My question:  Where can I find reliable information about the
different social classes that existed in France in the 1800's.  I am
aware of three classes(peasantry, bourgeoisie, and aristocracy) but if
there were more I need to know them and describe them.  I need to be
able to write about the clothes they wore, the food they ate, their
pasttimes, the jobs they worked and anything else that clearly set the
social classes apart form one another.  I need to be able to paint a
portrait of each class.  I have had trouble finding research materials
from which to draw my information.  I would appreciate any information
found but would be utterly thrilled if you could find information from
journals, articles, and other published works that exist outside of
the net.  Thanks.

---

Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 03 Nov 2002 16:35 PST

Dear dropbox153,

Since French society saw tremendous changes during the 19th century,
it would be very helpful if you could specify to what era your
question refers:

- The early Napoleonic years when Napoleon Bonaparte ruled as First
Consul a country where still some remains of the revolution years and
republican elements could be found in society?

- The time of the Grand Empire, with Napoleon as emperor and a new
class of Napoleonic aristrocacy?

- Post-Napoleonic France, badly battered and under a reconstructed
conservative Bourbon monarchy, with strong tendencies to re-establish
the status of pre-revolutionary days?

- The liberal monarchy under the House of Orléans between 1830 and
1848, when the middle class and industrial entrepreneurs became more
and more important and a working class developed in so-far mostly
rural France?

- The years of the 1848 republic?

- The reign of Napoleon III 1852-1870?

- The French republic constituted after the lost war against Germany
1870/71?

Regards,
Scriptor

---

Clarification of Question by dropbox153-ga on 03 Nov 2002 20:34 PST

Thanks for your timely response.  Sorry for the lack of specifics. 
The time period that I'm looking to write about is post 1830 pre 1848.
 I'm trying to tie it all in to the writings of Balzac (Peau de
Chagrin) and Stendhal (le Rouge et le Noir).  I also forgot to mention
that if you have or find any sites in French that would be thrilling
but I don't have a real preference.  Thanks again.

Hello dropbox~

Indeed, you've named the three recognized classes (peasantry,
bourgeoisie, and aristocracy) in French history.

Your question has sat unanswered for a bit because so little
information on this subject is available online. However, I have
several excellent sources for you.

A superb resource is the book Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and
daily life, edited by Timothy L. Gall. Here is a link to this book set
on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0787605522/qid=1037393609/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-2217778-4976942?v=glance&s=books

As you can see, it's not inexpensive, but many libraries carry this
excellent series. The series covers everything you asked for in your
question: information on social classes of various parts of the world
(including France), information on what people ate, what they wore,
their pastimes, their work, their home-life, and so much more.

For a brief but interesting dialogue about the peasantry online, I
found the following:
http://www.marxmail.org/archives/May99/peasants.htm

Much of the information you'll find on this class during and just
before the Revolution will be the same during the early 19th century.
The peasants still didn't own much land, still were hungry, still were
struggling.

For an article on the bourgeoisie, visit:
http://www.geocities.com/~johngray/wcon301.htm

For a good book on the fashions of the French middle class, read
Fashioning the Bourgeoisie by Philippe Perrot & translator Richard
Bienvenu. Follow this link to see the book's listing at Barnes and
Noble:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/textbooks/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?userid=6U79PORKQZ&sourceid=0000471405&isbn=0691000816

This book should be available from any book store. A good reference on
French fashion during this time period is French Fashion Plates of the
Romantic Era. It is pictures only, but show what the French brought to
their dressmakers to copy. Amazon's listing follows:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486267342/qid%3D1037394435/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-2217778-4976942

Another article that may be of interest is this Google cached piece on
post-Napoleanoic society:
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:7dtXL6uRfrEC:www.sael.org.za/hrev0002.htm+French+aristocracy+post+Revolution&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Here is an article about literature and society that may also prove
helpful:
http://www.cyberessays.com/English/92.htm

A neat article on French feminism in the 19th century:
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/moses1.html

An article about ideals after the Revolution:
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture19a.html

This site offers a wealth of information about society in the 19th
century--most of it is about the U.K., but there's some info on
France, too:
http://65.107.211.206/history/sochistov.html

I also thought you might find this article on Balzac and French
history interesting (it also mentions Stendhal):
http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/chemin/balhist.htm


Keywords Used
French "19th century" society
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=French+%2219th+century%22+society&btnG=Google+Search

France "19th century" society
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=France+%2219th+century%22+society&btnG=Google+Search

French "social class"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=French+%22social+class%22&btnG=Google+Search

French peasantry 19th century
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=French+peasantry+19th+century&btnG=Google+Search

French bourgeoisie 19th century
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=French+bourgeoisie+19th+century&btnG=Google+Search

French aristocracy post Revolution
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=French+aristocracy+post+Revolution&btnG=Google+Search

Good luck!
kriswrite