The Peasant and the Prince

"The Peasant and the Prince" by Harriet Martineau is a historical novel written in the mid-19th century. This work details the tumultuous final months of the French royal family against the backdrop of the suffering peasantry, exploring the stark contrast between the opulence of the nobility and the dire straits of the common people. Central to the narrative are Charles and Marie, a young couple whose plans for marriage are thwarted by the oppressive societal conditions and the political upheaval of the time. At the start of the story, the reader is introduced to the village of Saint Menehould, where the arrival of the Dauphiness from Germany stirs excitement but also reveals the harsh realities faced by the local peasants. Charles, a hardworking young man, is determined to build a hut for himself and his beloved Marie despite the crippling taxes imposed on them, like the exorbitant salt tax. The opening chapters depict their struggles amidst the nobility's extravagance, as well as the moment when the prince’s life becomes tragically entwined with the larger political upheaval. Marie's family is shown grappling with the demands of quartering soldiers while their livelihood hangs by a thread, setting the stage for the unfolding drama and the deeper societal critiques to come. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Harriet Martineau was an English social theorist. She wrote from a sociological, holistic, religious and feminine angle, translated works by Auguste Comte, and, rarely for a woman writer at the time, earned enough to support herself. The young Princess Victoria enjoyed her work and invited her to her 1838 coronation. Martineau advised "a focus on all [society's] aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions". She applied thorough analysis to women's status under men. The novelist Margaret Oliphant called her "a born lecturer and politician... less distinctively affected by her sex than perhaps any other, male or female, of her generation."