On the eve of the revolution, the French society was ridden with several inequalities. The clergy and the nobles led a life of luxury and enjoyed numerous privileges. On the other hand, the peasants and workers lived a wretched life. They groaned under heavy taxes and forced labour. The middle-class comprising of lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc also suffered humiliation at the hands of the clergy and the nobles. This state of social inequality was the chief cause of the French Revolution.