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Activity
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Explain why the artist has portrayed the nobleman as the spider and the peasant as the fly.
A spider spins a web and sits passively while waiting for the fly to get trapped, consuming whatever the fly brings. In this caricature, the nobleman represents the spider who feeds on the labor, produce, taxes, and services rendered by the peasant without doing any manual work. The peasant represents the helpless fly who brings everything—grain, fruits, money, and salad—only to be trapped and completely drained by the feudal lord.
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Fig. 4 The course of a subsistence crisis - Complete the Flowchart
| Step / Stage | Ans |
|---|---|
| 1. Initial trigger | Bad harvest |
| 2. Immediate effect on food availability | Scarcity of grain |
| 3. Economic impact on markets | Rising food prices |
| 4. Consequence for common people | The poorest can no longer buy bread |
| 5. Social and physiological outcomes | Food riots / Weakened bodies |
| 6. Health consequence | Disease epidemics |
| 7. Ultimate disaster | Increased number of deaths |
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Source Activity (Arthur Young)
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What message is Young trying to convey here? Whom does he mean when he speaks of 'slaves'? Who is he criticising? What dangers does he sense in the situation of 1787?
Young is conveying the message that extreme oppression and cruel treatment of laborers endanger the master's own life and property.
By 'slaves', he refers to the heavily burdened, exploited, and ill-treated peasants of eighteenth-century France.
He is criticising the French nobility and aristocrats who lived lavishly off the groans of the deprived peasantry.
He senses imminent danger of a violent, bloody uprising or riot where the peasants would revolt and attack the lords, threatening their families and property.
Page 72
Activity (The Tennis Court Oath)
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Representatives of the Third Estate take the oath raising their arms in the direction of Bailly, the President of the Assembly, standing on a table in the centre. Do you think that during the actual event Bailly would have stood with his back to the assembled deputies? What could have been David's intention in placing Bailly (Fig. 5) the way he has done?
No, in an actual assembly, the presiding officer would face the members rather than stand with his back turned to them.
The artist Jacques-Louis David intentionally placed Bailly facing outward toward the viewer so that the viewer feels directly addressed by the event. It creates a powerful central focal point where both the assembled deputies in the hall and the viewers of the painting share the solemnity and determination of taking the oath together.
Page 82
Activity - Political Symbols & Rights
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1. Identify the symbols in Box 1 which stand for liberty, equality and fraternity.
• Liberty: The broken chain and the Red Phrygian cap.
• Equality: The Law Tablet (the law is the same for all) and the triangle/pyramid.
• Fraternity / Unity: The bundle of rods or fasces (strength lies in unity). -
2. Explain the meaning of the painting of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (Fig. 8) by reading only the symbols.
The painting depicts the wings of law bringing divine illumination through the all-seeing radiant eye to dispel ignorance. The Law Tablet held centrally indicates that justice and law apply equally to all people, while broken chains and the national tricolour colors embody the triumph of liberty and civic authority over arbitrary feudal despotism.
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3. Compare the political rights which the Constitution of 1791 gave to the citizens with Articles 1 and 6 of the Declaration (Source C). Are the two documents consistent? Do the two documents convey the same idea?
No, the two documents are not entirely consistent. While Article 1 and Article 6 declared that all men are born free and equal in rights with equal say in law-making, the Constitution of 1791 divided French citizens into 'active' and 'passive' citizens. Only property-owning men paying substantial taxes were permitted to vote, thereby denying voting rights to women and poor men, which contradicted the universal equality proclaimed in the Declaration.
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4. Which groups of French society would have gained from the Constitution of 1791? Which groups would have had reason to be dissatisfied? What developments does Marat (Source B) anticipate in the future?
• Gained: The wealthy middle class, merchants, big businessmen, and prosperous professionals who qualified as active citizens and electors.
• Dissatisfied: Peasants, artisans, landless laborers, servants, wage earners, and all women, who were relegated to passive citizenship.
• Marat's Anticipation: Marat anticipated that the poor and oppressed would not tolerate the dominance of wealth, warning that just as people cast off the yoke of the nobility, they would eventually revolt against the wealthy bourgeoisie. -
5. Imagine the impact of the events in France on neighbouring countries such as Prussia, Austria-Hungary or Spain, all of which were absolute monarchies. How would the kings, traders, peasants, nobles or members of the clergy here have reacted to the news of what was happening in France?
• Kings and Monarchs: Alarmed and fearful that revolutionary ideas would spread to their lands, leading them to plan military intervention.
• Nobles and Clergy: Terrified of losing their hereditary privileges, feudal lands, and social power.
• Peasants and Workers: Hopeful, inspired, and motivated to challenge oppressive feudal obligations.
• Traders and Middle Class: Welcomed the ideas of constitutional government, legal equality, and removal of trade barriers.
Page 86
Activity (Nanine Vallain, Liberty)
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Look carefully at the painting and identify the objects which are political symbols you saw in Box 1 (broken chain, red cap, fasces, Charter of the Declaration of Rights). The pyramid stands for equality, often represented by a triangle. Use the symbols to interpret the painting. Describe your impressions of the female figure of liberty.
