Essay topic 3: The Great Cat Massacre and the politics of work: Paris 1730

Question: Can the story of a (possibly fictional) protest by disgruntled apprentices in mid

eighteenth-century Paris tell us much about the world of the mid eighteenth century?

History is filled with a collection of stories describing the past. Each of these stories is

heaving with significant bias and is painted in a specific way. But despite the jaded purposes

or elements of fabrication and fantasy that may be present in historical stories, they all have a

great purpose and use for revealing the realities of the worlds in which they originate.

Contat’s account of the Great Cat Massacre at the Rue Saint-Séverin in Paris during the late

1730s, despite possibly riddled with fiction, illuminates the reality of life as a print shop

worker in the world of the mid eighteenth century1. If fictional, the story can still reveal truths

about mid eighteenth century Europe as Contat would have drawn upon his own experiences,

emotions, motivations and desires as well as others in the working class. In his analysis of the

story, Darnton argues that the event itself is extremely useful for understanding the world in

which it is derived from as he focuses on specific details and symbols2. Some of his

explanations of the event do reveal aspects of the time and can be used to learn more about

the oppressed lives of the working class in mid eighteenth century France, however, as

described by Mah, he overanalyses some of his symbols and draws conclusions which are too

far-fetched3. Darnton’s work is too focused on details, rather than using the wider mood and

large elements of the story to uncover the realities of life in middle class France circa 1730.

The key elements of the story which reveal truths about the time period include the tensions

1
Nicolas Contat. “Account of the Cat Massacre”. Anecdotes typographiques oú l’on voit la description des
coutumes, moeurs et usages singuliers des compagnons impimeurs. ed. Giles Barber Oxford 1980 in Robert
Darnton The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History.
2
Robert Darnton. “Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-Séverin” in The Great Cat
Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. New York: Basic Books, 2009.
3
Harold Mah. “Suppressing the Text: The Metaphysics of Ethnographic History in Darnton’s Great Cat
Massacre” in History Workshop. mo. 31 (Spring, 1991): 1-20.
between the working and upper classes as the apprentices rebelled against the oppression and

hypocrisy of their masters. It is extreme to claim that this story can reveal the causes of the

French Revolution, however, some of the core issues which would lead to the Revolution in

the 1780s are prevalent in the frustrations of the apprentices. Additionally, the desires of the

working class as expressed in the French Revolution are also evident in this story through the

characters of Jerome and Léveillé4. Finally, this narrative also expresses the economic and

political issues which occurred at the time, giving greater insight into the experiences of the

working class during the mid-eighteenth century. Thus, this story, despite likely being

possibly fictional, does tell us much about the experiences of working class peoples in the

mid eighteenth century Paris.

Even if the story of the Great Cat Massacre is entirely fictional, it is still valuable in learning

about the experiences of the working class during mid eighteenth century France. Darnton

passionately advocates for this in his work as he focuses on an ethnographic approach to

history5. Darnton’s claims are accurate to an extent. This source can be used to learn about

the experiences of workers during the mid-eighteenth century, however Darnton’s claims are

far too extreme. The main reason that an historian can still use this source, even if the story is

completely fictional, is because Contat, depicted somewhat as Jerome in the story, would

have drawn on his own experiences to write this story. The actions taken by the characters in

the story, if true, expose their frustrations at their oppression and the restrictive nature of their

society. But if it is completely fictional, the story still expresses very similar frustrations from

Contat’s personal experiences. Darnton’s work argues that through the study of various

cultural symbols, an historian can learn a significant amount about the time period in which

Contat was writing about. As Mah states he approaches historical events not as records of

4
op. cit. Nicolas Contat.
5
op. cit. Robert Darnton, 2009.
behaviour, but as texts ‘replete with cultural and symbolic significance’6. But Darnton’s

analysis of symbols, as Mah also argues, is extremely generous and appears that he has

interpreted some objects as cultural symbols when there is little evidence to prove that is

what they truly symbolised. In his conclusion, Darnton states that the event ‘showed that

workers could manipulate symbols in their idiom as effectively as poets did in print’, but

whether his conclusions were what the apprentices were intending is debatable7. It is more

probable that the symbols which the workers were drawing on were simply symbols of

human experience rather than absurd and acutely specific cultural symbols which Darnton

describes. In killing the cats, and particularly la grise, the workers were most likely

expressing their frustration at the master and mistress of the print house and killing the

beloved cat as a symbol physical and emotional attack. However, Darnton oddly claims that

the cats were symbols of witchcraft, the occult, spiritual powers, violence, sex and sexuality

and as a result, the workers were making several symbolic attacks on the master and mistress

of the house, including metaphorically sexually assaulting the mistress, threatening the

master’s life and calling the master a cuckold8. But as Mah and Chartier state, Darnton is

selective in his writing, electing to deeply focus on odd symbols, and ignore others which

appear more significant9. Both historians criticise Darnton for symbolically describing the

cook as the ‘devil incarnate’, but never elaborates on this metaphor10. ‘…How can Darnton

select some metaphors or signifiers over others?’11. Mah correctly questions this inconsistent

use of metaphorical and symbolic analysis in Darnton’s work. Moreover, the appendix which

