Criticism toward the 18th century French society revealed in Pieere de Beaumarchais the Marriage of Figaro - USD Repository

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CRITICISM TOWARD THE 18 CENTURY FRENCH SOCIETY REVEALED IN PIEERE de BEAUMARCHAIS’ THE MARRIAGE of

  FIGARO

  AN UNDERGRADUTED THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English letters

  By

XAVERIE TRIATMI KLEDEN

  Student Number: 034214090

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to express my gratitude for all who support and help me finish this thesis. First of all to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I thank Him for all that He has bestowed upon me. I owe my deepest gratitude to my parents. I thank both of you for your pray, patient and support. I also thank to my sister and brother for their encouragement.

  I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Ni luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum. I thank her for being my advisor who has gave her time and patience in guiding and encouraging me to finish this thesis. I also would like to thank my co-advisor Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M.Hum for her suggestions and inputs for my undergraduate thesis.

  I also want to express my gratititude to all Sanata Dharama Lecturing staff. I thank them for all the guidance, knowledge and support during my study. I also want to thank the staff of English Letter Department and staff in the library.

  My thanks and appreciations also go to all my 2003 friends. I thank them for the friendship, love, laugh, cries, and support whenever I need them. For everything that na, ndu and dewi share and give, I thank them. I would also want to appreciate the Mansup crews for the rollercoaster experience in the longest semester I had. Last, I thank Poppy for her support.

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  2. The 18

  th Century French Government………………………...

  a. The Indifferent Louis XV……………………………….

  b. The 18

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  Century French Ministry ………………………

  c. The 18

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  Century French Parliament ……………………

  th Century French Nobility…………………………….

  th Century French Society ………......

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  1. The 18

  B. The Criticism toward the 18

  

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………………… i

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APPROVAL PAGE………………………………………………………….. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE………………………………………………………. iii

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ……………… iv

STATEMENT OF THE WORK ORIGINALITY ………………………… v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………….. vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….. vii

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………… ix

ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………………….. x

  

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION............................................................. 1

A. Background of the Study……………………………………...........

  1 B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………..

  4 C. Objectives of the Study…………………………………………......

  5 D. Definition of Terms…………………………………………………

  5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW.............................................. 6 A. Review of Related Studies…………………………………………..

  6 B. Review of Related Theories ………………………………………...

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  1. Theory of Character ………………………………………… 2. Theory of Characterization……………………………….….

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  2. The Characters of Upper Class ………………………………

  3. Literature and Society...............................................……

  12 C. Review on the French Society in the 18

  th Century ………………...

  13 D. Theoretical Framework...............................................................

  21 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY......................................................... 22 A. Object of the Study………………………………………………….

  22 B. Approach of the Study………………………………………………

  24 C. Method of the Study…………………………………………………

  25 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS…………………………………………………. 28 A. The Characters of The Marriage of Figaro ………………………..

  1. The Characters of Lower Class ………………………………

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CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………………… 59

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………...... 62

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ABSTRACT

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  XAVERIE TRIATMI KLEDEN (2011). Criticism Toward the 18

Centtury French Society Revealed in Beaumarchais’ he Marriage of Figaro.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  This thesis discusses the criticism revealed in the Beaumarchais‘ play The

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Marriage of Figaro. During the 18 century, behavior of the privilege society

  caused jealousy in the nation. In addition, the government treated the commoner unequally with the privilege people. This made the commoner felt oppressed and stared to criticize the government and the privilege society.

  There are two problems formulation of this study. The first is how the characters in the play are described. The second is what criticisms are revealed in the play through the representation of the character.

  This study applies library research method. Beside from books some data are taken from internet. Sociocultural historical approach is used in revealed the criticism in this study. The writer decided to use Beaumarchais’ play because it is considered as the milestone of French revolution. After read and reread, finding the second sources is necessary to find the topic of criticism. The next step is to make the problem formulation. Then make the analysis from the problem formulation. The last step is to make a conclusion from the analysis.

