Saturday, April 11, 2009

Pleasure and Privilege


"Pleasure and Privilege" is not just some clever song title Harnick and Bock devised for their very haughty song about the uppercrust of society.

"Privilege" was actually a law upon which the whole French system of government was based. "Privilege" were private laws that only applied to "you." It was a special entitlement or immunity granted to a restricted group either by birth or on a conditional basis.

One of the objectives of the French Revolution was he abolition of privilege. This meant removing the different laws for different social classes so all would be ruled by common law.

No comments: