Daily Life During the French Revolution (17 page)

THE CONSULATE AND THE EMPIRE

At the turn of the nineteenth century, some men still wore
breeches, but full-length trousers were becoming common. These were
tight-fitting, and the most popular material for old and young for both formal
and informal wear was buff or yellow nankeen cotton. During the Empire,
trousers and gaiters appeared, combined as one garment. Suits were of dark
blue, green, or brown cloth, while vests were usually made of cotton (percale)
with a border of contrasting color and a row of buttons down the front. The starched
points of the shirt collar showed above the (often two) cravats that together
gave a thick look around the neck, a leftover from the style of the
muscadins
of the previous period.

For ceremonial or formal occasions, a colored velvet coat
was worn with black satin breeches, an embroidered silk vest, a shirt with
wrist ruffles, and a cravat. This ensemble was accompanied by a powdered wig,
bicorne hat, and sword.

In winter, men generally used a double-breasted greatcoat
of the fitted
redingote
style or a single-breasted coat with two or more
capes. Hats had tall crowns and narrow brims and were made of felt or beaver.
In summer, they were of straw. Boots of soft black leather, often imported from
England, were worn with white stockings, and short gaiters came in about 1804.
As trousers were used more and more, so was the short sock. Military boots,
such as the Wellington, which came over the knee in front but below it in the
back, caught on with the general public. Ironically, Napoleon was fond of
wearing these. The Brutus haircut was popular, while powder and wigs for men
disappeared altogether.

Women continued to wear the semitransparent chemise gown,
sometimes of thin taffeta, over a slip and belted under the breasts. A variant
was a tunic of colored silk or velvet over a white sheath gown. Embroidery in
classical designs was favored, and muslin dresses were sometimes ornamented
with gold and silver thread or spangles of copper or steel. Sleeves were long
and divided into puffs by bands of ribbon. Petticoats were edged with lace
frills to show beneath the hem of the sheer dresses, and sometimes
flesh-colored ruffled bloomers were worn.

Originating in England, the spencer (or bolero), a very
short jacket with tight sleeves and open in the front, had a standup collar and
came usually in dark-colored velvet to contrast with the gown. It often had a
border of fur or swansdown. A variation was the
canezou
or hussar vest,
which was pulled on over the head, fitting tightly on the lower edge. In
winter, fur coats of martin or sable were the rage.

The court dress of this period, established by the empress,
Josephine, consisted of two ensembles: the little gown of embroidered blue
satin with short puffed sleeves and a train that fell from the belt and the
highly decorated grand costume, which comprised a gown of brocaded silver with
long, tight sleeves and a train falling from the left shoulder. Both had
necklines that were square in front and embroidered with pearls and spangles.

When Napoleon returned from his various campaigns, styles
were influenced by where he had been fighting: Italian, Spanish, Turkish, and
English fashions followed one another in succession. Cashmere shawls with
embroidered borders continued in use. Others of silk, wool, chiffon, lace, or
cotton became fashionable after the return of Napoleon’s army from Egypt, where
they were made on handlooms. It was said that Josephine had 300 to 400 shawls,
each costing 15,000 to 20,000 francs.

A popular coiffure of the times called for the hair to be
drawn tightly to the back; this style was called
à la chinoise.
An
increase in the popularity of luxurious turbans was a result of Napoleon’s
campaign in Egypt. Lace now returned to favor and was used in veils that hung
from the front edge of bonnets and as edges for caps, aprons, and gowns. Fur
bonnets were worn with fur coats.

Women carried handkerchiefs in the hand and hid coin purses
in the bosom. Small painted or jeweled fans made of fine silk came back into
style, and women used embellishments such as jeweled hairpins, hatpins,
lockets, watches, and cameos. Artificial flowers were worn in the hair, on
bonnets, and as corsages. Flat shoes made of fabric or kid were laced and tied
around the ankle.

