The Similarities And Differences Of Emile Zola And Charles Baudelaire

Using descriptive diction such as “eerie” and “swamp” readers can imagine an unpleasant city rustling with filth and crime. Larson exposes that Chicago had “auras of mosquitoes” in its midst. Readers automatically see Chicago as a filthy and troublesome town when they associate it with mosquitoes. This view of Chicago created by Larson further achieves his purpose to show the downside of Chicago during the time the World Fair was being constructed and attended. When the World Fair was finished, Larson described the nights, “the lamps that laced every building and walkway produced the most elaborate demonstration of electric illumination ever attempted” (254). Larson says the lamps “laced” the walkways in the white city which allows readers to picture the city in a whimsical way. The feeling of the word “laced” sits with readers in a positive way. Thus, Larson can achieve the purpose of forcing readers to see the white city in a luxurious fashion. Also, Larson mentions that the lighting was “elaborate.” Readers see the white city as a sophisticated and lavish place rather than how they see the black city. Larson again is able to persuade readers into believing the magic of the white city. Larson calls upon imagery to construct the two sides of Chicago.

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.

In A Tale of Two Cities the author, Charles Dickens, wrote in ways that influenced the audience’s opinions. It was obvious that the author wished to modify the ways of the late French Society. A few examples of this occurrence are his descriptions of the royals/high-status-people and problems that the lower classes faced .

(Shultz, 2012) Living in the city was the most fashionable place to live during the middle of the 19th century. Merchants, Lawyers and manufacturers built substantial townhouses on the main though fares within walking distance of the docks, warehouses, offices, courts and shops where they worked. (Urbanization)

In order to generate astonishing revenue, Mouret’s Ladies’ Paradise employs techniques to create spontaneous desire by playing on customers’ sense of sight, which would help women, who make up the majority of department store customers, realize their independent desires for femininity. The first thing one sees when one walks into a brightly lit department store is the displays. In an appeal to his customers’ sight, Mouret throws brightly colored scarves in heaping piles on a display in the front of the store. According to Elaine Abelson, “Subtlety was not an attribute of merchants in the late nineteenth century. If there was color used, it appeared in massive displays” (44). Such flamboyancy attracts women wishing to release their own creativity, suppressed by the male-dominated society. The lack of harmony in the displays portrays Mouret’s belief “…that customers should have sore eyes by the time they [leave] the shop”

The interaction of men and women in a city poses opportunities and limitations. The ideas about gender and how female and male characters are depicted in a story, together with gender behaviour, that have shifted over the years in different cities, positions and literary work. The Dubliners (1914) by James Joyce (1882-1941) demonstrate individuals trying to contest or escape paralysis in Dublin. A contrast from Langston Hughes (1902-1967) with 'Pushcart Man ', and Jack Kerouac with the 'The Town and the city ' in the city of New York. Their work is central to demonstrate the sense of the mix of cultures, perceptions of segregation, and the restriction and possibility of the city. This essay will discuss the 'ways in which relations between the sexes are depicted in the set texts, and consider the literary techniques the writer used to create a particular portrayal.

“It got to be easy to look at New Yorkers as animals, especially looking down from some place like a balcony at Grand Central at the rush hour Friday afternoon.” (Tom Wolfe). “O Rotten Gotham” argues that New Yorkers are in a state of behavioral sink. It would not be long before a “population collapse” or a “massive die off”.

Edith Wharton, in her novel ‘The Age of Innocence’, describes New York City in the 1870’s to be “dying of dullness”. Characters within the novel often blame this fact on the lack of desirable European culture in placid New York society. However, it is more likely that the dullness that is suffocating New York is due to the character’s repressed desires. They do this in order to continue along to fit within the societal norms. The stifling effect of the constricting 1870s New York City society is increasingly evident in the characters of Newland Archer, May Welland, and Ellen Olenska.

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).

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

“Old Paris” was viewed as a collection of picturesque memories, cherished dwellings, close neighborhoods, and lively streets. The people inhabiting “Old Paris” included those in the banlieues

In the sociopolitical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens analyzes the events of one of the bloodiest revolutions in history, the French Revolution, characterized by its violence after no less than 40,000 people were sentenced to death. The violence of the revolution put irreversible change into motion, helping to bring greater equality between French citizens as a result of the upheaval, and causing political changes that affected millions. Through his changing tone, Dickens conveys that rebellion is necessary to amend the ever-growing divide between the social classes, but the mindless nature of the violence, as a result of mob mentality, is excessive, and blood is unnecessarily spilled.

Beginning towards the end of the nineteenth century, Paris was becoming the world’s hub for art innovators; a place that is widely regarded as the birthplace of modern art. Artists of all disciplines, from sculptors to musicians, made their way to this city to pursue their passions in a community of like-minded and passionate individuals. These artists came from all over the world, in a time before the world was made flat with commercial aviation. Once they arrived, they often found themselves in suboptimal living conditions, sometimes even lacking running water. Despite these obstacles, Montmartre, a hillside neighborhood on the north bank of Paris, managed to draw an impressive artistic crowd, and would eventually foster the birth of

The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of “ being recalled to life”. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being

Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities in order to enlighten the average Briton about the events of the French Revolution. The novel compares and contrasts cities of London and Paris, which represent French and British society, through the eyes of Dickens’ human characters. The two cities play such a large part in the novel that they become characters themselves, and the contrasting societies of the two cities become a conflict. In Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities, the individualistic society of London champions the first feudalistic and later socialistic society of Paris.