Paris Dreams By Charles Rearick: Summary

In late 19th century Paris, cafés-concerts (best described as “glorified beer halls” (Clark 206)) were a very popular destination for the people of Paris. Cafés-concerts became an integral part of Parisian social life, as they were visited by hundreds of people each night, regardless of class. A bar at the Folies Bergère became the topic of Edouard Manet’s last painting, as Manet tried to portray the new, “modern” Paris, and the introduction of mass production during this time. A Marxist art historian, T.J. Clark finds this particular painting important because it revealed a lot about the new, modern Paris, and Manet’s intentions with the painting. Clark focuses more on the emergence of the new social class during this time, and how this affected the role of women in Paris. The painting, A bar at Folies Bergère, has historical significance because of how it depicts modernity in the context of the emergence of a new social class (the petite bourgeoisie), the introduction of mass production, and the changing role of women.

The marginalization and isolation found in the suburbs of Paris are the results of 20th century postwar Paris failed urban planning. City officials attempted to reconstruct Paris into a higher functioning city based on models of other metropolitan communities; using designs that broke the city into sections. As a result, urban planners created separation between classes, which produced a loss of connection and identity for immigrant families. That class division became a breeding ground for hostile attitudes, stereotypes, and generations of poverty in the suburbs. These increased tensions centered on race and wealth are today modern Paris’s most pressing issues. The flawed urban planning that gave birth to the suburbs created what Prime Minister

The world has been evolving as quickly as the population has grown. As the years progressed, the habitual lifestyle has transformed from spread out house and land living to city and suburban occupation. Along with the living style, cities have progressed from just roads and buildings to multifunctional spaces with copious possibilities. Federation Square in the ‘heart of the city’ is an example of how a space in the city vastly contributes to the visual culture of Melbourne. Times Square in New York also displays how what was previously an intersection of roads, has been transformed into a visual landmark. Melbourne city had always lacked a functional public space ever since its birth.

“Le Cygne” is a poem by Baudelaire, published in the “Tableaux parisiens” of “Fleurs du Mal. Between 1853 and 1870 the city of Paris underwent vast amounts of renovation by order of Napoléon III. It included the destruction of many poor and unhealthy old neighborhoods to be replaced by avenues, parks, squares and large boulevards. Many of the writers at the time where unhappy with these changes and “Le Cygne” can be read as Baudelaire’s reaction to these changes which make him feel alone and lost in this new city. In my commentary, I will suggest that Baudelaire attempts to create a virtual encyclopedia of exiled individuals, and thus have felt similar emotions to that of Baudelaire’s response to the changing city. The poem is also dedicated to Victor Hugo, who at the time of the poem was in exile on a channel island. I will first try and explore the meaning behind the different stories in the open. I will then try to understand how each of these stories share a certain type of parallel or similarity in the terms of the emotions felt, and finally what the main themes of the poem are altogether.

It is midnight in Paris. Candlelight haunts the cobblestone streets, illuminating red roses whose crimson petals serve as poignant mementoes of the city’s recent carnage. Overhead, ensconced in shadows, a French flag sways in the November air — stirred by the mourning of its people. In Place de la République, citizens of the City of Lights encircle in prayer. At the circle’s midpoint, a man stands blindfolded, arms outstretched as strangers embrace him in succession. You blink and find yourself standing directly at the foreigner’s side. His hand extends toward yours. Instinctively, you reach to grasp it.

The environment in which people live in demonstrates the societal norms and values of said culture. In Émile Zola’s The Belly of Paris, Florent, a political outcast, returns to Paris only to find that the regime has drastically changed. Napoleon III, a self-elected emperor, has torn down many of the streets of Old Paris to make room for the angular and orderly streets of New Paris as well as the new markets of Les Halles. Throughout the novel, the character’s lives revolve around the various markets in Les Halles and the streets of Paris. Zola uses descriptions of architecture and city planning as well as how people use space within Paris to demonstrate the city’s corruption, signifying that the architecture of a city is a reflection of

exhibition of his longing for the familiarity of Paris and the sanctity of his past, a

The 19th century was a time of modernization throughout the world. Paris and New York were two mega cities which revolutionized society’s outlook on existence. New York home to Walt Whitman cherished the ugliness of his city as a beauty to one’s self. Emile Zola and Charles Baudelaire investigated Paris, which explored societies’ vices. Through these authors' eyes we're able to see the differences and similarities between both cities by analyzing the way they were portrayed in literature.

