Political cartoons and caricatures first became popular in eighteenth-century England, where parliamentary government and lax censorship laws created an environment in which artists had free rein to express their political views. Their biting commentary on political issues and frequently scurrilous portrayals of politicians ranged from elaborately allegorical engravings to crude woodcuts, some of which were black-and-white and some colored with water-based paints. Such cartoons and caricatures were sold in bookstores and print shops (the technology did not exist to print them in newspapers) and provoked laugher and arguments in countless aristocratic clubs, taverns, and private homes. Cartoonists such as James Gilray, who produced many hundreds of political cartoons, became nationally known figures whose new works were eagerly anticipated.Political cartoons and caricatures did not exist in France until 1787 and 1788, when censorship laws were eased during the nationwide political debate in the months leading up to the meeting of the Estates General in the spring of 1789. Once the revolution began, political excitement grew, and so did the market for inexpensive engravings that provided portraits of revolutionary leaders, depictions of events such as the swearing of the Tennis Court Oath and the fall of the Bastille, and above all, satire. Between 1789 and 1792, hundreds of political cartoons, mostly sympathetic to the revolution and many with biting messages, appeared. After 1793 their numbers declined, as censorship laws were reinstated by the radical Jacobins, the moderate Directory, and the regime of Napoleon, all of which appreciated the power of satire to shape public opinion (with saw it recently in this country with Tina Fey’s impersonations of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live).
The six cartoons that I would like you to look at (you can look at all of them by clicking here)—a mere sampling of the numerous political cartoons produced between 1787 and early 1793—are all anonymous works that focus on the three estates of prerevolutionary France and their fate during the revolution. Legal categories rather than social classes, the three estates were the First Estate, the clergy; the Second Estate, the nobility; and the Third Estate, everyone else from poor peasants to wealthy businessmen. Membership in the first two estates brought with it privileges, including exemption from many taxes, preferential judicial treatment, and for members of the nobility, a monopoly on high offices in church and estate. One of the first acts of France’s revolutionary leaders was to abolish the first two estates’ privileges and establish equality before the law.
The first pair of engravings, “The Past” and “The Present,” appeared in many versions in 1790 and 1791. “The Past” shows a peasant carrying a clergyman and a nobleman on his back. The clergyman holds a moneybag entitled “the tithe,” which was a tax paid by members of the Third Estate to the Church. In the nobleman’s pockets are slips of paper on which are written the names of other taxes paid by peasants—the taille, a tax on land; the corvée, required labor on the lord’s land; and various sales taxes. At the peasant’s feet his crops are being devoured by rabbits and pigeons, two of many animals that were protected so they could be hunted by nobles. The nobleman’s sword is inscribed with the words “reddened with blood.” In contrast the peasant is keeping his balance by leaning on a tool, a pickaxe, labeled as representing “goodness.” “The Present” engraving is of course quite different. The peasant is literally in the driver’s seat, riding a nobleman who is being pulled along by a clergyman. The clergyman is carrying a small scale, representing justice. The paper on the left side of the scale has the words “the benefit of the people,” while the paper on the right has “liberty and equality.” The peasant is carrying a slip of paper with the inscription “peace and concord” while singing “Ca ira, Ca ira,” the refrain from the popular revolutionary song usually translated as “it will go” or “it’s speeding along.”
The next pair of engravings presents a female version of the same theme. The first engraving, simply entitled “A Tenant Farmer in Drudgery,” shows a noblewoman and a nun riding on the back of a peasant woman, who is holding a distaff used when spinning wool or flax. The second engraving of the pair is entitled “I Really Knew We Would Have Our Turn” with the inscription below, “Long Live the King, Long Live the Nation.”
The final two cartoons continue the same themes. The fifth print, entitled “The Press,” or in other versions, “The Fat Press,” appeared after the revolutionary regime had confiscated church property in the summer of 1789 and used it as the basis for issuing a new paper currency, the assignats. In it a citizen and a soldier lead clergymen to a press that squeezes money from them into a treasure chest. The sixth print, “The Present,” is based on Jesus’ teaching that in the Kingdom of God “the first shall be last.” The cartoon depicts a world literally turned upside down, with the figure representing the Third Estate bearing a sword and giving orders to a nobleman and a clergyman. The nobleman is dressed as an infantry soldier warily standing at attention, while the poor priest has literally been worked to the bone by his labors.
