Paul And Hamlet's Lives The French Revolution example essay topic

The French Revolution was a time of great significance to France. It officially lasted from 1789 to 1795. Long before then, however, problems had been building up in France. The most significant cause was the oppression of the lower class.

They rebelled against the higher classes. This oppression was caused by several different factors. Before the Revolution, France was divided into three states. The first estate was made of clergy and numbered only 100,000. The second estate was the nobility and had around 400,000 people. The majority of the population was in the third estate.

These were the wage earners, or peasantry. The first and second estates were exempt from taxes leaving only the poorest people to pay the wealthy. There was a great debt in France. It had been started by King Louis the 14th and continued through the reign of Louis the 16th. Their courts were extravagant and cost more money than they had.

France's supplies had been drained by their assistance to the Americans in the American Revolution and the Seven Years War. France was not only failing to gain colonies but also losing territory during this time period. It was the 3rd estate that suffered for this debt (Hilton 2). In the 1790's the depression in France grew worse. A series of poor harvests led to higher bread prices. Food riots were provoked.

There was a shortage of good transportation links to inland cities making it increasingly difficult for these people to obtain food. In Paris, a worker spent 97% of his daily income on bread (The French Revolution 1789 1). France was an absolute monarchy before the revolution. King Louis the 16th was a weak man who was not capable of ruling a nation. He often grew bored with matters state and when he did make decisions, the repercussions were often worse than that of his indecisiveness. His wife maire Antoinette controlled him.

She persuaded him to spend lavishly on the court (Hilton 1). On May 5th, 1789, King Louis was convinced to call the Estates General to order. It was the first time since 1614. The Third Estate wanted voting to be done by head count so the King agreed to double their representation (Hilton 6). Due to the fact that each estate only received one vote and the first two overruled the third, this did not help. It caused the Third Estate to walk out of the meeting (Spark notes 1).

Then they formed the National Assembly on the 17th of June. The National Assembly declared themselves the representative body of France and disregarded the king. Three days later, they took an oath "to not separate until the constitution had been established". It was also known as the Tennis Court Oath (The Soulard Renaissance 1).

After the "Tennis Court Oath" it became apparent that the revolutionaries were prepared to take more than democratic actions to achieve the liberty they so desired. The first of such actions and consequently the "straw that broke the camel's back" was the storming of the Bastille fortress. For years the Bastille had been a symbol of political oppression and royal despotism to the people of France (Anderle 1). When it fell it marked the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the revolution (The Soulard Renaissance 1). The fall of the Bastille was the first significant military actions taken by the peasants during the revolution, and it had a serious impact on the monarchy.

However, the attack itself was the climax to a series fo riots that had occurred in the earlier hours of the movement. Enraged by a lack fo bread, except that at exorbitant prices they could not afford, the peasants stormed the gates of Paris where customs collected taxes (The French Revolution 1789 1). The disgruntled peasants stormed the Conciergerie and La Force and proceeded to search for arms. By the morning of July 14th, 1789 they had found and captured 4,000 rifles and some cannons, but were still in need of ammunition and gunpowder, both of which were being held in the Bastille.

Knowing this the peasants gathered together an moved toward the fortress. Initially the peasant approached the fortress and demanded a peaceful surrender from its Governor, Marquis De Launay, but it was not given. With the Bastille's guns still unloaded the peasants became rowdy and began to push toward the fortress as their numbers grew. Fearing the peasants, De Launay ordered the guards to fire on them.

This action sparked a bloody attack. For three hours the guards of the Bastille held their ground but only with difficulty. They finally surrendered when the National Guard brought in cannons to attack the fortress (Anderle 3). This victory for the peasants gave them control over the major prisons of Paris, which they emptied and filled with their own political prisoners.

The Bastille however held and astonishing seven prisoners whom were expected to be at least One hundred. This misconception left the victory to be more of a symbolic one. The prison itself was completely destroyed after the victory with most of it burned during the actual siege (Anderle 4). The events that followed the Storming of the Bastille became known as the Reign of Terror. At this time the committees of Public Safety began arresting supposed traitors who were thought to be spies and aristocrats in hiding (The French Revolution 1789 2). Of those who were arrested, the guillotine mercilessly killed thousands.

The vulgar atmosphere of the time lent well to gross public displays at executions (Crime and Punishment 1). Because this terror and excess occurred due to the crass and vulgar lifestyle of the people the success of the revolution could not have been immediate. It took many years for harmony to return to France (Anderle 5). Our characters, Paul and Hamlet are arrested shortly after the Bastille has fallen and are put in the Conciergerie. They have both been mistaken as enemies of the French and are going to be executed. This setting reflects the mood of Paul and Hamlet due to the suffering that occurred in their lives.

Paul fought in World War One and saw all of his close friends die. Hamlet had to live with the truth about the murder of his father and had his uncle plotting against him. They each ended up fighting to the death for their cause, Paul for his country and Hamlet for his fight to prove the truth. Like Paul and Hamlet's lives the French Revolution was a time of great suffering. The lower class fought against oppression by revolting against the upper class and there were many bloody executions. In our play, when Paul and Hamlet find our only one of them has to die, they fight over who deserves to die more.

The ironic ending reflects their lives and the depressed mood relates them to the subjugated lower class.