“The City of Light” better known as “Paris”. Is one of the most well known cities today, the place so many people wish to be. I am indeed of those people. If I were to visit one foreign country, that would it. Pairs, France. We’ve seen it all, from movies, to pictures, to the news, to even books. It sounds nothing more than pleasant dream that’s quite overpriced. Paris is known for it’s delicious food, their people, and nothing more but their historical sights.

The people of 19th century France experienced unprecedented change in many aspects of day-to-day life. The emergence of new technologies, industrialisation and agricultural mechanisation created new economic opportunities, with the effects of this change most notably felt in the capital Paris. However, the city was struggling to accommodate the rapid growth, and many felt that the squalor and overcrowding was in direct opposition to this new way of life. The renovation of Paris by Georges Haussmann in the latter part of the century saw radical changes to both the visual aspect of the city but also to the Parisian way of life. These changes brought a new sense of modernity to Paris, and consequently the artists of the day became detached observers

In contrast to Jean Janduns, "In Old Paris, A Treatise of the Praises of Paris" written about Paris in the highest of regards, Louis-Sebastien Mercier's, "Panorama of Paris" is not afraid to speak of the highs and lows of the city. Mercier's depiction of life in Paris is very realistic including descriptions of sights, sounds, and smells. Mercier says the Halles are full of "perpetual noise, perpetual motion". Noting it to be a great source of the city saying, "the Halles keep all the other markets of Paris going". They way Mercier writes about Paris alludes to the respect he has for the city in the editors preface we are told, "no anthology of readings about the city can avoid borrowing from it". Mercier does not over praise or over criticise,

Over the past few centuries, after mankind had almost fully embraced the thought of living life within the confines of a city, the people in charge of the maintenance and upkeep of the sprawling metropolises that now dominate the world scene have used methods that are equally alike and different in order to accomplish their goals. Often considered one of the first great city planners of pre-modern times, Haussmann was given the task to recreate the sprawling mass that Paris had become into a landmark of both beauty and power. His personal style, although having its own fair share of critics, is now considered to have been at least fairly successful in completely retrofitting and modernizing the monuments, the roadways and the main public

His first comprehensive city plan was La Ville Contemporaine (the Contemporary City) a project to house three million inhabitants designed in 1922. This was Le Corbusier’s first attempt to reconcile man, nature and machine (Fishman, 189). The city starts at the center with a transportation hub for busses, trains, cars and planes. Surrounding this hub there will be an organized cluster of 24 60-story skyscrapers. These glass and steel skyscrapers are cross-shaped. Each individual skyscraper is to be set within a large rectangular green space. The skyscrapers house the “brain” of the city. The city is beautifully geometric and symmetrical. Placing the skyscrapers in the city center reinforces the emphasis on capital as a means of creating a successful city. Because of the shape and mass of each skyscraper, they have more usable space than an entire neighborhood but also relieves density and congestion because of the organization (Frampton, 46).

After Germany i’m heading to France, where i’m going to the capital, Paris, to enjoy the feeling of love in the air. In Paris i’m hoping to see the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame de Paris, and the Sainte Chapelle. Some interesting facts about this place are Paris was once a Roman City called “Lutetia.” To get to the top of the Eiffel tower you would have to climb 1,665 steps, unless you take the elevator, woh! Also, there are at least three replicas of the Statue of Liberty in Paris, weird! Finally, there are 6,100 streets in Paris, wow!

It was one of the largest efforts to rebuild the centre of a city since ancient times. While there was the glamour of the many entertainments in the city, there was also a darker side of poverty, crime and prostitution. "The city - with its pristine exterior, its soiled underside, its hollow entertainments - provided the makings of an enormous duality: a two-sided mirror...a spectacle and secret life." (Bromber 1996: 62) One of the key parts to this design by Haussmann were the wide tree lined avenues, which replaced the smaller streets that had previously existed in the city. "Haussmann's grand design for the reconstruction of Paris was being carried forward by the Third Republic, and the city was now laced with wide, tree-lined avenues." (Schneider 1972: 134) In fact, the modern city of Paris is based on the city that was built by Haussmann and the modern perception of Paris as being the artistic and cultural centre that it is known for, is chiefly based on Haussman's design and re-modelling of the city.