Different century. Popular for awhile, that is. By the spring of , a deadly cholera epidemic had exacerbated a severe economic crisis. In the early morning hours of June 5, crowds of workers, students, and others gathered in the streets of Paris. The immediate trigger was the death of General Jean Maximilien Lamarque , who had been a friend to the poor and downtrodden. Those mourning and those with a political agenda merged into a mob that numbered in the tens of thousands — some witnesses claimed it eventually grew to , The year-old Victor Hugo was nearby, in the Tuileries Gardens, writing a play.
Then he heard gunfire from the direction of Les Halles. Instead of going home to safety, he followed the sounds of gunfire through the deserted streets. He was unaware that the mob had taken half of Paris, and the barricades were everywhere in Les Halles. Hugo was surrounded by barricades and flung himself against a wall, as all the shops and stores had been closed for some time.
He found shelter between some columns. For a quarter of an hour, bullets flew both ways. I had hoped to visit some of the route during my recent visit to France. No wonder I was confused. The insurrection affected both sides of the Seine, but the flash points were here, on the right bank. Dragoons had been under orders to refrain from the use of deadly force, but when a shot rang out from somewhere, the crowd began to throw stones at the military.
But what, exactly, did that mean? They also scavenged planks and beams from nearby construction sites and improvised tools for prying up paving stones. These classic raw materials were natural choices because they added mass, helped knit the structure together, and were usually found in abundance right at the site of the barricade construction. Between 5 p. Individual structures took as little as fifteen minutes to erect. Some rebels had to be content with sabers, staffs, or scythes, but rifles were the weapons of choice, and bands of insurgents boldly seized them from small patrols of soldiers encountered in the streets.
Why, you may ask, have I chosen to illustrate this post about a doomed revolt with the elegant photos of Nichole Robertson over at Little Brown Pen? The insurgents staged a desperate last stand in and around this church, at the heart of the district where the fiercest fighting took place. Empty chairs at empty tables. The insurgents pleaded for help, but no help came. The citizens of Paris were not as quick to join the revolution as they were to join the unruly funeral procession.
In the theatrical production of Les Miz , the army officer warns the insurgents via a loud-bailer:. You at the barricade listen to this! And it was true. If nothing else, please remember is that the whole point of the French Revolution is that the revolutionaries won. This was different. Postscript on 27 July, : Comments are continuing to trickle in for this post.
Did that actually occur? Was there an elephant structure in the area during that period? If so — why? Will it help if I actually finish reading the novel? From Wikipedia :. The Elephant of the Bastille was a monument in Paris which existed between and Originally conceived in by Napoleon , the colossal statue was intended to be created out of bronze and placed in the Place de la Bastille, but only a plaster full-scale model was built.
It was falling into ruins; every season the plaster which detached itself from its sides formed hideous wounds upon it. There it stood in its corner, melancholy, sick, crumbling, surrounded by a rotten palisade, soiled continually by drunken coachmen; cracks meandered athwart its belly, a lath projected from its tail, tall grass flourished between its legs; and, as the level of the place had been rising all around it for a space of thirty years, by that slow and continuous movement which insensibly elevates the soil of large towns, it stood in a hollow, and it looked as though the ground were giving way beneath it.
But, based on the musical and the film, one might conclude that Hugo was a strong supporter and admirer of the Catholic Church. Another issue that could have been better addressed in the film was the peculiar living situation of Fantine and Cosette.
Similar to indentured servitude, young girls were employed as domestic servants in households throughout Europe. Paid at the end of their terms, these domestic servants were usually allowed to live in the household in provided quarters and, under coverture laws, were legally dependent upon the head of the household they lived in. For many single mothers like Fantine who could probably not afford to care for Cosette completely, let alone watch her during the day, sending a child away to work and live would have been a difficult, yet necessary decision.
This article will provide you with a brief synopsis of the plot, the characters, and enough historical context so you do not feel lost. This review first appeared at Not Even Past. Click here to cancel reply.
Share this article. Read More Comments. Post a Comment Click here to cancel reply. All rights reserved. When the monarchy banished Necker that year, public outrage ensued throughout France.
People viewed his banishment as a sign to come together and overthrow their oppressive government. This provides a striking contrast to the events in Les Miserables , in which the young rebels erroneously believe that the masses will rise up to join their cause. On July 14, , several days after Necker's banishment, revolutionaries overtook the Bastille Prison. This act launched the French Revolution.
At the time of the siege, the Bastille maintained only seven prisoners. However, the old fortress held an abundance of gunpowder, making it both a strategic as well as a politically symbolic target. The prison's governor was ultimately captured and killed. His head and the heads of other guards were skewered onto pikes and paraded through the streets. The mayor of Paris was assassinated by the end of the day. While the revolutionaries barricaded themselves in streets and buildings, King Louis XVI and his military leaders decided to back off to appease the masses.
Things got messy. The French Revolution started out bloody, and it didn't take long for things to become utterly gruesome. In they, along with many other members of the nobility, were executed. During the next seven years, the nation underwent a series of coups, wars, famines, and counterrevolutions. During the so-called "Reign of Terror," ironically, Maximilien de Robespierre, who was in charge of the Committee of Public Safety, sent as many as 40, people to the guillotine. He believed that swift and brutal justice would produce virtue among France's citizens—a belief shared by the Les Miz character of Inspector Javert.
While the new republic struggled through what could euphemistically be called growing pains, a young general named Napoleon Bonaparte ravaged Italy, Egypt, and other countries. When he and his forces returned to Paris, he and other leaders staged a coup, and Napoleon became First Consul of France. From until he bore the title of Emperor of France.
After losing in the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. So readers are treated to lengthy, in-depth digressions on everything from religious orders of the period to the construction of the Parisian sewer system. Beyond this attention to background historical detail, there are more explicit references to real-life events in the plot of Les Miserables. A distinguished French commander during the Napoleonic Wars, in his later life he became an outspoken critic of the monarchy whose relative sympathy towards commoners made him a popular figure.
After he died on 1 June — a victim of a cholera epidemic sweeping France — his funeral procession was commandeered by student protesters, leading to violent clashes with government troops. The author himself walked the streets of the French capital during the revolt, witnessing the barricades and gunfire which inspired much of the latter stages of Les Miserables.
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