Darnton attaches to his work is not the full translated chapter of Contat’s work, which further

masks other symbols which Darnton chooses to ignore. Darnton’s selective focus on symbols,
6
op. cit. Harold Mah, 1991, p.2.
7
op. cit. Robert Darnton, 2009, p.101.
8
ibid. pp.99-100.
9
op. cit. Harold Mah, 1991.
Roger Chartier. “Text, Symbols and Frenchness”. The Journal of Modern History 57, no. 4 (December 1985):
682-695.
10
op. cit. Harold Mah, 1991, p.7.
11
ibid. p.7.
especially that of the cat, draws his history away from what an historian can truly learn from

Contat’s story. His emphasis on small details makes his argument seem insignificant and

inaccurate, which is not entirely incorrect. A significant amount can be learned from this

source, but it simply must be from the wider story itself, its context and the mood of the

narrative.

Even without Darnton’s generous interpretive reading of Contat’s story, much can still be

learned about the lives of workers in mid-eighteenth century France particularly surrounding

the tensions between social classes. In the story itself, there is a significant emphasis on the

tensions between the master and mistress and the workers. There is significant contrast

between the ‘disgusting food’ and ‘damp and draughty lean-to in a corner of the courtyard’

experienced by the apprentices as opposed to the ‘sweetness of sleep’ that the master and

mistress enjoy12. A key word used in the story that represents the tension between the classes

is ‘suffer’13. Jerome and Léveillé are described as ‘jealous’ as they long for the upper class to

‘suffer’ in the same way that they have been treated and oppressed14. Previously to this point

in history, the workshop was a harmonious place, which some historians describe as a kind of

extended family where the master and journeymen worked together, ate together and

occasionally slept under the same roof together15. However, this was no longer the case

during the period that Contat lived and wrote about. The tone and mood of Contat’s writing

makes evident the animosity between master and worker. There is no harmonious working

together as there may have been previously, but instead a hatred of the master’s superiority

and an anger towards the workers from the master16. One of the final sentences in the excerpt

provided by Darnton ominously makes clear the tension between the classes in this print shop

12
op. cit. Robert Darnton, 2009, p.102.
13
ibid. p.102.
14
ibid. p.102
15
ibid. p.79.
16
ibid. p.76.
– ‘It should be noted that all the workers are in league against the masters’17. Contat’s

account, whether fact or fiction, reveals a great deal of tension and hostility between the

bourgeois and the working class. From this, an historian can interpret the experience of a

working class individual in mid eighteenth century France as oppressed and in opposition to

the superior upper classes.

Furthermore, the source, although set approximately fifty years prior to the French

Revolution, can be used to see wider social and political issues which would eventually lead

to revolution in the late 1780s. As it was many decades before the revolution occurred, it

cannot be used as distinct evidence to uncover the causes of the French Revolution, but

instead be used as a case study to observe how the long term causes developed in the years

before the revolt. The long term causes of the French Revolution are debated by historians,

but the following are long term origins are ones which could be studied in the story as a cause

in its early development. Firstly, the strong and steady growth of the middle class during the

ancien régime and particularly in the eighteenth century, was extremely significant in

changing the social and economic landscape of Europe18. The rise of wealth and power of this

group over poorer working class groups created tensions in the population as previously

described. Further, the wealth disparity created a gap in the standard of living between the

rich and the poor leading to significant poverty. In Europe during this time period, poverty

was an ‘epidemic condition’, particularly with significant food shortages in France19. Wages

were so low that they failed to match basic food prices leaving the working classes in

hunger20. The beginnings of these issues which would develop into even greater and more

17
op. cit. Nicolas Contat, p.104.
18
Sarah Maza. “Bourgeoisie” in The Oxford Handbook of the Ancien Régime. Oxford: Oxford University, 2012,
p.4.
19
Alan Forrest. “Poverty” in The Oxford Handbook of the Ancien Régime. Oxford: Oxford University, 2012,
p.1.
20
ibid. p.4.
significant social issues leading to unrest in France are evident in this story. As already

described, the tone of the story reveals the tensions between the social classes in addition to

the comparison between the superiority and separateness of the master and the poverty that

the workers lived in21. The use of this story to see the development of the causes of the

French Revolution is useful in personalising the experiences of the working class as they

really did struggle in life while the richer higher classes grew in wealth. Thus, the source is

useful for seeing the causes of the French Revolution develop throughout history.

