Travel Essays · Chapter
On the Plain explained
The chapter describes the vast, solemn plains of the Gâtinais bordering Fontainebleau, focusing on the historical plight of the peasantry under feudal lords and royal forest laws.
What happens
The chapter describes the vast, solemn plains of the Gâtinais bordering Fontainebleau, focusing on the historical plight of the peasantry under feudal lords and royal forest laws. It contrasts the old château's decay with the enduring hardship of the peasants, who now enjoy some prosperity but still bear the memory of centuries of oppression. The forest, though a refuge in times of war, remains a symbol of royal power and historical events, from medieval hunts to Napoleon's farewell.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Inequality
The chapter vividly contrasts the historical oppression of peasants under feudal lords and royal forest laws with their eventual, though still modest, prosperity, highlighting deep class divisions.
Nature and the Sublime
The vast, solemn plain and the forest are depicted as both beautiful and oppressive, serving as a backdrop to human history and struggle.
Mortality and the Passage of Time
The decay of the château, the cyclical seasons, and the historical events that have passed reflect the transient nature of power and human life.
Characters to notice
- Jacques
Symbolic peasant figure representing the historical serf, enduring oppression and hardship under feudal and royal rule.
Key passages
“These peasant farmers are well off nowadays, and not by any means overworked; but somehow you always see in them the historical representative of the serf of yore, and think not so much of present times, which may be prosperous enough, as of the old days when the peasant was taxed beyond possibility of payment, and lived, in Michelet’s image, like a hare between two furrows.”
Though modern peasants are relatively comfortable, they still evoke the image of ancient serfs who were crushed by taxes and barely survived, like a hare hiding between plowed rows.
Highlights the enduring historical memory of peasant suffering despite improved conditions.
“If the château was my lord’s, the forest was my lord the king’s; neither of them for this poor Jacques.”
The château belonged to the lord and the forest to the king—neither was accessible to the common peasant.
Emphasizes the complete exclusion of peasants from land ownership and resources.
“Here, booted and spurred, and with all his dogs about him, Napoleon met the Pope beside a woodland cross. Here, on his way to Elba not so long after, he kissed the eagle of the Old Guard, and spoke words of passionate farewell to his soldiers.”
In this forest, Napoleon, fully equipped for hunting, encountered the Pope near a cross; later, en route to exile on Elba, he emotionally bid farewell to his loyal troops and kissed the regimental eagle.
Connects the forest to pivotal moments in French history, including Napoleon's rise and fall.