• Identified Symbols: The red cap on the pike represents freedom from enslavement; the charter in her hand represents the Declaration of Rights; the spear/staff represents authority and vigilance; the pyramid in the background stands for equality.
• Interpretation: The painting synthesizes freedom, rule of constitutional law, and equal rights into a protective guardian of the republic.
• Impressions: The female figure of Liberty appears dignified, determined, and serene, wearing the classical tricolor dress, projecting moral strength, justice, and the emergence of a new civic order.
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Activity (Desmoulins vs Robespierre)
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Compare the views of Desmoulins and Robespierre. How does each one understand the use of state force? What does Robespierre mean by 'the war of liberty against tyranny'? How does Desmoulins perceive liberty? Refer once more to Source C. What did the constitutional laws on the rights of individuals lay down? Discuss your views on the subject in class.
• Use of State Force: Robespierre viewed severe state force and terror as essential and virtuous instruments to crush counter-revolutionaries, while Desmoulins condemned terror as senseless violence that multiplies enemies.
• 'War of Liberty Against Tyranny': Robespierre meant that the revolutionary republic was under attack by internal and external despots, justifying extreme measures to annihilate opposition.
• Perception of Liberty: Desmoulins perceived liberty as happiness, reason, justice, and adherence to the Declaration of Rights rather than punitive violence.
• Constitutional Laws: Source C explicitly affirms that no man may be accused or detained except by established law, and that liberty consists of doing whatever is not injurious to others, contradicting arbitrary execution.
Page 90
Activity (Fig. 11 Festival)
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Describe the groups of people, their clothes, their roles and actions. What impression of a revolutionary festival does this image convey?
The image depicts grand civic processions with citizens and soldiers gathered in disciplined ranks around a classical circular pavilion. Officials and participants wear formal revolutionary attire and classical robes, performing choreographed civic rituals and honoring allegorical monuments. This conveys an impression of immense grandeur, unity, civic order, and the state's deliberate effort to replace old religious traditions with patriotic republican loyalty.
Page 92
Activity (Fig. 12 Women's March)
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Describe the persons represented in Fig. 12—their actions, their postures, the objects they are carrying. Look carefully to see whether all of them come from the same social group. What symbols has the artist included in the image? What do they stand for? Do the actions of the women reflect traditional ideas of how women were expected to behave in public? What do you think: does the artist sympathise with the women's activities or is he critical of them? Discuss your views in the class.
• Persons, Postures & Objects: The women are marching with determined, energetic postures carrying pikes, pitchforks, swords, muskets, and beating a drum, with a woman leading on horseback.
• Social Groups: They belong predominantly to the working-class third estate—market women, fishwives, and domestic workers, united by anger over bread shortages.
• Symbols: The balance scale topped with a red cap on a staff represents the demand for justice and freedom in the supply and pricing of bread.
• Public Behavior: Their militant, assertive public march completely defied the passive, submissive domestic roles traditionally expected of eighteenth-century women.
• Artist's Perspective: The artist portrays them with heroic determination and strength, showing clear sympathy for their righteous struggle against starvation and monarchical indifference.
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Activities (Olympe de Gouges & Chaumette)
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Compare the manifesto drafted by Olympe de Gouges (Source F) with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (Source C).
Source C exclusively addressed 'Man and Citizen', viewing rights through a male perspective and omitting female political agency. Olympe de Gouges' manifesto in Source F systematically insisted that "Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights," asserting that sovereignty resides in the union of both woman and man, and that public employment and legal accountability must belong equally to both sexes.
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Imagine yourself to be one of the women in Fig. 13. Formulate a response to the arguments put forward by Chaumette (Source G).
"Citizen Chaumette, you claim nature assigned political duties only to men, yet it is working women who labor all day, stand in freezing bread queues for hours, and march to Versailles to secure food for our families! When bread prices skyrocket and our children starve, politics enters our homes directly. If women are deemed equal enough to face the guillotine and obey your laws, we are equally entitled to speak, vote, and assemble in our clubs to defend our survival and rights."
Page 98
Activity (Fig. 14 Emancipation of Slaves)
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Record your impressions of this print (Fig. 14). Describe the objects lying on the ground. What do they symbolise? What attitude does the picture express towards non-European slaves?
• Objects on the Ground: Discarded iron chains, shackles, and whips are shown lying broken on the ground.
• Symbolism: They symbolise the abolition of slavery and the termination of colonial subjugation.
• Attitude Expressed: The image reflects a paternalistic European attitude. While celebrating freedom, it portrays the French woman as a superior 'civilizer' bestowing European clothing and culture upon the unfree, viewing non-European slaves as passive recipients rather than equals who fought for their own freedom.
Page 100
Activity (Fig. 15 Patriotic Press)
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Describe the picture in your own words. What are the images that the artist has used to communicate the following ideas: greed, equality, justice, takeover by the state of the assets of the church?
The satirical cartoon portrays clergymen being forced through a mechanical press to squeeze out hoarded wealth for the treasury.
• Greed: The excessively fat bodies of the senior clergy and cardinals, highlighting their excessive wealth accumulated at the expense of common people.