Moreover, in a similar way, the source can be used to see the development of some of the

desires of the working class during the French Revolution. Once again, the source should not

be used as complete evidence for the concepts of the French Revolution, but it can be used as

a study of how these concepts and desires developed in the years prior to the revolt. As seen

in The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, four key concepts of the French

Revolution and desires of the people were liberty, fraternity, citizenship and inalienable

rights22. The desire for liberty is evinced in Contat’s account through the massacre itself as

the workers brutally murder the cats as a symbolic way of attacking the master, freeing

themselves from his oppressive rule. Equality and fraternity are evident in Contat’s disgust at

the master who is superior to him and treats him poorly. Because of the inequality between

them, they cannot experience a sense of bonded community together as there was in an earlier

point in history as described by Darnton23. Finally, citizenship and inalienable rights are

evident in Contat’s account in the frustration of the workers and massacre of the cats. They

do not simply murder all of the cats, they put many of them to trial and hang them for their

supposed crimes. These cats were innocent, but the symbol of putting them on trial expresses

21
op. cit. Nicolas Contat.
22
Marquis Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. France, 1789, transl.
Murphy, Gerard. <https://www1.curriculum.edu.au/ddunits/downloads/pdf/dec_of_rights.pdf>
23
op. cit. Robert Darnton, 2009, p.79.
their desire to be treated as a member of the nation and to have their rights protected rather

than to be oppressed by their overlords. Therefore, Contat’s account of the Great Cat

Massacre can tell audiences a significant amount of information about the desires of the

working class and track these observations through history to the concepts of the French

Revolution.

Finally, the source also reveals to its audience the realities of life for the working class in a

highly industrialised world and how the economic and political ramifications directly

impacted the lives of workmen during the mid-eighteenth century in France. The increase in

industry in the years prior to this massacre changed the sphere of the printing industry. Most

smaller print shops were eliminated and large printing houses, supported by the government,

and controlled by masters during the late seventeenth century24. The government had little

interest in supporting the poor, particularly those in the print industry like Jerome and

Léveillé, and thus, their quality of life significantly lessened25. As more individuals flooded to

towns and cities and urban populations increased significantly, at approximately 15 to 20 per

cent, poverty increased and well-paying work became harder to secure26. This is evinced in

the poor quality of life experienced by the characters and particularly in their struggle with an

increase of unskilled labourers in their print shop27. They are described as ‘merely a source of

cheap labour’ and made workers with skill disposable28. I is clear that the struggles which

Contat would have faced as a worker in a print shop during this time as industrialisation,

increased urban populations and the lack of government support directly impacted his life.

And thus, historians can receive much insight into the lives of the working class from this

story of The Great Cat Massacre.

24
ibid. p.79.
25
op. cit. Alan Forrest, 2012, pp.1-2.
26
op. cit. Sarah Maza, 2012, p.4.
27
op. cit. Robert Darnton, 2009, p.80.
28
ibid. p.80.
To conclude, history is filled with stories which span a vast plain of truthfulness. But whether

a story, such as Contat’s Account of The Great Cat Massacre, is or is not based on fiction,

does not disqualify it from being an historical source from which we can learn about the past.

Contat would have drawn from his own experiences, frustrations and emotions to write this

fictional story or embellished account and so it provides us insight into his experiences as a

working class man in 1730s Paris. The source reveals to its audience a significant amount of

understanding into what life was truly like in the mid eighteenth century for the working

class, and particularly printers. Historian Darnton argues that the source can tell us a great

deal by focusing on specific cultural symbols and metaphors. However, his view is too

narrow and gives attention to odd symbols which seem inaccurate and ignores others which

seem significant. Mah and Chartier both argue against his approach to history and make

aware Darnton’s flaws, particularly his far-fetched analysis of symbols. But, the story does

teach us a significant amount about the social, political and economic climate of the time and

how this impacted the lives of the working class. Moreover, the story also does provide a

point in history at which historians can see the development of the causes and concepts of the

French Revolution at least fifty years prior to the revolt. The story should not be used to

prove the causes of the revolution nor the desires of the working class, but can be used to see

how these ideas and issues progressed throughout history. All in all, this shows studiers of

history that both fact and fiction can be used carefully to study the past and that, yes, the story

of a potentially fabricated protest by irritated apprentices in mid eighteenth century Paris can

tell us a significant amount about the world of the mid eighteenth century and the experiences

of the working class.

Primary Sources:

CONTAT

Contat, Nicolas. “Account of the Cat Massacre”. Anecdotes typographiques oú l’on voit la

description des coutumes, moeurs et usages singuliers des compagnons impimeurs. ed. Giles

Barber Oxford 1980 in Robert Darnton The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in

French Cultural History.

Lafayette, Marquis and Jefferson, Thomas. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

France, 1789, transl. Murphy, Gerard.

<https://www1.curriculum.edu.au/ddunits/downloads/pdf/dec_of_rights.pdf>

Secondary Sources:

Chartier, Roger. “Text, Symbols and Frenchness”. The Journal of Modern History 57, no. 4

(December 1985): 682-695.

Darnton, Robert. “Workers Revolt: The Great Cat Massacre of the Rue Saint-Séverin” in The

Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. New York: Basic

Books, 2009.

Forrest, Alan. “Poverty” in The Oxford Handbook of the Ancien Régime. Oxford: Oxford

University, 2012.
Mah, Harold. “Suppressing the Text: The Metaphysics of Ethnographic History in Darnton’s

Great Cat Massacre” in History Workshop. mo. 31 (Spring, 1991): 1-20.

Maza, Sarah. “Bourgeoisie” in The Oxford Handbook of the Ancien Régime. Oxford: Oxford

University, 2012.