Research Paper On Charles Darnay

← Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001

The Enlightenment is known as the revolution that brought to question the traditional political and social structures. This included the question of the woman’s traditional roles in society. As the public sphere relied more and more ?? and the advances in scientific and educated thinking, women sought to join in with the ranks of their male counterparts. Women held gatherings known as salons where they organized intellectual conversations with their distinguished male guests. Seeking to further their status, enlightened women published pamphlets and other works advocating for educational rights and political recognition. Even with this evolution of woman in society, many still clung to the belief that the role of the woman was solely

Before the French Revolution began, people were openly expressing their dissatisfaction with French society through written means. The discontent comes from many areas, but a large focus comes from the nobility. Voltaire, Candide, or Optimism, Isabelle de Charrière, The Nobleman (1763), and Nicolas Toussaint le Moyne des Essarts, The Noailles Affair (1786), gives a clear representation of how the nobility is viewed in the second half of the eighteenth century. Writers represented most of French nobility as mainly being only concerned about their family heritage and luxurious privileges, which greatly corresponds with reality as can be seen in William Doyle’s The Oxford History of the French Revolution.

The late seventeenth century, when the enlightenment began, was a period of great turmoil, which persisted at intervals throughout the succeeding century. Reason had led many thinkers to the conclusions that kings and queens were ordinary mortals, and that conclusion implied new kinds of uncertainty. Society in this period worked by the means of well-defined codes of behavior. Religion during this period was still very important to many people. Moliere’s “Tartuffe” is a great illustration on how religion affected people at that time. Moliere was very brave to write this story based on how the Catholic Church was influencing and blinding people. Women also played a huge part of the enlightenment period and society during this time. Women of the upper classes occupied an important place in the Enlightenment society, presiding over “Salons,” gatherings whose participants engaged in intellectual as well as frivolous conversation (Puchner 7). In the literature that we have read, society overlook women capabilities and their logic thinking. The story that was a great example of this is “Tartuffe “and “The Love Suicides At Amijima”. Throughout these two text you can easily point out the difference between a man and a woman role in society. In this essay, I will dive into how society played a factor in “Tartuffe” and “The Love Suicides at Amijima”.

Cunegonde is the daughter of a wealthy German lord. She is described as “extremely beautiful” (Voltaire. 5) and is repeatedly referred to as “the fair Cunegonde.” (39). She is the typical damsel-in-distress: a woman who is completely reliant on male protection and

Charles Darnay, Evremonde as we know him, is a rich leader of France. On the other hand, a lawyer, whose name is Sydney Carton, seems to not care about anyone but himself. However, when he met Lucie Manette, his life was changed a little bit and added her in his circle of obligation. Both of these guys, in our case Charles Darnay

A glint of good news came to the now-impoverished family when the merchant heard that a ship containing his merchandise had just arrived in port. The merchant was overjoyed and went to claim his wealth, only to find that there had been a legal ordeal and he had, indeed, lost it all. Here, the author tries to illustrate the French government’s inadequacy in meeting the needs of the people. In the 1850s, great minds, including the Swiss/French political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, were writing that the authority to rule came from the people themselves. Furthermore, philosophers argued that the government’s duty was not to serve their own decadence but rather to serve the people. The French government, being an absolute monarchy, was ruled by only the word of Louis XV, and the royal Bourbon family had a history of ruling to meet their own selfish desires. The French monarchy did not uphold the intrinsic promise and duty of any government to protect, feed, and serve its people. De Beaumont symbolizes this by failing to deliver the goods to the impoverished former merchant. In other words, just like the merchant’s undelivered goods, the

Too much or too little rain, hailstorms or excessive sun, uncontrolled pests, disease - all could damage their crops and reduce peasants to penury and starvation. A few years in row could cause widespread famine and death. Understandably, with the peasants’ being so heavily reliant on bread, watching the grain prices very carefully became an inevitable norm. So was the disposition to express dissatisfaction when the prices rose too high as bread riots were extremely common in the said time period France. And so it is through and through that the Women’s March to Versailles was provoked by the deregulation of grain and the scarcity of bread.