  Characters in the play are divided into two, the lower and upper class. Figaro is clever and bold which makes him critical. Basil is wicked, sycophant and conceited. Count is oppressive, hypocrite and unfaithful. Doctor is inattentive, egoist and dull. Guzman is a shallow judge who only concern about his

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  appearance. The play uses the characters to imply the criticism toward the 18 century French society. It criticizes the king, the ministry, the parliament, and nobility. The king is criticized for being irresponsible. The ministry is criticized for being oppressive, incompetent, and corrupted. The nobility is criticized for being arrogant and ignorant. ix

  

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ABSTRAK

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  XAVERIE TRIATMI KLEDEN (2011). Criticism Toward the 18 Centtury

French Society Revealed in Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  Skripsi in membahas kritikan yang terdapat pada drama Beaumarchais The

  

Marriage of Figaro . Selama abad ke-18, perilaku masyarakat yang memiliki hak

  istimewa membuat kecemburuan di negara ini. Selain itu, pemerintah memperlakukan rakyat biasa dan masyarakat yang memiliki hak khusus secara tidak adil. Hal ini membuat rakyat biasa yang merasa tertindas dan mulai mengkritik pemerintah dan masyarakat dengan hak istimewa.

  Ada dua masalah yang dikemukan dalam penelitian ini. Yang pertama adalah bagaimana tokoh dalam drama digambarkan. Yang kedua adalah kritik apa yang terungkap dalam drama tersebut melalui representasi tokoh.

  Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Pendekatan kultur social dan sejarah digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Penulis memutuskan untuk menggunakan drama milik Beaumarchais The Marriage of Figaro karena yang dianggap sebagai tonggak sejarah Revolusi Perancis. Setelah membaca dan membaca kembali drama tersebut, menemukan sumber-sumber kedua diperlukan untuk menemukan topik apa saja yang kritik. Langkah selanjutnya adalah membuat rumusan masalah. Kemudian membuat analisa dari perumusan masalah. Langkah terakhir adalah membuat kesimpulan dari analisa. Tokoh dalam The Marriage of Figaro dibagi menjadi dua, kelas atas dan kelas bawah. Figaro adalah orang yang cerdas dan berani sehingga menbuatnya menjadi orang yang kritis. Basil adalah seorang pejilat, picik dan sombong. Count adalah orang yang suka menindas, munafik dan tidak setia. Doctor adalah orang yang tidak perhatian, egois dan lamban. Guzman adalah seorang hakim picik yang yang hanya memerhatikan penamplian saja. Drama ini mengunakan para tokoh untuk menyiratkan kritikan terhadap masyarakat Perancis pada abad ke-18. Drama ini mengkritisi raja, para mentri, parlement, biarawan dan kaum bangsawan. Raja dikritik karena tidak bertanggungjawab. Para mentri dikritik karena semena-mena, tidak memiliki kemapuan dan korup. Kaum bangsawan dikritik karena bersikap arogan dan acuh. x

  

 

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of The Study

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  In the 18 century, a movement that was known as enlightenment spread

  out in the Europe. It was an intellectual movement that questioning the existing dogmas such as the systems of moral, tradition and religion. It happened because people started to think logically about the dogmas and tried to restructure them.

  One of the nations that were influenced by the movement was France. Romier stated in his book A History of French that the Frenchmen were enlightened through the books they read which made them filled “with prejudice against tradition and filled with that combativeness of mind which was not going to be duped by anything” (1955: 317). Since they were enlightened, the Frenchmen began to question the monarchy.

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  In the late 17 century, the territorial expansion and the immigration of Frenchmen brought the French culture to other countries. As the result, “French is the tongue, arms, the entertainment, dynasties the theme off all that period” (Belloc, 1919: 370). In addition, French also had the best administration due to the central government that was created by Louis XIV. Those conditions made French

  th gain reputation as the center of Europe in the 18 century.

  Although other countries respected the monarchy, the reputation of the monarchy in French itself was declining. Through his principle of absolute monarchy, the monarchy during Louis XIV reign was powerful but his successors

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  brought the monarchy to the end. The commoners were questioning the monarchy about the role of the privilege society. The rights and obligations as citizen were not equal. The privilege people could demand about their right without had to do their obligation. On the other hand, the commoners had massive obligation and barely had any right as citizens.

