InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It breaks my heart to say it."

Edward Peregrine (empty_chairs) wrote in doors,
@ 2013-02-08 17:22:00

Entry tags:

cosette, fantine, javert, marius, quasimodo

[public]
Paris is as I left her, I think. They say Rome's the eternal city, but I think Paris might have a claim to the title. She changes completely, and nothing ever really changes. It makes anyone question revolution -- how much can it really achieve when everything remains so much the same? Revolution ought to bring redemption, not greater suffering and poverty. Is there no society that can genuinely sustain the common good? Or are we all doomed to search endlessly for Utopias and find their names fitting -- nowhere.

I am a terrible radical. But an equally terrible law student. At least my German and my English are good (let us not speak of Latin or Greek)? Those are perhaps the most useful skills I possess, sadly. I should find my books and try to apply myself to my studies. The cafés are quiet today. Some wine and bread might ease my mind.

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	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 07:44 pm UTC (link)
	It depends on when you left it, monsieur. There was the Revolution of 1789, the Republic, the Empire, and the Bourbon Restoration. And the Revolution of 1830. But there is a king on the throne of France, if that is any clarification for you, Louis-Philippe. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 01:57 am UTC (link)
	No, I left Paris behind long before that time. I never knew a revolution in the city. You suggest that it was not a success, however. What was the goal? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

empty_chairs
2013-02-10 02:04 am UTC (link)

A complicated question! (But I am a law student, and all questions are complicated.)

The Revolution of 1789 meant to depose the king and remedy the abuses of the crown against the people. The Republic meant to impose a society in which all Frenchmen were brothers, citizens, with equal access to justice and liberty. The Empire meant to bring the ideals of the Revolution to the whole of Europe, and to restore order to the chaos of the Republic. The Restoration sought to put a rightful Bourbon king on the throne. The Revolution of 1830 sought to end hereditary right and bring about popular sovereignty. Whether any of these things achieved justice and change, it's hard to say. People died, many people died. The king and queen and many aristocrats were executed after the Revolution of 1789. The Church lost power and regained it again. The ideas of brotherhood and justice and equality evaporated. The poor are still poor. The rich are still rich. And the law is still absolute. I do not know if any of them really succeeded in doing anything other than changing who was in power and who they promised benefits to.

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	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:01 am UTC (link)
	[...] It is an erroneous desire, this revolution. To make all men equal is impossible. Some men will always be above others, that is the way the world orders itself. It is a noble thing to wish for, but it does not surprise me that a king returned to France. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

empty_chairs
2013-02-10 06:27 am UTC (link)

I don't think we can make men equal. But I think we can give them equal footing before the law, and equal chances at dignity and a life worth living. Either law applies to all men, or it is meaningless. Either law is universal, or it is a farce. And perhaps someday, we'll see a bloodless revolution in which this truth becomes as self-evident to all men as it is to the wild dreamers.

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	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:29 am UTC (link)
	It is a beautiful sentiment. I wish I could believe that it were more. But I admire it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:31 am UTC (link)
	Some men live it, monsieur. Or try to. I try to. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:32 am UTC (link)
	What is the nature of your birth? I do not know if that is an indelicate question. I do not know much in the way of manners. Hopefully, it is not. I only wish to sate my curiosity. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:35 am UTC (link)
	Bourgeoisie, I suppose. My father served with some distinction in Napoleon's army, and my family had means enough to send me to university. The means are not great, but they are sufficient. So the nature of my birth is fortunate. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:37 am UTC (link)
	I do not know Napoleon. Was he a king? And you say that, even as one with fortunate prospects in life, you do not turn your face away when you see a cripple in the street? A fallen woman? You wish them to stand on equal footing with yourself? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:40 am UTC (link)
	Emperor of France. Before the king was restored. I do. Because the law should be no respecter of persons. Because no man should starve because of a misfortune of birth, no woman should suffer because of injustices inflicted upon her. We are all made of dust and tears, in the end. But I am a dreamer, and I read too much philosophy as a boy. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 07:02 am UTC (link)
	It dizzies the mind, all the strange things that have yet to happen. Would that the world were made up of more dreamers such as yourself, many would not be forced to live as they do. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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