Once you have had the opportunity to study the cartoons, I would like you all to discuss the following: In their portrayal of social relationships of prerevolutionary France, how do the artists depict the clergy and the nobility? How do they depict members of the Third Estate? What similarities and differences do you see in the way men and women are treated in the first two pairs of prints? What conclusions can be drawn about the status of French women on the basis of your comparisons? What specific grievances of the Third Estate are represented in the various cartoons? According to the cartoonists, what changed in French society as a result of the early events of the revolution? How many themes in the Cahier of the Third Estate of the City of Paris and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen can you see represented in these political cartoons? Your thoughts…
34 comments:
haha, wow these are kinda funny, but a little sad at the same time because these show how angry and how much hatred was cast on the clergy and the nobles. You can notice that the focus is alwyas the aweful "past" and the so much better and brighter "future". The despised the nobles and clergy, and it is illustrated that they did feel a sorta burden that they had to hold the clergy and the nobles up, but they definatly don't feel that way anymore. Another thing i noticed is how the women were portrayed in the society. I think that they had few rights because the were drawn in these comic things, but i did see one women carrying a baby. I guess that means that she was the housekeeper and children holders of societies,and although they wanted it during this time, French women had very little rights.
going back to class today, you said that because of the voting system of the french and how they were voting was the smaller population, nobility and clergy, were making the decisions of the whole country, and because of this the "everyone else" revolted correct? is this simillar to the way the south rebelled against the north in the civil war? wasnt one of the main reasons they fought was because they felt like they didnt have a say in laws? just trying to see if history really does repeat itself
In all the cartoons, the first one of each set shows how the peasants "carried the society," shown literally in the cartoons. They were the only ones getting taxed in France at that time. But in the second one of each set, it has the middle class as the main voice of the society and the clergy and the nobles more towards the bottom, as they are now counted like the minority that they are. But it seems to be that the middle class person is always on top of the noble, and the clergy is leading them or in front of them. I think it's because they were still respected in the society. In the first set the priest is also carrying the scales representing justice, so wouldn't that mean that people thought better of them than the nobles? Justice for all (white male property owners haha) was a big part of the Enlightenment and goes right along with equality and a voice in the community.
hmm... well yes, history does repeat itself, but the situation in the u.s. during the civil war period is a tad different...
who is naeryan?
I think that the depiction of the everyday person having to carry the burden of sustaining France is accuratly displayed. It is the nobility and clergy faults for the revolution. It was obvious that they were not taking responsiblity for the country that they were in charge of. Also, the representation was horrible for the majority population. All the signs of a revolution breaking out were there, including the political cartoons.
I think these cartoons accurately describe the revolution from the commoners point of view. The past one was the peasant carrying the burden and the present one it was switched around. You can see that the commoners are enjoying not haveing to carry all the weight of the country anymore. I also noticed that on the first two, in the "past" one they have rabbits in the backround? and in the "present" one they have 3 dead birds on the ground. What does that represent?
I think that the system they had with the clergy and the nobles and how what ever they want they would get. They only represent 2% of the society why do they get all the command. I do agree with abbi on how the women do not look like they are not very important in society other then house keepers
in the cahier document, is it really true. cause it seems as if they're only writing lies on paper. like: The death penalty should be limited to the
smallest number of cases as possible.
also, those cartoons of the peasants suporting the upper classes seem weird. if everyone thought like that then it really must of been bad in france.
Wow these are really how political cartoons came from. It is created by angry majority
i dont see how those could be funny for the people. Like they are saying that the peasents are having to do all the work and get nothing out of it. well i guess they were funny because they were all about the past meaning they are remembering how things used to be and how they have improved their fortune. But the present cartoons and i could see why those were popular because now they feel like everyone is equal and everyone has earned their fate. the peasents become citizens with all the rights of being a citizen and the nobolity getting their heads cut off. well i guess what goes around comes around.
These seem to be only coming from one point of view. But the cartoons display the view of how everyone (the peasants) felt from the past to the present in a humourous way.
This is random but since we are a day behind on the calender do we not have reading this weekend?
Just wondering?
you're free miss hammond...