  The major issue of the nation during that time was the financial crisis. Nor Louis XV or Louis XVI managed to solve the problem. The only way to overcome the crisis was to enforce tax for all Frenchmen. However, “no French government had dared to impose upon the whole French people a uniform and equitable system of taxation” (Fisher, 1955: 705). Because of their feudal right, the nobles demanded to be free from taxation. The clergy refused to follow human laws therefore they refused to pay the taxation. This left the commoners to take all burden of financial crisis. The poor were obligated to pay massive taxes while struggling with starvation. The privilege of the upper class and clergy suppressed

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  the commoner. This condition became a major theme for some writers of the 18 century.

  In their book, A Short History of French Literature, Kastner and Atkins

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  described the 18 century literature as the writer’s instrument for propaganda of his view and aimed in political and social matters. “It was a revolt against the traditional and established authority also in religious matters” (Kastner and Atkins, 1907: 167).

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  One of the 18 century writers was Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. He was known as a writer when he wrote his memoirs to attack the

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  Goezmans. Tallentyer, in his book Friend of Voltaire, said that Beaumarchais gained the admiration of the King and Voltaire because his clever memoirs which showed “gay surprises of situation, banter and mockery, parry and thrust —every page as light and elusive as thistledown borne on a summer breeze” (1906: 244- 245). Later, he gained his fame as a writer from his Figaro trilogy.

  The Figaro trilogy is The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro and

  

The Guilty Mother. The plays are telling about Figaro who is smarter and wiser

  than his master, Count Almaviva. In The Barber of Seville, Figaro manages to find a way to help the Count meets his future wife who is being hidden by her guardian. In The Marriage of Figaro, Figaro manages to avoid the Count’s plan to enforce his noble right. In The Guilty Mother, Figaro manages to stop the downfall of the Almavivas. From the trilogy, The Marriage of Figaro is considered as his masterpiece because in this play “Beaumarchais, in works of supreme merit, introduced upon the stage an original type of political and social satire” (Kastner and Atkins, 1907: 165).

  The Marriage of Figaro is much better play than the other Figaro plays.

  Kastner and Atkins stated that The Marriage of Figaro is The Barber of Sevile carried to a higher plane (1907: 181). Beaumarchais, using his writing skill, is able to criticize the issue of public sentiment and at the same time entertained the nobility and the Parisian. The play was considered as the milestone of the French

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  Revolution. Napoleon, quoted in Sainte-Beuve’s book, Portrait of 18 Century, said that through Figaro the revolution was already under way (1905: 407). Figaro

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  was seen as the first who started the revolution against the monarchy because he presented the sensitive issues in the society under the king’s prohibition.

  th The Marriage of Figaro can be used to see the situation of the 18 century

  French society. “Although set in Spain to placate the censor, The Marriage of

  

Figaro was originally set in France, and it is his own society which is the target of

  Beaumarchais criticism” (Kastner and Atkins, 1907: 181). Influenced by the enlightenment ideas, Beaumarchais tried to question the existed society through his play. In The History of Modern Civilization, John Verschoyle said that Beaumarchais used his aggressive weapon, his comedy, “to place on the stage social questions, which were becoming more and more burning” (1891: 322).

  Because of burning social questions, the government applied numerous censorships. Louis XVI called it immoral play and prohibited it to be performed.

  However, the Queen and her court did not see anything wrong with the play and helped Beaumarchais to bring the play to the stage (Sainte-Beuve, 1905: 404).

  The reaction of toward the play brought a question of what were the subjects that Beaumarchais tried to say through his play. Therefore, this study will examine Beaumarchais’ play The Marriage of Figaro to identify his criticism toward the

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B. Problem Formulation

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  In order to see the how the play show the France condition during the 18 century which was criticized by Beaumarchais, there are two questions that need to be answered.

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  1. How are the characters described in The Marriage of Figaro?

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  2. What are the criticisms toward the French society during the 18 century as revealed through the representation of the characters?

  C. Objectives of The Study

  This study has two objectives. The first is to examine how the characters in

  

The Marriage of Figaro are described. Not all characters in the play that will be

  described in this study. From sixteen characters in the plays, the writers only used five characters that have significant point to the criticism. The second objective is

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  to identify Beaumarchais’ criticism toward the 18 century French society. To achieve this objective, the characters’ conduct and dialogue will be examine to

  th point out the criticism of the 18 century French society.

  D. Definition of Term

  Based on Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, criticism is the act of expressing disapproval of somebody or something and opinion about their fault or bad qualities (2010: 348). In this thesis, the criticism is about Beaumarchais disapproval toward the condition of the French society.

