Warm up Match the French estates with their people (First, Second and Third) Nobility High-ranking Members of the Clergy The Bourgeoisie Made up less than 1% of the French population Privileged, wealthy class Paid about 50% of their income in taxes
What is the Enlightenment? (also called the Neoclassical Period)
It begins with a rejection. . . . Of dogma Of superstition Of traditional religion Of factionalism Of (in some cases) monarchy Of disorder Dogma- a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true
What is the Enlightenment attitude? (1) A desire for rationality, logic, consistency. (2) A rejection of emotionalism (3) A preference for evidence, not faith (4) Increased interest in science, mathematics, geometry (5) An admiration for Greece and Rome and an abhorrence for everything medieval. (6) A preference for the artificial over the natural, technology over wilderness.
Therefore it was up to mankind to chose its destiny
What is the Enlightenment aesthetically? A desire for geometric shapes, orderly repetition in mathematical patterns. (2) A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” in art and clothing and hairstyles as being unharmonious. (3) Greco-Roman architecture (4) Endless Heroic Couplets (5) Satire as a means of social critique (Gulliver’s Travels)
Here, the “messiness” of the natural world must bow before pure geometry. In such a garden, the chaos of nature is tamed to match the orderly design of human intellect.
Straight lines, 90 degree corners, the stuff to warm the heart of an Enlightenment thinker. Thus, hedge--mazes appear across Europe.
The Enlightenment is so devoted to Greco-Roman logic and philosophy it is thus also called the “Neoclassic Period.” A similar taste appears in their architecture, their plays and drama. . . .
Take a look at the Arch of Emperor Constantine, built c. 312-315 CE.
Then look at the French Arc de Triomph du Carrousel. Note any similarities?
Top Left: the Parthenon of the Acropolis, built c. 447-438 BCE. Bottom left: Ragensberg Replica, Planned in the 1790s And built 1830 CE.
He believed in religious tolerance and freedom of thought He believed in religious tolerance and freedom of thought. He was also anti-slavery. ROUSSEAU attacked society as artificial & corrupt. He criticized the salons
French Revolution Review Identify the following as “short term” or ”long term” causes of the French Revolution Famine Absolutism Bankruptcy Ancien Regime Locking out the Estates-General Influence of the Philosophes