Social Class In Flaubert's Notes From The Underground

During the late 1800’s -which A Simple Heart takes place - French population mainly consisted of bourgeoisie fraction. The separation between social classes heavily controlled most of the power in the population. Notes from the Underground, which takes place around the mid 1800’s in Russia, the European Enlightenment began rolling in. Within this time many ideas of egoism were born and so, the author analyzes life in depth. Throughout the story, the author explores the embodiment of the social class through the reflections of his main character. The protagonist in Notes from the Underground metaphorically explores how the lower class was looked upon within that time. Even the title itself is another representation of the symbolism of being …show more content…
At the age of eighteen Felicity finds a young man named Theodore. Unfortunately, although he promises her marriage, he runs off and marries “a very rich old woman, Madame Lehoussais, of Toucques.” (Flaubert, pg 2) Once again, the differences in fate and social class make themselves apparent in this scene. Felicity seems to be the representation of a lower social class. Such a statement can be made apparent by her lovers need to marry a rich woman. A deeper analysis shows the affect that social class has on Theodore himself. The reason that he goes off with an old rich woman is in fact because he is terrified of serving for his country, and since his parents were only able to buy his conscription for one year, the only way to escape serving is to marry a rich woman. In such a short segment the perks of higher class positions in society are made obvious. Even through Felicity’s mistreatment as a child, and through Theodore’s unfortunate decision the story inscribes that those in lower class society do not run their own lives. It feels that throughout the entire story, Felicity is living the lives of those around her, those with more money, power and higher