   

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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies In his article on American Bar Association Journal, Robert A. Hendrickson reviewed the fight between Beaumarchais against the Goëzman

  (1966: 559-563). At first, Beaumarchais problem was with Pâris-Duverney grandnephew, Count de la Blache, but when the lawsuit was brought to the parliament, it became the fight between Beaumarchais and Monsieur Goëzman. This fight made him wrote his memoirs about the Goëzman and acquired popularity among the Parisian.

  In Tallentyre’s book Friend of Volitaire, the fight started when Pâris- Duverney, before his death, promised to forget Beaumarchais debt and gave fifteen thousand francs to him in a signed letter. However, his heir, the grandnephew, accused Beaumarchais performed forgery therefore he sued Beaumarchais. Dissatisfied with the court decision which favored Beaumarchais, Blanche brought the case to the Parliament. Goëzman was appointed as the judge.

  Beaumarchais tried to meet the judge in order to speak about his case. His tried to reach M. Goëzman through his wife. He gave Mme. Goëzman a repeating-watch set with the diamond and 100 louis. Then, she asked for 15 louis for his husband’s secretary. Both agreed that all the ‘gifts’ would be returned to Beaumarchais if he lost the case. He did lose the case. Mme. Goëzman returned the 100 louis and the watch but not the 15 louis. When Beaumarchais asked her about the 15 louis, she

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  told him that she never received it. Soon after that Goëzman accused Beaumarchais performed bribery and tried to destroy his reputation as a judge.

  Disappointed with the Goëzmans, Beaumarchais wrote his famous Memoires (Tallentyre, 1906: 243-244).

  In his article, “Beaumarchais as Cross-Examiner”, Hendrickson explained how the French playwright used his skill in writing to gain public sympathy. He provided all the facts and his own view about his case. He received help from “a small group of supporters who help with factual research and two man law factory consisting of Maître Doe de Combault and Maître Malbeste, who checked his work for libel and also pitched in from time to time as friendly witnesses, when needed” (1966: 561). On September 5, 1773 the first memoire was released.

  It brought the Goëzmans printed their own Memoires to counter attack Beaumarchais. Even so, the public was already support Beaumarchais. This led the Goëzmans filed a suit toward Beaumarchais. His defense was writing another

  . It was a Memoires about the nobility. He questioned the facts about

  Memoires

  someone being a noble. He was also a noble but he bought the title. He felt uncertain because he would become a commoner again if the paper, that stated he was a noble, was taken away. Besides nobility, he also talked about M. Goëzman’s conduct. He doubted his nobility for the reason that he had a mistress and illegitimate child. Even though the society supported Beaumarchais, the court saw him guilty. He was not the only one that was guilty. The court also punished Mme. Goëzman, M. Goëzman’s secretary and Pâris-Duverney. They were ordered to pay fine and lose their civil right (Hendrickson, 1966: 561-562).

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  Hendrickson said that “in his Memoires against Goëzman, he attacks his enemies with the only weapon he has left, his pen, and from here goes on to win a significant place in the histories of France and the Unite Stated and the world of music and drama” (1966: 559).

  Beaumarchais works not only showed his talent in writing but also his observation about his society. When he wrote the memoir, he examined his enemy behavior and cross-examined the fact about them to other people. Then with his writing talent, he produced a memoir that not only helped his case but also created new perception toward the justice system at that time.

  Today, The Marriage of Figaro is known mostly as an opera by Mozart rather than a play by Beaumarchais. This happens due to the success of the opera in Europe. Mozart’s Figaro was richer than the original one according to Allan Woods in his article “Figaro and the French Revolution” which taken from marxist.com. It was richer because of the influence of Italian comic opera.

  Mozart worked together with Lorenzo da Ponte, an Italian libertine and a Jew, to make Le Nozze di Figaro. To avoid the similar treatment with Beaumarchais, both decided to change the content of Figaro’s monologue. The King of Vienna at that time, Josef II, approved the opera to mock his aristocrat citizen.

  Woods compared Le Nozze de Figaro with another Mozart’s masterpiece

  

Don Giovanni. Both opera displayed the same theme, a social criticism by means

of a servant who is smarter than this master.

