question_answer 1)

Look at Figures 1-4. Write 150 words on what the differences in the pictures tell us about the society and culture in France at the time of the Revolution. Fig. 1 An aristocratic couple on the eve of the French Revolution. Fig. 2 Woman of the middle class, 1791. Fig. 3 Volunteers during the Frech Revolution. Fig. 4 A sans-culottes Family, 1793.  

Answer:

The differences tell us about the social and cultural differences among the various sections of French society at that time. The members of the Jacobin clubs wore long trousers and even called themselves the 'sans culottes' (meaning "without knee breeches") to distinguish themselves from the aristocracy who wore the fashionable knee breeches.   The pictures also tell us that the women of the middle classes could be distinguished from the women of aristocratic families, as the latter wore a corset under their dress to look narrow-waisted, which was considered the accepted norm for women.   In the men also there are many differences in the headgear, with the aristocrats wearing elaborate wigs, whereas the middle class men wore the red cap of liberty and the revolutionary cockade pinned on to a hat. The simplicity of clothing in the middle classes was meant to express the idea of equality.