WIBCI we learned from HISTORY and LITERATURE?
In 1778 Pierre Beaumarchais wrote the play, The Marriage of Figaro. At this time in France, the theatre was THE political space for critical public opinion. This play mocked and ridiculed the old aristocratic value system of France and per the lecture: Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon S1 E2 Privilege: Old Regime Society: ‘(the play) gives us ‘insight into the mood of public opinion in the 1780’s.’
King Louis XVI was shown this play by royal censors and stated: ‘This shall never be played. It would be necessary to destroy the Bastille itself before this play would be without dangerous consequences. This man mocks at everything in the Government which should be respected.’
Déjà vu …. no?
The play was banned, but underground, in private salons, performances of the play were ‘secretly popular’, and in 1784 royal censors allowed it to be publicly performed. So popular was opening night that reportedly a few people were crushed to death when the doors opened. The Marriage of Figaro was about a then debunked tradition of noblemen having the right to replace the groom in bed with new brides on their wedding nights. The servant who was constantly one-upping his master is the main character whose main concern is that his fiancé will meet this fate. The servant angered by the state of hierarchy states:
‘Because you are a great nobleman, you think you are a great genius… Nobility, fortune, rank, position! How proud they make a man feel! What have you done to deserve such advantages? Whereas I, lost among the obscure crowd, have had to deploy more knowledge, more calculation and skill merely to survive than has sufficed to rule all the provinces of Spain {France} for a century!’
-Pierre Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro
This struck a nerve in France and started the public thinking about the morality of its leaders. Oh and if you don’t know how King Louis XVI ended his reign….look it up.
WIBCI we started thinking about the morality, or lack of it, in politics? WIBCI we were talking about inequality today?
Last Updated on 10/21/2025 by Death of Hypatia Inc.
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