Question

"There was a time we killed the King;
We tried to change the world too fast.
Now we have got another King;
He is no better than the last.
This is the land that fought for liberty –
Now when we fight we fight for bread!
Here is the thing about equality –
Everyone’s equal when they’re dead.
Take your place!
Take your chance!
Vive la France! Vive la France!"

This poem was written by Victor Hugo in his book, Les Miserables. What can we infer from the poem?

• A. The poem symbolises the defeat of King Louis XVI in the French Revolution.
• B. The poem symbolises the sorrows of the clergy and the nobility.
• C. The poem talks about the arrival of yet another tyrant king after the French Revolution.
• D. The poem symbolises the struggles within the First Estate to establish more representation for women.

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (C)

The correct options are
A The poem symbolises the defeat of King Louis XVI in the French Revolution.
C The poem talks about the arrival of yet another tyrant king after the French Revolution.

The French King Louis XVI was guillotined in the French Revolution. After a few years of the French Revolution, Napoleon crowned himself as the king with immense powers and made radical and permanent changes in France. After the fall of Napoleonic rule, constitutional monarchy was replaced. The constitutional monarchy again raised the inequalities in France.