The French Revolution & 19th Century Literature

Before the French Revolution the citizens of France lived in a confined society with no freedom of speech nor freedom to express their feelings. The Government of the time imposed very rigid and unfair laws on the common man.

They felt this was necessary in order to produce a stable Government with a strong sense of individuality among their people and to induce a strong economy in France.

In general, the literatury of any country is affected by the lives of its citizens. At this period of time the French people were divided into two sections; the privilaged and the non-privilaged classes.

The writers of the eighteenth century focused mainly on the lives of the upper class citizens. The literature of the day was, like the people, very restricted.

The French Revolution gave the common people more freedom to the writers and poets of the time and the citizens sent a strong wave of creativity.

This, in turn, led to new laws for French citizens which includes a new, less imposing literary standard.

There are many direct relationships on how the French Revolution influenced romanticism that followed in the early 19th century.

The French Revolution (date 1798) clearly divides the pre-romanticism era to the fully blossoming new culture. Romanticism commences in approximately 1774 but does not really take-off until the last decade of the 18th century, the same time as the Revolution.

Here are a sample of the great romantic authors from this era;

Hugo - possibly the greatest poet of 19th century France
Vigney- who played a major role in the romantic revolution of the 1820's with his excellent play "Chatterton'
J DeMaistre - was inspired to write by the divine greatness of the Revolution
Lamartine - who is possibly one of the four greatest poets of the romantic era