Ministry of Higher Education

and Scientific Research

University of Babylon
College of Education for Human Sciences
Department of English

Bourgeois

A report submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Drama

,Course, First Semester, Department of English

by
Basheer Sahib Kadim Abd Alhamza

Instructor: Prof. Raad Kareem Abd-Aun, PhD

2021-2022
 Bourgeois
The bourgeoisie (/ˌbʊərʒ.wɑːˈziː/; French: [buʁʒwazi] (About this soundlisten)) is a
sociologically defined social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class.
They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their
relative affluence, and their cultural and financial capital. They are sometimes divided
into a petty (petite), middle (moyenne), grand (grande), upper (haute), and ancient
.(ancienne) bourgeoisie (which are collectively designated "the bourgeoisie")

The bourgeoisie in its original sense is intimately linked to the existence of cities,
recognized as such by their urban charters (e.g., municipal charters, town privileges,
German town law), so there was no bourgeoisie apart from the citizenry of the cities.
.Rural peasants came under a different legal system

In Marxist philosophy, the bourgeoisie is the social class that came to own the means
of production during modern industrialization and whose societal concerns are the
value of property and the preservation of capital to ensure the perpetuation of their
.economic supremacy in society

Joseph Schumpeter saw the incorporation of new elements into an expanding

bourgeoisie, particularly entrepreneurs who took risks to bring innovation to
industries and the economy through the process of creative destruction, as the driving
.force behind the capitalist engine

: Etymology
The Modern French word bourgeois (French: [buʁʒwa]; English: /ˈbʊərʒ.wɑː, ˌbʊər
ˈʒwɑː/) derived from the Old French burgeis (walled city), which derived from bourg
(market town), from the Old Frankish burg (town); in other European languages, the
etymologic derivations include the Middle English burgeis, the Middle Dutch
burgher, the German Bürger, the Modern English burgess, the Spanish burgués, the
Portuguese burguês, and the Polish burżuazja, which occasionally is synonymous
with the "intelligentsia".In its literal sense, bourgeois in Old French (burgeis, borjois)
."means "town dweller

In the 18th century, before the French Revolution (1789–99), in the French Ancien
Régime, the masculine and feminine terms bourgeois and bourgeoise identified the
relatively rich men and women who were members of the urban and rural Third
Estate – the common people of the French realm, who violently deposed the absolute
monarchy of the Bourbon King Louis XVI (r. 1774–91), his clergy, and his
aristocrats in the French Revolution of 1789–1799. Hence, since the 19 th century, the
term "bourgeoisie" usually is politically and sociologically synonymous with the
ruling upper class of a capitalist society.In English, the word "bourgeoisie", as a term
referring to French history, refers to a social class oriented to economic materialism
and hedonism, and to upholding the political and economic interests of the capitalist
.ruling-class

Historically, the medieval French word bourgeois denoted the inhabitants of the
bourgs (walled market-towns), the craftsmen, artisans, merchants, and others, who
constituted "the bourgeoisie". They were the socio-economic class between the
peasants and the landlords, between the workers and the owners of the means of
production. As the economic managers of the (raw) materials, the goods, and the
services, and thus the capital (money) produced by the feudal economy, the term

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"bourgeoisie" evolved to also denote the middle class – the businessmen and
businesswomen who accumulated, administered, and controlled the capital that made
.possible the development of the bourgs into cities

Contemporarily, the terms "bourgeoisie" and "bourgeois" (noun) identify the ruling
class in capitalist societies, as a social stratum; while "bourgeois" (adjective / noun
modifier) describes the Weltanschauung (worldview) of men and women whose way
of thinking is socially and culturally determined by their economic materialism and
philistinism, a social identity famously mocked in Molière's comedy Le Bourgeois
gentilhomme (1670), which satirizes buying the trappings of a noble-birth identity as
the means of climbing the social ladder.The 18th century saw a partial rehabilitation of
bourgeois values in genres such as the drame bourgeois (bourgeois drama) and
.""bourgeois tragedy

In the late 20th century, the shortened term "bougie" or "boujee" (an intentional
misspelling) became slang, particularly among African-Americans. The term refers to
a person of lower or middle class doing pretentious activities (eating avocado toast)
.or virtue signalling (driving a Prius) as an affectation of the upper-class

: History
The bourgeoisie emerged as a historical and political phenomenon in the 11 th century
when the bourgs of Central and Western Europe developed into cities dedicated to
commerce. This urban expansion was possible thanks to economic concentration due
to the appearance of protective self-organisation into guilds. Guilds arose when
individual businessmen (such as craftsmen, artisans and merchants) conflicted with
their rent-seeking feudal landlords who demanded greater rents than previously
.agreed

In the event, by the end of the Middle Ages (c. AD 1500), under régimes of the early
national monarchies of Western Europe, the bourgeoisie acted in self-interest, and
politically supported the king or queen against legal and financial disorder caused by
the greed of the feudal lords.In the late-16th and early 17th centuries, the bourgeoisies
of England and the Netherlands had become the financial – thus political – forces that
deposed the feudal order; economic power had vanquished military power in the
.realm of politics