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  In Le Nozze de Figaro, the servant was brave enough to challenge his master. It can be seen in the famous aria "Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino” of the first act. Figaro refused the Csount’s right, the first night right. “Here the right of the master clashes directly with the right of the servant. It is a conflict of wills in which the servant eventually wins. What is being challenged here is the arbitrary power of the feudal aristocracy” ( http://www.marxist.com/ArtAndLiterature-

   

  old/figaro.html).   Leporello, the servant in Don Giovvani was “the archetypal comic servant, is thus given a serious theme. His criticism of the dissolute lifestyle of his master (and, by implication, of the aristocracy in general) is continued in the famous "catalogue aria" where he ironically lists Don Giovanni's

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  amorous conquests” http://www.marxist.com/ArtAndLiterature-old/figaro.html) Woods said the difference was the attitude of the noble at the end of the operas. Count Almaviva, Figaro’s boss, admitted his fault but there was a chance that he would repeat his behavior. Meanwhile, Don Giovanni dropped his right, joined the revolution and “fought for the Old Regime and went cheerfully to the guillotine.”

  Wood said that “the road to revolution was prepared by attempts at reform.” Figaro was Beaumarchais’ attempt of revolution. He publicly showed a play “which depicted the aristocracy as degenerate, lustful and depraved types.” This kind of writing was unusual at that time, which made Figaro as the starting point of French Revolution.

  This study will add the facts to the two studies by Hendrickson and Woods articles. Beaumarchais was also being a cross-examiner when he wrote the play.

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  In addition there were also other things that were criticized seen in the play not only the social gap between the master and his servant that was explained by Woods.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character

  Based on A Glossary of Literary Terms by Abrams, a character is the person whose dialogue and action express their moral, disposition and emotional qualities in dramatic or narrative works (2009: 42). The nature of the character through the novel must remains stable unless there is a strong motivation why he changes his character. If since the beginning of the work someone is characterized as a brute, he is still a brute at the end of the novel. If he encounters a crisis in the middle of the story and overcome it, his character can be changed into a more civilized man. The same opinion about the consistency of character is express by Rohrberger and Woods who said “A character’s behavior must be consistent with his nature” (1971: 20). Robert and Jacobs, in their book Fiction, said that the change can be considered as the growth of the character (1987: 121). Since the beginning of the story, the character already exists but it is hidden. When the crisis occurs, the person in the story develops which make his character change.

  Henkle said that there are two type characters in a novel base on their function, major characters and secondary characters. The major characters play an important role in a novel because through them the author express and dramatize the human issue. “To a great extent, major characters are created because only

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  they are given the amplitude and attention to present convincing dramatization of the human issues of the book” (Henkle, 1977: 93). It means that the author must creates the major characters which can convince the reader about certain idea and the idea is dramatized trough their action or dialogue.

  Second characters have several functions in novel. The first role is to populate the novel which means they create a context which makes the reader understand the setting and society of the novel through their ordinary activities. They show the structure and nature of the society reflected in the novel. The second function is as a point of reference. The minor characters represent the behavior of common people at that particular time. Next, secondary characters act as foils toward major characters. The minor characters will take the major character into a critical decision using their weakness or strength. Secondary character also functions as an analogue. The secondary cast is acting as the mirror of the major one but in the end he will act just like the average people, unlike the major character who does something different from the common people (Henkle, 1977: 94-95).

2. Theory of Characterization

  Characterization is about how the writer can bring the characters in his work to become more real to the reader. The plot, theme, setting, tone of a story will influence the characters that are more realistic. In addition the diction that is presented by the characters will enrich their personality (Abcarian, Metz and Richardson, 1998: 6-7).

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  In Abrams’s A Glossary of Literary Term, there are two methods that are used for characterizing. The first is by showing. In showing, the author only presents the characters talking and acting. By doing this the reader is interpreting the motivation and disposition that left by the characters. The second is telling. In this method, the author intervene the reader about the description of the character. The author also often evaluates the motive and qualities of his character.

3. Literature and Society

  From literature works, the readers could learn about the condition of a society in a particular time, for example they learned the condition of American society during the early settler through Nathaniel Hawthorne works, or about the

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  English society during the 19 century from Jane Austen works. However a society in literature was not the complete reflection of the real society during a period of time. The author used his experience or his understanding toward a particular society to create his “civilization”. Therefore, as Wellek and Warren said “if it assumes that literature, at any given time, mirrors the current social situation ’correctly’, it is false” (1956: 95).

