The Classics discussion

This is for Book the Second.

What really strikes me about this section of the story is Monsieur the Marquis' utter lack of regard for the common people. Running over the small child then expecting a coin to appease the father, heartless and unfortunately, realistic.

That was very telling. I think Dickens definitely knows exactly what buttons to push to make his villains nasty. I'm trying to think if he has any characters that have "shades of gray" - ? Of course, there are some fathers that would have taken the coin and been happy with it. Equally sad.

Reading a biography of Pushkin recently it struck me that this life of literature, balls, travel and duels was reserved for a very thin crust on the surface of society, supported by the labour of millions of serfs who had no chance of rising from their situation. The French aristocracy of the 18th century ran the same sort of show at the expense of their peasants, and the Marquis is a sort of symbol for repression. I'm not surprised that both systems crashed. The British were a bit more canny about it, less obviously exploitative. We had our big chance with Oliver Cromwell and blew it, and went back to our national pastime of forelock tugging and knowing our places. Even now, 90% of the land is ownned by a small handful of old families.