• Equality: Compelling the privileged clergy to undergo the same financial reduction so they match normal citizens.
• Justice: Patriots and revolutionary officials operating the press firmly to restore social balance.
• Takeover of Church Assets: The large box beneath the press collecting coins and precious metals confiscated from the Church for national use.
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Activity (Fig. 16 Marat)
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Recall what you have learnt about Marat in this chapter. Describe the scene around him. Account for his great popularity. What kinds of reactions would a painting like this produce among viewers in the Salon?
• Scene: Jean-Paul Marat stands addressing a dense, excited crowd of common citizens and sans-culottes who listen intently, waving hats and cheering enthusiastically in an architectural hall.
• Reason for Popularity: Marat relentlessly championed the rights of the poor and working class through his paper L'Ami du peuple, exposing the privileges of the wealthy and fearlessly articulating the anger of common people.
• Viewer Reactions: Common people and republicans would view it with pride and revolutionary zeal, whereas surviving aristocrats and moderate conservatives would feel alarm at the raw power of popular mob politics.
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Activities & Exercises
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Activities 1 & 2: Project / Biography Tasks
• Biography of Maximilien Robespierre: Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) was a prominent leader of the Jacobin club during the French Revolution. Known as 'The Incorruptible', he championed universal male suffrage and the interests of the poor. During the Reign of Terror (1793–1794), he pursued strict price controls, equality bread, and executed thousands of perceived counter-revolutionaries using the guillotine, before he himself was convicted and guillotined in July 1794.
• Newspaper Article Task: Students should report on key revolutionary turning points such as the Storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789) or the Women's March on Versailles (5 October 1789), featuring headlines, interviews with citizens, and opinion columns for display. -
1. Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
1. Financial Crisis: Long years of war, assistance to the 13 American colonies, and court extravagance at Versailles drained the treasury, mounting state debt over 2 billion livres.
2. Social Inequality: French society was divided into three estates; the Clergy and Nobility enjoyed birth privileges and tax exemptions, placing the entire tax burden on the Third Estate.
3. Subsistence Crisis: Rapid population growth increased demand for foodgrains, while bad harvests caused bread prices to skyrocket, leaving low-wage workers starving.
4. Spread of New Ideas: Philosophers like Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu questioned monarchical divine right, demanding a society based on freedom, equal laws, and separation of powers.
5. Estates General Voting Dispute: On 5 May 1789, the king insisted on estate-wise voting instead of one vote per member, prompting the Third Estate to walk out and form the National Assembly. -
2. Which groups of French society benefited from the revolution? Which groups were forced to relinquish power? Which sections of society would have been disappointed with the outcome of the revolution?
• Benefited: The educated and prosperous middle class of the Third Estate (merchants, traders, lawyers, and officials) who gained political influence and civil equality.
• Forced to Relinquish Power: The Clergy and the Nobility lost their birth privileges, feudal dues, tithes, and tax exemptions.
• Disappointed: The poorer sections of the Third Estate (small peasants, landless laborers, servants) and women, who were denied voting rights under the Constitution of 1791 and classified as passive citizens. -
3. Describe the legacy of the French Revolution for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity formed the core legacy of the French Revolution. They inspired nineteenth-century movements across Europe that brought down oppressive feudal structures and led to the creation of constitutional nation-states. Colonised peoples around the world embraced and adapted the idea of freedom from bondage to launch anti-colonial independence struggles, with prominent Indian figures like Tipu Sultan and Raja Rammohan Roy drawing deep inspiration from revolutionary France.
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4. Draw up a list of democratic rights we enjoy today whose origins could be traced to the French Revolution.
• Right to Equality before law (equality regardless of birth or privilege)
• Right to Freedom of speech and expression
• Freedom of the press
• Right to Liberty and personal security
• Right to participate in government / Representative democracy
• Right to Property and protection against arbitrary arrest -
5. Would you agree with the view that the message of universal rights was beset with contradictions? Explain.
Yes, the message of universal rights was beset with significant contradictions:
1. Exclusion of Women: Despite active participation in revolutionary events, women were denied political rights, excluded from the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and reduced to passive citizens.
2. Unequal Voting Rights: The Constitution of 1791 granted voting rights only to property-owning men who paid high taxes, leaving millions of poor men disenfranchised.
3. Contradiction Over Slavery: While declaring all men born free and equal, the National Assembly avoided abolishing slavery in the colonies to appease plantation merchants, and Napoleon later reinstated it in 1804. -
6. How would you explain the rise of Napoleon?
Following the fall of Robespierre's Jacobin regime, the wealthier middle class took control and established the Directory, an executive of five members. Frequent political clashes between the Directors and the legislative councils created severe political instability and governance paralysis. Napoleon Bonaparte capitalized on this crisis as a distinguished military commander, staging a coup d'état in 1799 and crowning himself Emperor of France in 1804 to restore order and stability.
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7. Today, many low-income families work as daily-wage labourers, have no land of their own and depend on government welfare schemes. In the old French society, which group is most similar to them?
Answer: d) Poor workers of the 3rd Estate.
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