The French Revolution is regarded as one of the greatest revolutions in the history of the world. As for the political aspect, it raised the slogan “Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité” meaning “liberty, equality, and fraternity”, which was deeply rooted in the heart of people. This slogan gave people courage and theoretical support to pursue freedom and democracy. In this way, the feudal system in France, even in the continent of Europe, was overturned. Economically, with the process of the French Revolution, capitalism was developed. As for cultural aspect, the French Revolution spread the idea of freedom and democracy. Also, there were many novels written based on the historical background of the French Revolution, such as Les Miserables. We cannot deny the greatness and the remarkably positive impact of the French Revolution in history, but did it accomplish all the requirement raised during the revolution, did it let people get real freedom and happiness? I believe that the French Revolution may not be that successful as people thought, because Les Miserables, as a historically cultural legacy, shows us what people exactly experienced in the middle of nineteen centuries in France and how disastrously they lived their life during that period, especially for lower-class people. The French Revolution didn’t help people to get happiness, equality, and fraternity.

First of all, people didn’t get happiness through the French Revolution, especially for lower-class people. During the French Revolution, with the development of capitalism, even though some people as free labor got much more opportunities to work, most people were pressed and struggling. As the society became money-oriented, the only focus in the society was on money and poor people’s life became even harder. If there was not enough money, it would be extremely difficult to gain a foothold. In order to earn money, people could do anything even losing their dignity, like Fantine, who prostituted to get money for her daughter; people would even lose morality and become greedy, like the Thenardiers, who took away almost all Fantine’s money and lay to ask for more. In this society, it seemed that the relationship between people was all about pecuniary interest. There was no kindness in the society. This was not what the French Revolution wants to pursue.

Additionally, there was still inequality in this society. For example, when Fantine was refusing a rude client and pulling and pushing each other, the new police officer passed by and indiscriminately convict Fantine. Was it right to optionally convict somebody just because he was a police officer? Shouldn’t his decision be based on legislative authority? Wasn’t there any legal procedure? The situation that the police officer declared Fantine’s guilty only based on his subjective assumption reveals inequality and imperfection of the law. Was there any difference from the feudal age? It’s just like what was written in the book, “If you ask what is equality, only is equal in front of death”.

Last but not least, the French Revolution didn’t achieve the requirement of “Fraternité”, which means fraternity. Revolutionaries were not really “fraternal”. They simply thought victory was a class to eliminate another class. However, this behavior could only instigate hostility and chaos in the society. What is more, the Thenardiers was not “fraternal” at all. This couple was a mixture of philistinism, utilitarian as well as ruffian. Fantine asked them to take care of her daughter, Cosette, and left a lot of money. However, they didn’t use this money to foster Cosette but used it to cultivate their own daughter and regarded Cosette as a maidservant. Not only that, they lay to Fantine that her girl was sick to ask for more money constantly. Besides, colleagues in the factory were not “fraternal”. When they found a letter from the Thenardiers to Fantine asking for money, they started to despise Fantine because she had an illegitimate daughter. These colleges allied the headman of the factory to expel Fantine. Afterwards, poor Fantine had to be homeless and lived on the street. These two parts show people’s indifference and non-fraternity, which are opposed to the slogan of the French Revolution.

All in all, the French Revolution is not fully successful because there was still severe inequality in the society during that period, and people didn’t live a happy life. The violent revolution brought France to a vicious circle, which consisted of revenge and harm. However, the truth of victory of a society is not a class to eliminate another one, but to maintain the whole society to be peaceful. Only in this way, people can enjoy their rights to education, employment, medical and old-age care, and housing.

Reference:

Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Trans. Charles E. Wilbour. New York: Random House Modern Library, 1992.