another causes lies in the French Monarchs: Louis XlV, Louis XV, and Louis XVl. When Louis XlV was ruling, the monarchy had unlimited power and was known as a
Medieval society was traditionally divided into three "estates”. The "First Estate" was the Church receiving their authority from God; the "Second Estate" was the Nobility receiving their authority from the clergy; and the "Third Estate" was the commoners receiving their authority and rights from the nobility. The First Estate provided the moral authority and structure encompassing the whole system, essentially, they set the rules. The clergy used their influence to provide moral authority for the nobility to rule over the commoners. The commoners, were instructed by this hierarchy, to follow the nobles. This enabled the clergy to receive special rights and exclusions from most of the noble’s governance. The clergy had many functions independent
The treatment of the "majority", which was the lower class, had a significant role in each of these revolutions. The French revolution was considered, "the great revolution of the eighteenth century" (McKay, 705) and is a perfect example of how the "majority" was treated. Out of twenty-five million people, 100,000 were the clergy, 400,000 were noblemen (McKay, 705) and the "majority" of the population was known as the third estate. These people were forced to starve while Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived in the lap of luxury. For an example, the price of a loaf of bread was so high, that only the rich could afford it.
The French Revolution evokes many different emotions and controversial issues in that some believe it was worth the cost and some don't. There is no doubt that the French Revolution did have major significance in history. Not only did the French gain their independence, but an industrial revolution also took place. One of the main issues of the Revolution was it's human costs. Two writers, the first, Peter Kropotkin who was a Russian prince, and the other Simon Schama, a history professor, both had very opposing views on whether the wars fought by France during the Revolution were worth it's human costs. Krapotkin believed that the French Revolution was the main turning point for not only France but for most other countries as well. On the other hand, Schama viewed the French Revolution as unproductive and excessively violent.
Under the rule of Louis XVI, the people of France were divided into three main social classes or estates as they are called. The First Estate featured wealthy members of the Church such as Bishops and Priests who held great political power due to their influence on government affairs. The Second Estate was a class comprised of the wealthy nobles and political officials who held all power in government affairs.
Historian Albert Mathiez states that “The middle class… was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The revolution came from them- the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read.” The middle class were not able to have a class on their own; they were still considered peasants. In the illustration it showed how much people and land each estate held, the Clergy was one percent of the population which owned ten percent of the land. Nobles were two percent of the people that owned thirty-five percent of the land. The middle class, peasants, and city workers were ninety-seven of the people owned fifty-five percent of the land. This means that if the third estate were to riot, this would cause havoc. There was a lot during that time; the website Macrohistory and World Timeline shows that “The population of France had grown to between 24 and 26 million, up from 19 million in 1700 without a concomitant growth in food production. Farmers around Paris consumed over 80 percent of what they grew, so if a harvest fell by around 10 percent, which was common, people went hungry. There was insufficient government planning and storage of grain for emergency shortages”. If there were approximately 26 million people, there would be 25,220,000 people in the third estate, 520,000 people in the second estate, and 260,000
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
They were only two percent of France’s population, but owned twenty percent of the land. They paid no taxes (Krieger 483). The third estate accounted for ninety-eight percent of France’s population. The third estate was divided into three groups; the middle class, known as the bourgeoisie, the urban lower classes, and the peasant farmers. The third estate lost about half their income in taxes.
The Third Estate consisted of everyone else, the pheasants, farmers, landless labourers, serfs and the emerging middle class called the bourgeois. 80% of the population was rural and were very highly taxed by the king, like the rest of the Third Estate.... ... middle of paper ... ... Overall, the weakness and indecisive actions of France's monarch, King Louis XVI, did not make those serving him respect or be loyal to him and his choices.
The thesis of this study is how society was during the French Revolution from 1789 to 1799. The French Revolution during this time went through significant changes from the beginning when society was run by the wealthy class and being undemocratic and changed to being a democratic state. From 1789 to 1799, the French Revolution was a “cataclysmic political and social upheaval.” French society was going through a hard period in France.
The Privileges of the First and Second Estates in France in the 1780's Under the Ancien Régime, the French people were divided, according to their status, into ‘estates’ or social groups. These groups were very unequal in size and power. It is difficult to give exact figures for this period, but it is estimated that the First Estate, the clergy, had around 170,000 members, the Second Estate, the nobility, had 300,000-400,000 members, while the remaining Third Estate made up the rest of the population. Louis XVI was an absolute monarch and under his regime, the people of France had to pay taxes, which went towards the army, the public officials and the luxurious life that the royal family led at the Palace of Versailles. Even though the Third Estate was the poorest overall, the unfair Ancien Régime meant that the huge burden of taxes fell mainly upon them.
Long ago in France, there were three types of people. There lived the poor people whom lived off of their land and the business of other people, which created the bottom of the social classes. There lived the rich people whom lived off of themselves and their businesses that they owned, which granted them noble power. Finally, there lived the royalties: King, Queen, and their people. These people belonged to their explicit social classes in France, which is the basis of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Dickens uses these classes in his story to express the French Revolution and show how the poor were mistreated by the rich, and how the royalties were the most corrupt of the land. The French Revolution was the turning point of France at the time, which turned the entire basis of France’s monarchy around thanks to the classes of France banding together to stop the King. The social classes of France comprised the Revolution that turned France around and became a more civilized and fair society, and this is quite evident in Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities.
This was an ancient stratification system that does not exist today anymore. However, to illustrate the estate system, we go over its three categories: the nobility, the clergy and the commoners.
Importance of Social Class in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations Social class played a major role in the society depicted in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. Social class determines the manner in which a person is treated and their access to education. Yet, social class does not define the character of the individual. Many characters were treated differently because of their social class in Great Expectations. Seeing the contrast between how the poor and the rich were treated will give a clearer understanding of how much social class mattered.