The use of powder and rouge all but disappeared under
Napoleon, whose campaign of cleanliness discouraged it, and a pallid complexion
became more popular. By 1800, soap was in general use in Paris, and men and
women of the upper classes, now more conscious of personal hygiene, began their
day with a bath. The emperor also changed his underclothes every day, and
Josephine changed hers three times daily. A gift of the empress to a niece
contained underclothes to the value of 25,000 francs.

Napoleon was devoted to pomp and pageantry as much as any
king had ever been, and during his reign dress assumed a brilliance that had
been abandoned only a few years before. Embroidery, lace, velvet, and silk came
back into style, and their manufacturers, ruined during the Terror, made a
vigorous recovery.

6 - ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

OLD REGIME

Not
long before the revolution, popular theater had evolved from fairground
spectacles to become a staple of city life. Boulevard audiences comprised a
mixture of all classes and prices, for seats were regulated according to their
location in the theater. The poor sat in the peanut gallery up high and in the
far back, while the well-to-do had the option of the best seats or private
loges.

Of the many theaters in operation at that time, the
Comédie
Française,
the
Comédie-Italienne
, and the
Opéra
produced
works written by some of Europe’s finest writers. As major national theaters,
they enjoyed a near-monopoly on the best dramatic material. They competed only
with smaller establishments and had enough clout to have these competitors
closed down by the police if they attracted large audiences. In addition, a
complex set of rules restricted the activities of smaller theaters. For
example, in some theaters, the characters could be wounded and faint or bleed,
but they were not permitted to die on stage; in others, only acrobats or
pantomime could be staged; in one theater, the number of acts put on was
restricted, and in another, a gauze curtain was hung between the audience and
the actors to reduce the effect of the production.

The spectacle on the stage reinforced the status quo of
daily life. Censorship was heavy on playwrights, who had to submit their
manuscripts for approval, and the police were quick to suppress political
material that did not reflect well on the royal government or the church. Nevertheless,
theater in France had a fine reputation.

Beaumarchais was one of the first playwrights to ridicule
the nobility and undermine the social system with his
Marriage of Figaro
,
which was replete with references to contemporary issues such as the powers of
the police, freedom of speech, and the privileges of the aristocracy. Written
in a lighthearted manner in which the servants mocked their aristocratic
master, the work itself was revolutionary in its theme, which treated the
overthrow of the
droit de seigneur
(right of the lord to sleep first
with a girl servant in his fief before turning her over to her new husband).

When Louis XVI heard the text of this play, he labeled it
detestable, saying that it should not even be permitted to be performed in
private. Indeed, that is how it was first presented—in private. The queen and
some of the courtiers were in favor of it, and when the king eventually allowed
its performance, it was staged at court. Seven months later, on April 27, 1784,
it was publicly performed in Paris.

REVOLUTIONARY THEATER

Revolutionary Paris, as well as other large provincial
towns against monopolies of any kind, forced the major theaters to be more
egalitarian and to present a variety of works, plays, operas, and farces to
appeal to the general public. More boulevard theaters sprang up, giving
performances aimed at the tastes of average, working people.

As the revolution moved on, so did the theater. On January
13, 1791, the National Assembly abolished the restrictions that had previously
limited the productions put on by smaller houses. At the same time, the office
of censor was also done away with, and many of the new plays had themes of
anticlericalism and anti-monasticism. In one of the most successful, the
villain, a licentious priest, is attracted to a young girl, whom he imprisons
in his order. He tells her wealthy young man that she is dead and convinces him
to enter the monastic life himself and leave all his possessions to the
monastery. The two captives are placed in adjacent dungeons, but, to the
delight of the audience, they are rescued by members of the National Guard, who
have come to destroy the building.

The productions put on between 1790 and 1795 were often
banal, even idiotic. Passionate in its desire for spectacle and drama, the
general public applauded everything equally. Identifying with the characters,
the audiences would sometimes ask the actors to repeat their lines or omit
references considered unfavorable to the revolution. If the audiences became
angry, they sometimes rushed up onto the stage, and occasionally plays did not
survive to the final act. Great works of the past era, such as those written by
Molière, Voltaire, Racine, and Corneille were so mutilated that they were
almost unrecognizable.