  Literature should have great literary value to represent the truth of society according to Hegel and Taine critics. Wellek and Warren said that those critics saw an artist would present history and social facts in his work. However, only outstanding literary work that showed the reality of society because it indicated its time and social truth were the cause and result of great artistic value (1956: 95).

  Luxemburg, Bal and Weststeijn said that the relation between literature and society could be observed using first, the external features of the text to see

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  the writer position in his or her society. The second is the internal features relation of the text with the structure in the society in order to examine the system of a society (1984: 23-24). The observation of internal features was used by the Marxism critics. They saw literature as cultural symptoms which reflected the economy condition. The proletarian would determine the social life, politic, intellectual and cultural of the upper class. The condition constructed a conflict between bourgeois and the proletarian. The later used literature as their weapon against the former to create a society without class. (1984: 24-25)

  th C.

   Century Review on the French Society in the 18 th

  In the 18 century, France was ruled by three Kings, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. This study will focuses to the condition of French society during the time of Louis XV.

1. Government Condition

  Louis XV was the king of French in 1725 until 1774. He took the throne when he was five years old. Because of his minority, someone must take over his duty as a king. Louis XIV made a will which said that a council would perform the king’s duty until Louis XV reached majority, but his brother, the Duke of Orleans, challenged his will. With the help of the Parliament, who hated Louis XIV because he took their right, the Duke became the Regent of the monarchy.

  The Regent then abolished the old system of government. He made sure that the position in the government was held by nobles. In doing so, he wanted the

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  bourgeois and the lawyers were replaced from their position in the government (Grant, 1900:153).

  The Parliament returned to its position and was allowed to supervise the monarchy by the order of the Regent. He also supported the Jansenists who were suppressed by the old King. They were released from the prison and allowed to perform the religion. Some of the Jansenists later participated in the Parliament (Grant, 1900: 154).

  When Louis XIV died, he left “800 million livers of debts immediately due, a budged deficit of 77 millions, all revenuers already anticipated” (Romier, 1955: 273). Because France could not pay the debt, the nation underwent a financial crisis.

  To solve the nation financial crisis, the Regent approved John Law method to establish new banking system. His theory was to rearrange the method of banking. Then, he built The Company of the Indies. He made the Capital of the company in to stocks and sold them to public. These stocks dragged people to buy it since the interest was high. The profit that the bank and the company received was used to pay the nation debt (Romier, 1955: 274).

  Initially, only the Parisians that were interested to buy the stock. However, the news of huge fortune gained by them attracted people outside Paris. Interested with the high profit, the company attracted not only Frenchmen but also people in Europe. They began buying the stock. The value of the shares of 500 livres rose to 20,000 and far beyond (Grant, 1900: 159).

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  Meanwhile, Louis was raised with every precaution which made him unfit for rule. “Spoiled by adoration, selfish in power, lazy and willful, Louis developed into a bored and taciturn youth, forgivably shunning the surveillance of his guardians— and later the ceremonies and servility of the court— to seek an outlet in wood carving, needlework, milking cows, playing with dogs” (Durant and Durant, 1965: 273).

  After the Regent died and Louis had not yet reached majority, Duke of Bourbon was appointed as the Prime Minister. Since the Duke had no interest in any state matter he made all the policies and laws that were made by Louis XIV were repeated under his authority. Duke of Bourbon also planned the royal marriage. Since he was afraid the House of Orleans would take over the throne if the King died childless, he chose the Maria Leszczy

  ńska, the daughter of the dethroned Poland king, instead of the King’s fiancé, the three years old Spanish princess. He wished that the Queen would remember his action (Grant, 1900: 168).

  Duke of Bourbon added more trouble to the nation crisis since he made the nation paid his enormous expenditure. To overcome the crisis, the Duke in June 1725 was determined to enforce a tax of two per cent to all of Frenchmen regardless their status. This policy was refused by the nobility and the clergy because it violated their right. Back in 1710 the same tax was applied for war fund. However, since France was not at war it could not be carry out. The protests made the Prime Minister abolished the tax and changed it to voluntary contribution (Grant, 1900: 167).

