Brooke Parziale

Abstract

Last summer I was fortunate enough to go to Paris, France on a study abroad program with the university and have Dr. Carole Salmon and Dr. Jennifer Cadero-Gillette lead us through the beautiful city that is modern day Paris. While in Paris I was amazed at the Haussmannian style buildings along with the grand boulevards. During our stay we saw medieval streets and compared how life was before and after Haussmann’s renovations. After the trip I was finding myself thinking a lot about the Haussmannian transformation of the city. I was unable to stop thinking about how much the city changed and how many of the things that we idolize today as quintessential Paris, are very new in terms of the history of the city. I decided to do a directed study with Dr. Salmon to investigate further and to examine the impact both Napoleon III and Haussmann had on Paris.

This essay examines the many ways that the city of Paris transformed under the direction of Napoleon III and Georges-Eugene Haussmann during the mid-19th century. It focuses specifically on how Parisians viewed the development and modernization of the city from a literary context. Different sentiments and perspectives can be learned by examining what writers of the time said about the many developments of the city. Highlighted within this essay is how different the past is when we take a deeper look; often the past can become glorified when you only choose to examine the good that comes from it. The bad things that happen can be “swept under the rug” and by reading what Zola, Baudelaire, Balzac, and Maupassant said about the times we can illuminate those harsh realities. This essay presents all of these different perspectives to attempt to capture the volatility of Paris during this time.

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