How are the causes of the french revolution portrayed through the visual arts - Essay Example

Popular violence defined the French Revolution whose slogan was Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Violent turmoil, which included the trial and execution of the king, warfare involving every major European power, vast bloodshed and repression during the Reign of Terror marked these changes. Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of the monarchy, and two additional revolutions are the subsequent events that one can trace to the Revolution as modern France took shape. Many causes brought about the French Revolution one major cause being the disputes between the different types of social classes in French society.

The social structure of France was divided among three groups that included the First Estate, the Second Estate and the Third Estate. Each of these social groups had different types of people who presented the different views of the people within their structure. The Church or the Clergy was the First Estate, which during the ancient regime was equal in terms of its economic, social and spiritual power. Being the first estate, the church owned approximately 10 per cent of all the land in France.

It paid no taxes but collected a tax on income or a tithe to support church activities such as running schools and caring for the poor. Of the entire clergy in France, about one-third of them served as parish priests who usually lived a hardworking life. They lived in luxury in Versailles, Paris and other major cities in France. Having approximately 1 to 2 per cent of the population, this Estate was the minority of the people in France. However, there were many poor clergymen in this Estate, and they too were going to support the Revolution.

The Second Estate in French life was the nobility who made up less than 2 percent of the population and enjoyed extensive rights and privileges. Like the First Estate, they hardly paid any taxes but they taxed the peasantry. Nobles were generally the