Separated by nearly 150 years of history, Montesquieu and Charles Baudelaire, both high society Frenchman, use their platforms as writers to critique and comment on French society and modernity. Nonetheless, despite their common societal status and nationality, Montesquieu and Baudelaire focus on different aspects of French society. For Montesquieu in the Persian Letters written in 1721, the strengthening French monarchy represents a growing threat to French society. Baudelaire in The Painter of Modern Life, “Eyes of the Poor”, "The Modern Public and Photography", written in 1863, 1855, and 185, critiques photography as an art form and modernity as a whole. For Baudelaire, photography and modernity present superficial lifestyle and artificial …show more content…
In “Eyes of the Poor,” a selection from Poetry in Prose, Baudelaire’s perspective takes on the form of an upper-class man. While the character in the poem social standing mimics that of Baudelaire's, the differing perspective allows Baudelaire to give criticism while simultaneously distancing himself from the scene. "[They] had promised one another that [they] would think the same thoughts and that [their] two souls should become one soul; a dream which is not original." There is an inauthenticity that derives from Baudelaire's personage’s dreams: they are common and unattainable. By hiding his identity behind the character of his poem, Baudelaire is more effective in criticizing the modern society.
More so, "Eyes of the Poor" is written in a very deliberate matter. Taken from Poetry in Prose, Baudelaire's writing style demonstrates the art Baudelaire admires, while describing the society Baudelaire witnesses growing more and more artificial.
Now the French public...is singularly incapable of feeling the dreaming or of admiration, wants to have the thrill of surprise by means that are alien to art; ...[the French Public] is incapable of deriving ecstasy from the means of true
A main factor in the storyline is the way the writer portrays society's attitude to poverty in the 18th century. The poor people were treated tremendously different to higher classed people. A lot of people were even living on the streets. For example, "He picked his way through the hordes of homeless
The essay begins with Henry George referring to his audience as ladies and gentlemen. He then goes on to state that poverty is a crime. A crime not committed by the poor, but rather the poor as victims of the crime. He also does not wholly blame those perpetrating the crime, he also gives a kind of notion that the victim has a hand the situation he or she finds themselves in. He says the poverty is a curse that not only the poor have but is on every level of society even the rich. He says the rich also suffer because it is like the air all the community breathes. They too must breathe it.
In Molière's Tartuffe, translated by Richard Wilbur, the central character, a man named Orgon, has been completely brainwashed and taken advantage of by the title character, a lecherous and parasitic "holy man." Tartuffe has made use of one of the oldest scams in human history to insinuate himself into Orgon's household; he appeals to Orgon's desire to be a good, upstanding, and pious man by appearing to be the same. Tartuffe's manipulations are evident to everyone but Orgon, and seem to the reader to be blatantly obvious. His use of religion to manipulate Orgon is consistent throughout the play. In his religious zeal, Orgon is blind to the truth about Tartuffe's character. As a result,
The truth behind the poem “Poverty and Wealth” is bone-chilling, almost as if it was meant for a character like Ponyboy Curtis. On the east side of town, there lives
In Baudelaire's poem "The Eyes of the Poor," the poet Charles Baudelaire creates an image for himself as a poet longing to create a union of souls with a woman whom he loves until the end of the poem. As a dissolute man-about-town he talks about the cafes he and the woman spend time in. He yearns to be one with her soul in a manner that eludes both of them. While part of the Romantic aesthetic was the idealization of the pastoral, Baudelaire shows the side that reflects the urban side of the Romantic. Baudelaire projects himself onto the image of other souls, but rather than the pure, untouched souls of rural folk, he sees an image of the urban poor that tears at his heartstrings, although he does not say so explicitly in the poem.
Parker also explains her purpose through the use of stylistic devices like imagery. She uses concrete images to portray the idea of poverty. She explains that “Poverty is staying up all night on cold nights to watch the fire knowing one spark on the newspapers covering the walls means your sleeping child dies in flames.” What adds to the readers idea of poverty is the horrendous image of a child burning to death, also the newspaper-covered wall of a make-shift house. There are plenty other nouns like grits with no oleo, runny noses, and diapers that paint an image of poverty in the reader ́s head. You also have the sense of ́smell ́ through this essay by phrases that describe the “sour milk”, “urine”, and “stench of rotting teeth”. You can also ́feel ́ poverty through hands that are “so cracked and red”, since the author cannot afford vaseline. The use of imagery makes the a!udience more conscious of the effects of poverty. !