She witnesses firsthand all of the hardships the French commoners are enduring and it fuels her rage and anger toward the nobility. Madame Defarge channels all of this anger into exacting her revenge, but we cannot help pitying her for her wretched childhood. We comprehend the reasons behind the madness, but that does not justify her actions.

The nobility’s failure to address the plight of the lower classes causes the people to seek justice and avenge the wrongs that the nobility inflicted upon them. In both France and England, it is the best of times for them, and they believe that “things in general were settled forever” (3). The nobility’s belief that the existing circumstances and their rank in society will last forever makes them feel that they are immune to the consequences of exploiting the people below them. However, the wrongs that the nobility inflicts upon the lower classes, traumatize them, and that motivates them to seek justice. Madame Defarge became an orphan because the Evremonde brothers abused and killed her family.

Another group of activists whom Historians have examined are the militant women of the Revolution. In their article “Women and Militant Citizenship in Paris,” Darline Gay Levy and Harriet B. Applewhite examine the participation of women in political life during the Revolution, arguing that this participation laid the foundation for women’s claims to active citizenship. They focus their argument on three specific instances of women’s practice of militant citizenship in revolutionary Paris: “the women’s march to Versailles in October 1789; women’s participation in armed processions and their demands for the right to bear arms during the spring and summer of 1792; and the organized insurgency of women in the Society of Revolutionary Republican

Charles views the French revolution as too bloody. People are becoming like the rich, and not valuing people’s lives – exactly the opposite of what they were trying to get out of this revolution. They acted like crazy bloodthirsty animals, “the men were terrible, in the bloody-minded anger with which they looked from windows, caught up what arms they had, and came pouring down into the streets…” all the people thought about was killing all the rich ones, making them pay. Charles finds the violence, degrading the peasants to the sick level of the people.

Bonheur was an important figure in women’s right; she herself reflects the social movement for women. She was a women that didn’t let society’s standards keep her down; she worked hard to build her career. Bonheur was the first woman in France to get a permit to wear pants.1 The police’s reasoning for allowing Rosa this permit was because of health, and her doctor co-signed the permit.1 The slaughterhouses and fairgrounds would dirty her dresses thus it was impractical for her to wear a dress. Bonheur was smart she knew what wearing pants would do to her career.1 She knew buyers would not purchase paintings that came from a woman who wore pants, so Bonheur would wear dresses to social events.

The violence in France will not stop until equality is reached. The revolutionaries picture a time when all the people of France live equal. This reasoning is the core factor of why they are fighting against the system. When we learned the motive for Madame Defarge’s reasoning for hating the Marquis and anyone associated with him, she replies that everyone against the revolution should “...tell the Wind and Fire where to stop; not me!” (326). We learn here that she has not intent to stop until she gets even with the Evrémonde family. Madame Defarge’s idea of equality is the death of Charles Darnay and everyone associated with him. When Madame Defarge and Defarge were discussing the end of the revolution Defarge asked the question, “but one must stop somewhere. After all, the question is still where?” (324). Defarge questions Madame Defarge’s intent to stop somewhere but Madame Defarge replies with “At extermination” (324). This strengthens the fact that Madame Defarge believes the revolution will be complete with the death

Brief Summary- Dr. Munro Price, Modern European Historian at the University of Bradford, wanted to find out the truth of what the true actions and feelings of the King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were in those years before the collapse. After being dragged back to Paris from Versailles, they were then held prisoner in the capital. Concerned for their own safety, the King and Queen forced to agree with the revolution and its agenda. However, in secret, they both began devising a strategy and took the utmost precautions to hide their real policy. The Road from Versailles reconstructs much of what had been speculated until now as to the King and Queen’s clandestine diplomacy from 1789 until their executions. Dr. Price focuses on a small portion of history that has generally been unknown to the public, but could hold the key to the final days of the Old Regime and the mindset of the King. This book could give insight into the economic and social status