These cartoons are very demeaning. I'm not saying this on a personal level, but on an empathetic one. I really think that the nobility and clergy are screwing the peasantry and entrepreneurs over. I reflect on today's lesson on the voting system, and how they voted for a new voting system. It's forked up.
The first two pages are the same, but separating gender. They both show very well how "everyone else" is carrying the burdens placed upon them. With the tax exemptions from clergy and nobility, "everyone else" is paying taxes and they have no say in the matter with how the voting system would remain. This class of society is being pressured, and its even worse for women, who are still witnessing the powerful influences of a partiarchal society.
The last page holds some more complex cartoons. I believe the last one is a depiction of how the governement are having these people digging their own graves. They work, they pay, they're overworked, they overpay. Truly its just this class that funds the government, whether its taxes or doing work.
The political cartoons are very interesting. All the concepts seem to be fairly similar in content though with displays of the past and present. The peasants are always on the bottom of society in the past, while it is nobility that is on the bottom in the present. They seem fairly repetitive; it is always someone holding up others on their backs with the only difference being either the gender or the way the people look. It seems most of the cartoons would be written/drawn by the peasant class, because although nobility would be obnoxious about their social ranks I don't think they would lower themselves to such standards as to actually drawing political cartoons as a hobby. The cartoons also seem like they had a part in inspiring revolutionary thoughts. Whenever someone sees one of the cartoons, especially if they are the peasant class, they will be reminded of how terrible their status actually is. After long enough they probably got really upset. I feel bad for the peasant class though, having to support so many people even though they probably only make enough money in order to feed their families. It truly was unfair and cruel, but I guess that's just how the world was back then.
As we see in both the cartoons and the articles, the peasantry are pleading for equality. They don't know why the clergy or nobles are treated much better. The cartoons symbolize a time for the nobles to return the favor. For so long, the peasants were forced to carry the world on their back. In the cartoons, the present pictures the nobles and clergy men doing all the work.
All the people not included the clergy and nobility, wanted rights, they wanted their position to get a little better. In the 1st article, all men and women are created equal, yeah they didn't want the nobles and the clergy stepping on them anymore, just because they weren't one of them. They always were stuck there. Of course they would despise them.
It's like that little cousin that comes over every year, annoys the heck out of you, and you can't do anything. He knows it too. This is like the relationship France has.
In these political cartoons, you can definitely tell that the "everyone else" (versus the clergy and nobles) thought that, in the past, they were the ones holding up all of society. As the Enlightenment thinkers became more common and tried to change this to where it became more "fair" for the commoners, they figured that in their future, they would not be working and carrying the clergy and nobles, but the other way around. They figured they would get certain rights and what not if they questioned their past and some present aspects.
just by taking a look at the cartoons.. i would have been angry too. if it was that bad AND they couldnt do anything about it for a while. Then as you go down though and see the others.. "karma" haha
Hey Prill-
I sent you an email to your school account about this but the naeryan thing was my extra email account that I had been checking while I was posting on the blog. I guess it automatically switched the posting name on blogger too. Sorry for the confusion.
the very first picture is very interesting to me. it shows the relationship between the first two estates to the third estate. Everyone (excluding the clergy and nobilities) sees the imbalance between themselves and look toward equilizing the powers. this is shown in the present picture.
In the first "The Past" political cartoon, the noble and clregy are depicted as well off, well fed, and jolly. Yet, the members of the third estate are depicted as worn out, withered, and tired. The man has his eyes clenched shut, and his face is wrinkled and dirty. He looks as if he is about to collapse. In the present, the third estate member's face still suggests the work he has done. It looks dirty and aged compared to the faces of the clergy and nobleman, especially the hair. There are also bags under his eyes. Yet, in the present the third estate member looks jolly and the other two look miserable because they have to work for the first time in their lives. What are the dead birds symblizing? Is it that the third estate members can now hunt? In the second pair of cartoons, I think it is important that the woman is not be held up by men, but other women. The women are depicted similarly as the men,yet they seem more fragile. The image does not depict that women are equal to men. Women were not regarded as equals to men. This can also be seen in the two text documents. while they state that all men and citizens are equal it says nothing about women. "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good. " The grievances present are that the clergy and noblesmen did not work and reaped all the benefits. Also present is the taxes thought to be absurd by the peasants. The peasants had to pay taxes to hunt and obtain property, while the clergy and noblesmen were tax exempt. The cartoons are exaggerated, and they undermine the concepts of the two documents. While the Cahier and Declaration proclaim all men to be equal, the "present" cartoons depict the noblesmen and clergy supporting and giving piggy back rides to the peasants. "The Fat Press" is also very radical and undermines the idea that all men are equal, as does the sixth cartoon. The peasants seem very resentful.