A main factor in the storyline is the way the writer portrays society's attitude to poverty in the 18th century. The poor people were treated tremendously different to higher classed people. A lot of people were even living on the streets. For example, "He picked his way through the hordes of homeless
This displays the dismissal of overwhelming issues that are masked by wealth. Furthermore, the livelihood of the rich is displayed through their belongings identifying their wealth, but captures the misfortune that comes with it: “Throwing open the french windows of the drawing-room, we sat smoking out into the darkness” (Fitzgerald 165). Assets such as “french windows” (Fitzgerald 165) originating in 16th to 17th century France represents the wealth of the rich, but the “throwing open” (Fitzgerald 165) of them displays the impulsive need to escape the falsehood and burden money plays in their daily lives affecting the emotions and actions of the characters. Ergo, the only way of addressing the issue is through “smoking” in the “darkness” to portray the pain felt through color and action as a way of using it to distract from the agony instigated by money. Therefore, the encumbrance of wealth on the filthy rich mind results in the misguided view of their lives, ultimately being captured through the incorporation of windows.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines satire as: “literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.” Besides this definition satire can also be seen as the particular literary way of making possible the improvement of humanity and its institutions. In the three works: Moliere’s “Tartuffe,” Voltaire’s “Candide,” and Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” the authors indirectly criticize and ridicule human behavior and characteristics but with the goal for improving these faults rather than just demolishing them.
Michael Miller’s book, The Bon Marché: Bourgeois Culture and the Department Store, 1869-1920, is an expansive and interesting look back on a era of Parisian history that is best represented by its then-current trend and social innovation, the department store. The book gives a fascinating account of the store from its beginning to eventual common place status in 1914. The book gives an insight on the factors in which the store saw success, such as the management, the labor, and new marketing. It also gives light to the social factors that made the store possible (i.e education and economy).
Jean-Baptitste Poquelin Moliere’s Tartuffe, is undoubtedly a satirical comedy. In Moliere’s description of a satire, he was very direct as to the function and objectives of one are. The function is to correct men’s vices, using satire to ridicule them and expose them to public laughter (Moliere, p.14). Although this satire is making fun of many things in the church and organized religion, which is not the only objective Moliere had in mind. Tartuffe has many themes that reoccur through out the play. The time period, in which this play was written, was known as the Age of Reason. One of the main ideas and attitudes during this time was, reason must always control passion. Due to this
Not only were Hobbes and Locke influential during the Constitutional Period, but also Charles de Montesquieu and Jean Jacques Rousseau. In Montesquieu’s work, The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu described the state of nature as a place of fear where humans avoid violence and war. However, once the state of war enters society, a need for human laws and government is needed in order to maintain law and order. Therefore, Montesquiu helped advocate for governmental authority and raised awareness for the need for separation of powers in the three branches of government. In today’s government, Montesquieu's beliefs in the separation of powers and governmental control are clearly seen in the Constitution. Additionally, Rousseau was able to influence
Let’s first begins with who Jean Desire Gustave Courbet was. Gustave Courbet was a famous French painter. Courbet was born in Ornans, France on June 10th of 1819. Ornans, France is a filled with forests and pasture’s perfect for realist paintings. At the age of 14 Courbet was already in art training receiving lessons from Pere Baud a former student of a neo-classical painter named Baron Gros. Courbet’s parents hoped he would go off and study law when he moved out in 1837. To there misfortune he had enrolled in at the art academy. At the art academy Courbet received lessons from Flajoulot another famous neo-classicist. At twenty years old Gustave Courbet went to Paris, the European center for art, political,
Written by Gustave Flaubert and published in 1856, Madame Bovary tells a story about the life and death of Emma Bovary, a middle class woman living in mid-nineteenth century France. This novel is known as one of the best examples of literary realism ever written, and for good reason. Through his writing and attention to detail, Flaubert does an excellent job of giving the reader an idea of just how mundane everyday life was like in France during the mid-nineteenth century. Through the various characters in the novel, Flaubert is also able to portray many positive and negative characteristics he saw in the people living during this time. Of the many different characteristics and ideas that Flaubert uses to describe characters throughout the novel, I think that the many aspects he saw in the bourgeoisie class and materialism are uniquely important. I believe that the ways Flaubert uses the ideas and issues of materialism and similar principles he saw in the bourgeoisie to tell the story of Madame Bovary, to criticize the bourgeoisie, as well as show how harmful and destructive he believed these issues could be to a society.
In Moliere’s description of a satire, he was very direct as to the function and