: France and French-speaking countries

In English, the term bourgeoisie is often used to denote the middle classes. In fact, the
French term encompasses both the upper and middle classes, a misunderstanding
which has occurred in other languages as well. The bourgeoisie in France and many
French-speaking countries consists of five evolving social layers: petite bourgeoisie,
moyenne bourgeoisie, grande bourgeoisie, haute bourgeoisie and ancienne
.bourgeoisie

:Petite bourgeoisi
Main article: Petite bourgeoisie
The petite bourgeoisie is the equivalent of the modern-day middle class, or refers to
" ."a social class between the middle class and the lower class: the lower middle class

:Moyenne bourgeoisie
The moyenne bourgeoisie or middle bourgeoisie contains people who have solid
incomes and assets, but not the aura of those who have become established at a higher
level. They tend to belong to a family that has been bourgeois for three or more
generations.Some members of this class may have relatives from similar

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backgrounds, or may even have aristocratic connections. The moyenne bourgeoisie is
.the equivalent of the British and American upper-middle classes

:Grande bourgeoisie
The grande bourgeoisie are families that have been bourgeois since the 19 th century,
or for at least four or five generations. Members of these families tend to marry with
the aristocracy or make other advantageous marriages. This bourgeois family has
acquired an established historical and cultural heritage over the decades. The names
of these families are generally known in the city where they reside, and their
ancestors have often contributed to the region's history. These families are respected
and revered. They belong to the upper class, and in the British class system are
considered part of the gentry. In the French-speaking countries, they are sometimes
.referred la petite haute bourgeoisie

:Haute bourgeoisie
The haute bourgeoisie is a social rank in the bourgeoisie that can only be acquired
through time. In France, it is composed of bourgeois families that have existed since
the French Revolution.They hold only honourable professions and have experienced
many illustrious marriages in their family's history. They have rich cultural and
.historical heritages, and their financial means are more than secure

These families exude an aura of nobility, which prevents them from certain marriages
or occupations. They differ from nobility only in that because of circumstances, the
lack of opportunity, and/or political regime, they have not been ennobled. These
people nevertheless live lavishly, enjoying the company of the great artists of the
time. In France, the families of the haute bourgeoisie are also referred to as les 200
familles, a term coined in the first half of the 20 th century. Michel Pinçon and
Monique Pinçon-Charlot studied the lifestyle of the French bourgeoisie, and how they
.boldly guard their world from the nouveau riche, or newly rich

In the French language, the term bourgeoisie almost designates a caste by itself, even
though social mobility into this socio-economic group is possible. Nevertheless, the
bourgeoisie is differentiated from la classe moyenne, or the middle class, which
consists mostly of white-collar employees, by holding a profession referred to as a
profession libérale, which la classe moyenne, in its definition does not hold. Yet, in
.English the definition of a white-collar job encompasses the profession libérale

: Ancienne bourgeoisie
The ancienne bourgeoisie is a relatively recent sociological term coined by René
Rémond and an additional subcategory in the French language to the “bourgeoisie”
.caste
In Rémond’s preface of “L’ancienne bourgeoisie en France : émergence et
permanence d'un groupe social du xvie siècle au xxe siècle“ published by Xavier de
.Montclos in 2013, he defines l’ancienne bourgeoisie as follows
An intermediary social group between the aristocracy and what we would call the “
middle classes (“les classes moyennes” in French, which does not have the same
sociological implications as in English) and which was established between 15 th and
16th centuries…These families are for the most part provincial dynasties whose social
ascension was accomplished in their region of origin and to which they generally
remain attached to, and in which their descendants are still present…These families
are deeply rooted in the “Ancien Régime”…They have insured the transmission of
their material legacy, as well their convictions and set of values for over 400 and 500
years.” (René Rémond, 2013)

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Xavier de Montclos goes further by saying that these families acquired their status
during the “Ancien Régime”, and that they belonged to the town’s elite and the
.upper-crust of the “bourgeoisie” caste
They usually acquired high and Important administrative and judicial functions, and
distinguished themselves through their success, particularly in business and industry.
It was through this distinction that some of these families were ennobled and became
.part of the aristocracy

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: Satire and criticism in art
Beyond the intellectual realms of political economy, history, and political science that
discuss, describe, and analyse the bourgeoisie as a social class, the colloquial usage of
the sociological terms bourgeois and bourgeoise describe the social stereotypes of the
old money and of the nouveau riche, who is a politically timid conformist satisfied
with a wealthy, consumerist style of life characterised by conspicuous consumption
and the continual striving for prestige.[30][31] This being the case, the cultures of the
world describe the philistinism of the middle-class personality, produced by the
excessively rich life of the bourgeoisie, is examined and analysed in comedic and
.dramatic plays, novels, and films

:References

.Bourgeois Society". Retrieved 15 November 2021"

Joseph A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, pages 83–84, 134
.The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology C. T. Onions, Editor (1995) p. 110
.Dictionary of Historical Terms, Chris Cook, Editor (1983), p. 267
.Oxford English Reference Dictionary Second Edition (1996) p. 196
.Bourgeoisie", The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition. (1994) p. 0000 "
.Benét 1987, p. 118, 759
.Molière 1899
Tulp, Sophia. "What you're really saying when you call something 'bougie'". USA
.TODAY. Retrieved 26 June 2021