I was a bit confused of what the Cahier was. It says "Constitution". Who wrote it? Was it a constitution proposal? If so, I was confused as to why they would say that the monarch was the ultimate source of power. "The monarch's person is sacred and inviolable."
the original goal at the time of writing was a parliamentary monarchy to resemble britain's not a republic. the notion of a republic doesn't fully emerge until a few years into the revolution.
You don't have to post this or count it as a blog post
I now see what the Cahier is...
"I would like you to read some excerpts from the cahier of the Third Estate of the city of Paris (you can read it by clicking here). A document largely created by lawyers and businessmen, it presents a fair sampling of the grievances and expectations of urban, upper-middle-class Frenchmen on the eve of the French Revolution."
th nobiliy and clergy were seen as like having a free ride on the taxes and that the third estate had to hold them up when the revolution arrived the tables seemed to turn and now the 3rd estate wasn't holding the opther two estate now it was more even they all had to pay taxes. women seem to have been seen as the ones that raised th children and stayed in the house they had lower rights than men
u know it's a wonder that nobody noticed back then the patterns. every country, west north east south, was having the peasants doing work but getting little. kind of like how peasants would often have to pick up on taxes, while the upper class was exempt. i mean it was just france, it was everywhere. it sucks that people didn't pick up on it, but of course it was likely a trend on purpose, like since the upper class was usually in charge it worked best for them. of course they just didn't notice how in other countries that when the peasants were left with taxes they couldn't pay, no revenue came in. parallelism or people just not learning from mistakes?g
It's easy to see that there was a lot of hatered for the nobles and clergy. These depictions of them really showed the anger of the they held for them. It's really pretty sad.
In the cartoons deicting the past the peasents are carrying all of the weight and burdens, then in the present it is then flipped around and the higher classes are taking all of the weight from the peasentry.
These cartoons are pretty much the same, when you think about the messages that they are portraying. The first cartoons show how the French peasants were treated before the revolution. Now, obviously, the peasants weren't "ridden" by the nobility- hahah. But they felt the strain of supporting the country, based on the facts that they were the only class that payed taxes, and they weren't given a lot of land to make a living of off. They also could not change this, based on the fact that they didn't have a vote.
The second comic shows life after the French revolution- how the tables were turned; how the rulers became the ruled. These cartoons always show the peasants getting back at the nobility by making them do hard tasks and a lot of physical labor (the fat priest becoming a skeleton).
I think French women had little rights, However, when it came to the impoverished women, it seems as though men and women were pretty similar as far as their rights went. So impoverished women were slightly under impoverished men.
wow! i think that the press one was kinda funny..but seriously, the first cartoon depicted a peasant carrying the upper class peoples on his back, that would probabyl describe the taxes that the nobles were free from. i really don't understand the last cartoon, why is the dude a skeleton? another thing is, who was the woman sitting on? does tht show an increase in womens rights, cause i remember reading about that in the book.
The deception of the everyday citizen has to carry the burdan of holdinmg France up, when its powers are not even working to better the coutry. It is the nobility and clergy faults for the revolution by far. Thy were not taking responsibility for France. they only were really concerned with themselves and their status in society. they arentt taking charge of the country they are supposed to be running. the representation was terrible for the majority population. this accuratley diesplays this knowledge.
The clergy and the nobility in these cartoons was set high above everyone on top of the third estates bakcs most likely because the third estate was forced to hold up the tax burden and basically hold up the economy since the clergy and nobility with the money were exempt from taxes. In the first two prints, men and women ofthe higher classes were somewhat treated the same since they both got carried and of the third class they both had to carry the higher classes so they were treated pretty much the same.
well basically in the first one it showed how the peaants are carrying the society on there backs (literally)... then in the second one it has the middle class and is saying/showing how they are the voice in the society and they do all the decision making and then below them are the clergy and nobles since they are more like the nobles.. the peasants are probably towards the top cuz they are the only ones paying taxes
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