Describing the harsh conditions of the French peasantry from "summary" of A Tale of Two Cities - by Charles Dickens by Charles Dickens
In that unfortunate country there was scant little light to distribute among the people who sat in darkness. A desolate country indeed, where the sun never shone, yet the sky was not often clouded. A country without mirth, without kindness, without charity; a country whose people were stern, severe, unforgiving, and suspicious. The roads were almost impassable; the fields neglected, the crops no longer flourishing. The poor peasants toiled day and night, yet barely managed to feed themselves and their families. The children were half-starved, the women weary and careworn, the men sullen and hopeless. The taxes were heavy, the laws oppressive, the nobility cruel and indifferent. The peasants had no rights, no voice, no hope of ever improving their lot in life. They were at the mercy of their feudal lords, who cared not for their suffering, who saw them only as a means to increase their own wealth and power. The peasants lived in constant fear of eviction, of starvation, of violence at the hands of those who had the power to crush them without consequence. The prisons were full, the gallows busy. Justice was a rare commodity, reserved only for the privileged few. The poor were judged harshly, punished severely, and forgotten quickly. Their lives were of little value, their deaths unnoticed. They were born into poverty, lived in misery, and died in obscurity. Yet, despite their hardships, the peasants endured. They clung to their faith, their families, their sense of dignity and pride. They found solace in each other, strength in their solidarity. They knew that their lives were hard, their future bleak, but they refused to be broken. They bore their burdens with stoicism, their suffering with grace. They were the forgotten, the oppressed, the voiceless – but they were also the resilient, the brave, the enduring.
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