Pat Hamer

Period 6

4/17/05

English 2 Honors E-core Research Project

A Tale of Two Cities

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . ." Dickens

Charles Dickens used this quote to show that for the peasantry of the third estate this time in European history was the worst of times and for the landed aristocracy of the first and second estates, it was the best of times. Statistically the oppression against the third estates is horrifying. The landed aristocracy of the nobles and clergy made up a mere 15 percent of the population yet owned 80 percent of the land. That left only 20 percent of the land to the peasants who made up 85 percent of the population. This prevented the peasants from ever escaping their poverty-stricken lives because most of the peasants were farmers and they could not afford to even rent enough land to grow enough food to even survive on. Any money that the peasants had went to either feeding their families, paying the taille (the chief tax of France), or paying feudal tenures to the nobles who owned the land that they farmed on. The peasants were faced with this never ending cycle of despair and poverty which caused such anger and hatred to grow towards the aristocracy. This hatred caused many aristocrats to fear for their lives once the revolution began causing the aristocrats to attempt to flee from France into foreign countries such as Britain. Since so many nobles immigrated to Britain to escape their punishment the emigration of nobles was made illegal under revolutionary law. This anger and resentment is a major reason for the emergence of the French Revolution.

It was the best of times for the landed aristocracy of the first and second estates because they held all the power and controlled nearly every aspect of daily life. The nobles were able to hold onto their wealth because they were the major landowners of the time which allowed them to grow more food than anyone else could. Also they were able to rent farming lands to the peasants at ridiculously high prices because the peasants had no other choice than to pay the price. The nobles had enough money and wealth that they could afford to throw lavish parties with delicacies the peasants could not even dream about. During these parties the nobles would even force their servants to chase the frogs in the courtyard to prevent them from making too much noise. These servants usually passed out before the night was over. This shows how the nobles would unjustly use their power to satisfy their desires and entertainment. It was also the best of times for these nobles because they thought their place in society to be deeply cemented because the same social structure of the Old Regime had lasted for hundreds of years. The high clergy were also living in the best of times because these clergy had the fullest extent of power in the very catholic France. These clergy could do basically anything they wanted because they could claim to be led by God to do so and have any dissenters salvation revoked. The clergy of the first estate used their power to the fullest extent allowing them to enjoy the wealth of the nobility with the power of a holy fear.

The peasants experienced the worst of times while the aristocrats lived in a very different world in the best of times. The irony of it all was that in a few short years these social groups would switch places and experience what the other experienced for so long.