The Bourgeoisie: A Master Pre-Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was the beginning of a new world for all of society. The Industrial Revolution first took place in England and then spread rapidly having a tremendous impact culturally and socially, the impacts were influenced by the use of machines, new sources of power, and new organizational methods to mass produce goods. Before the Revolution, most people used hand tools and relied upon human and animal muscle for power. Pre- industrial artisans workshops were not always separated from their home which meant their was not always separation between home and work. The working chain to become a master pre- industrial was a long and hard process, first you were an apprentice, which meant you worked for free and gained experience,

The lives of the Bourgeoisie were very different from those who worked in the mines. The Bourgeoisie were pertained to have a blind eye towards what the mine workers had to live and go through everyday. The Bourgeoisie were all about their family, seperate rooms, education, and doing everything for their children. The Bourgeoisie placed a great emphasis on getting ahead through intelligence, talent, and hard work. They lived by the saying “pluck and luck ,” which means luck comes from hard work. They tended to glorify their marriage, home, servants, and family to prove to everyone that they had a wonderful life and that they had the perfect family. The families tended to be small with no more than two children to a household because they could not bare to have so many children and not be able to give them their full attention, also it was believed to be that if you had a lot of children you were poor. The Bourgeoisie had plenty of money and did not feel insecure about money or their jobs. The mine worker families were the complete opposite even though they

Zola showed how in the second half of the 1800’s women were viewed less than men and view more as an animal rather than a human. Zola portrays this by showing how all ages of women in the working families were very sexually active. Some of the women had turn to position to make a living for them and their family. The women would work all day if they did not have a newborn baby, then come home and tend to their family. If the women did have a new born baby she would not leave the house and work all day long around the house. The men were not shamed upon for being sexually active at any age and they tended to go to the bar after a long days of work.

Zola’s novel overall capitalized on the Industrial Revolution and class and gender relations. The society has changed dramatically since the 1800’s with new inventions to better off the society. The Industrial Revolution was a tough time for the working class but the novel showed that sometimes someone must sacrifice a lot to gain a little but in the end it will be more beneficial. Germinal was a overall great story that can really teach society about how gender relations and how different the Bourgeoisie and the mine workers life were even though the mine workers worked hard while the Bourgeoisies did