Sometimes there were as many as 4,000 persons in a theater
singing loudly and dancing to the patriotic music. With the tradition of
classical theater at a low ebb, subject matter became debased and vulgar.
Performances took place not only in theaters but also in private houses,
warehouses, markets, at fairs, and on the boulevards. Most of the new shows put
on in Paris carried a political message.

One of the most successful plays was
Le Dernier Jugement
des rois
, which features the kings of England and Prussia, Catherine the
Great, of Russia, and the pope, all of whom are confined to a volcanic island.
After a few scenes depicting the wickedness of such rulers, the madness of
George III, and the nymphomaniac character of Catherine (who attempts to seduce
the Pope), they are all finally engulfed by a volcanic eruption. The
sans-culottes were ecstatic!

Under the Terror, artists of all genres suffered from
political persecution and from the stifling atmosphere of fear and anxiety
created by the reintroduction of censorship. Through art the government
attempted to indoctrinate society to accept the new political culture. Art,
architecture, painting, music, plays, and festivals were all used to pass the
message. The Jacobins were concerned about projecting a good image: virtue was
in, and vice, considered now to be an aristocratic disease, was out.

While refined audiences lauded the plays of the past, the
majority patronized the small boulevard theaters and the fairs. Even in the
presence of scaffolds, the theaters were filled, commented Madame de Staël. In
Paris, small theaters catered to popular taste. The
Gaité
, the largest,
was known for its mix of acrobats, buffoons, and stories of unhappy lovers. It
was packed every night.

Pantomimes were popular.
Harlequin
, for example, was
continually played, since it was first written for the
Gaité
and
generated great enthusiasm, especially when Pantalon, the old man, eager to
marry off his daughter even to an unsuitable man, sets off an intrigue with all
the elements of greed, lust, and unrequited love. The audience would wait
impatiently for Harlequin’s appearance, as he is the one loved by Columbine. He
enters dressed in an animal skin so that he can court her in the kitchen
undetected. Pantalon mistakes him for a real dog and tries to play with him.
The dog spits in the old man’s face and snatches his purse; in some versions,
he sniffs Pantalon’s clothes and lifts his leg, sending the crowd into peels of
laughter.

In 1793, there were about 250 new productions in Paris
alone. Most dealt with such subjects as the virtues of the republican wife and
honorable workers, the treachery of a priest or an aristocrat, or the lofty
civic qualities of a son who would rather see his monarchist parents in prison
than have the republic threatened. The highly rated cast of the
Comédie
Française
was divided in its individual political convictions, and some
members spent time in prison because of their antirevolutionary beliefs. Others,
such as the great new actor Talma and a new group of entertainers, supported
the Jacobins.

The revolutionary theaters had something for everyone: the
Saint-Antoine
had an orchestra of 22 musicians and seated 390 people; it also had three
levels of loges. Prices there ranged from 24 sous for seats on the ground floor
to much more for a box in the dress circle. Madame Montansier’s establishment
at the Palais Royal offered gentlemen not only the latest in plays but also a
choice of attractive young ladies to take home afterwards.

The melodramas of Guilbert de Pixérécourt represented the
stage in its transition between classical and romantic. His plays were very
popular with the general public, who liked his usual theme that evil must be
punished and virtue rewarded. Born into an aristocratic family, in 1773, he was
forced to hide out during the Terror. His
Les Petits Auvergnats
appeared
in 1797 and dealt with the standard comic character of eighteenth-century
literature—the country bumpkin in the big city. But it was his colorful and
exciting melodramas that thrilled the crowds; these were sometimes set in
exotic places and often included a virtuous damsel in distress, a blaggard, and
a hero who resolves a dangerous situation.