As I first approached the palace of Versailles, I was instantly overwhelmed by its sheer level of majesty. Golden scaffolding was embedded on its roof, mansions upon mansions connected to each other, and a garden that stretched farther than my eyes could make out. The paper map just left me disoriented, its countless interconnected rooms, passages, and floors feeling more like a labyrinth than the floor plans of a home. Inside this golden palace, the sheer degree of wealth only grew. Every door was covered in gold, every wall covered in marble or velvet, every ceiling a detailed painting of gods in the sky. Every room started to look the same as I weaved through this golden palace, and I ended up becoming genuinely lost. Versailles gold and splendor is so very extreme, it quickly became both visually and morally nauseating.
When paying attention to the design and decoration of Versailles, the reasons and rationale behind why it is so lavish becomes startlingly clear. Simply put, the walls of Versailles seem to scream ‘let’s buy all the most expensive stuff and smash it together, even if it clashes or is visually overwhelming’. Versailles is patterns on patterns, it's overly detailed to the point where artistry can no longer be appreciated, it's overly decadent to the point of becoming tacky. From my artistic perspective Versailles is tasteless, but morally the palace is atrocious.
Before bookpacking, my thoughts regarding Versailles would have been surface-level-both literally and metaphorically-a dislike of the stylistic and artistic choices made. But reading Les Miserables and A Tale of Two Cities changes my perspective completely, contextualizing both the lives of the aristocrat inside the palace and the suffering masses who starve outside its golden gates. Knowing what’s inside this golden palace makes me want to grab the shoulders of that “king with a large jaw”(Dickens pg. 11) and shake him. Dude, did your roof really need golden scaffolding? Did you really need to have a mind boggling and insanely expensive bedroom you only slept in three times? I mean, what in the world was the aristocracy thinking? Even when Louie tried to be a ‘man of the people’ to an attempt to sooth the rage of suffering French people, did he stop hunting, redistribute wealth in the slightest, or make literally any changes to his disgustingly lavish lifestyle? Nope!
The sheer amount of pointless expenditures of gold and finery is frankly disgusting. In every golden doorknob, every crystal lamp, I see the suffering of the French people and what could have been. If Fontaine had just one of those golden bars of the gate, she could have kept Cosette, wouldn’t have had to sell every part of her body and soul to survive, could have stayed alive. If Gavroche and the other street children had just one crystal from the countless chandeliers, they could have the security, stability, and safety all children fundamentally deserve. Heck, if Jean Valjean had just one of those golden doorknobs, was able to feed his seven nieces and nephews, and therefore was not incarcerated for 19 years, the events of Les Miserables wouldn’t have happened. Yes, these are all fictional characters, but the men, women, and children they represent were all very real. And if those starving masses depicted in A Tale of Two Cities had even a microscopic speck of the aristocracy's wealth, they wouldn’t have had to starve, suffer, and die. If this level of injustice and inequity never happened would the French Revolution have taken place at all? I truly don’t know. But in every bejeweled curtain cuff, in every velvet wall, in every gilded window frame-all I can think of is the starving children, and it makes me sick to my stomach.
The audacity to hoard this degree of wealth while the masses suffer in squall was not unique to the aristocracy, however, as the church was undeniably doing the same. When I first came to Europe, I was in awe of the sheer majesty of the first church we visited. Towering ceilings, engraved support beams, immaculate stained glass, there was so much detail and beauty packed into every corner. All I could do was be amazed in humanity's ability to construct this magnificent structure in an age before modern technological advances. But then we went to another glorious church, and another, and another. Glorious, rich, decadent churches just a ten minutes walking distance from each other. In Paris alone, there are fifty nine churches classified as historical monuments and are of this luxurious nature, meaning that for every half a square mile there is this behemoth of wealth. Religion preaches kindness, to help others, to alleviate suffering. How many people could have been given food, given shelter, given safety, if the wealth spent on the construction of just one of these churches was re-allocated? When visiting one of these churches, Professor Andrew shared a quote from Arther Young’s thoughts upon seeing one of these grand churches, and his thought perfectly encapsulates my own feelings.
““I lose my Patience at the abuse of such wealth! Just a quarter of this income would establish a noble farm!-what turnips, what cabbages!-and are these things not better than a fat priest?”
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Sure, have ONE big glorious church that everyone can visit and admire. But fifty-nine? Are you kidding me? And that's not even mentioning the fact that leaders in the church would have palaces and mansions of their own, in addition to numerous other expensive expenditures. Hoarding this degree of wealth while people around you starve and die is horrid, but was evidently common practice amongst the uber wealthy of historical France.
Experiencing Paris through the perspectives of a Tale of Two Cities and Les Miserables has fundamentally changed how I would have otherwise thought about these historical monuments. Where I would have been in awe of the artistry, I’m now awed by the sheer audacity of these rich people of history. But the uncomfortable truth is that even today, the super wealthy continue to pull the same stunts. Jeff Bezos rents out Venice for his fifty-million dollar wedding, the rich fly to space in rocket ships, billionaires hoard more wealth than they could spend in their lifetime-all while their employees suffer unethical working conditions and the average person lives paycheck to paycheck. The parallels between the rich of the past and present are startling. It is crystal clear that there is an urgent need for change in modern society.