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  A confrontation of Duke of Bourbon and the King’s tutor, Fleury, made him lose his position as the prime minister. Fleury then acted as the prime minster of Louis XV in 1726. His main contribution toward the monarchy was the success to overcome the financial crisis. Under his administration the France gained more income from its commerce. He also made taxation smaller which made him received support from Frenchmen. He also contributed to the raise of middle class in France (Grant, 1900: 169).

  These bourgeois then filled the position in the ministry except the superior position which only could be filled by nobility. The bourgeois run the ministry because they had the knowledge in economy because of their experience. They made the French administration as the best throughout the European countries (Durant and Durant, 1965: 266).

  In his book, The History of the Eighteen Century and the Nineteen, Schlosser said that the parliament was needed to communicate the royal edicts to the nation and supervised the execution of the laws. However, during the reading of the edicts, some parliament members would act that they were rejected the edict. It was a pretention because the parliament knew that its right was never accepted by the monarchy. If there was any objection occurred, the person who done it would receive lettre de chacet and went straight to prison (1845: 123).

  Louis XV decided not to have a Prime minister after Fleury died. At first, Louis took every decision toward the nation subject. But later on, he became bored and took no notice about the state. “He at time labored dutifully in council with his ministers; he more often delegated his authority and task to them”

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  (Durant and Durant, 1965: 275). “When the king would give no orders, each minister was left to administer his department in accordance with his own notions” (Perkins, 1897: 238).

  The King’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, took the role of prime minister unofficially when the king ignored his role as a king since she became the King’s favorite. Pompadour made herself as the genius of entertainment to make the king happy. That made her as the main channel to the king. Any appointments with the King, pensions, pardons, and other blessings from the King should have her approval (Durant and Durant, 1965: 282).

  Louis’ court criticized her for distracting the king from his duty and making heavy burden on the nation revenues. Since Louis took no notice about everything, he approved everything that she said. The minister of the offices was replaced frequently.

  In 1749, Maurepas was removed from the ministry of the marine, which he had filled for thirty years, because he wrote some offensive verses about the favorite. Bemis was made minister of foreign affairs in 1757 because he enjoyed the confidence of Mme. de Pompadour; he was removed a year later for advising a policy of which she disapproved. The Count of Argenson, who had been minister of war for fourteen years, and was one of the ablest of the king's advisers, was disgraced at the beginning of the Seven Years' war because he persistently refused the favorite's overtures (Perkins, 1897: 464).

  At first the nation finance was stable since there was income from the agriculture sector and taxes. However, the economy was falling due to the huge expenditure to support the extravagant life of the royalty, bad government and the downfall in the battlefield. “The table of Louis XV and of his children cost almost four million livres yearly” (Perkins, 1897:15). In addition, the King also spent

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  enormous sums of money to entertain his court. The nobles would borrow money from the King in a large number to afford their fashion. France had innumerable of office that required massive amount of money to pay their salary. The amount to pay the pensions was also large. The massive amount of offices was unsupervised therefore the expenditures were not verified and often being swollen by fraud and shiftlessness (Perkins, 1897: 14-15). In addition, Madam Pompadour took a lot of money from the treasury.

  She adorned her figure with the most costly costumes and gems. Her boudoir sparkled with toiletware of crystal, silver, and gold. Her rooms were embellished with lacquered or satinwood or buhlwork furniture, and the choicest potteries of Dresden, Sevres, China, and Japan; they were lighted with stately chandeliers of silver and glass, which were reflected in great mirrors on the walls; the ceilings were painted by Boucher and Vanloo with voluptuous goddesses of love. Feeling imprisoned even amid this luxury, she drew immense sums from the King or the treasury to build or furnish palaces, whose lavish equipment and extensive gardens she excused as required for entertaining majesty  

  ( Durant and Durant, 1965: 281).

  When the ministry was unable to solve the problem, the only way was to forced taxation.

  Taxes were both direct and indirect, levied upon every article of consumption, upon everything that was imported or exported, upon income, upon capital, upon the transmission of property, upon even the few privileges which were enjoyed (Lord, 1906: 20).

  Even though everything was taxed, the sum received from it was not enough to overcome the crisis. Since there was no controller, the tax collector used the tax money for themselves.

  The law at that time was confusing. Each region had different law. In addition, new laws were made by the King under the ministers’ influence. New laws were made without proper examination which made the laws became