The enlightenment period during the French Revolution was a time when philosophers separated into two classes. The first class was the elite and academician writers, who were praised for bringing great change throughout their society. However, eventually their effectiveness on the community diminished. As they became entrenched with money and with le monde, the establishment, they ceased to serve the good of society. The second class, the Grub Street writers, was excluded from the privileges of the le monde class of writers because they were dirty, poor, and lacked profound ideas. The elite class won all the government pensions and the respect, which came with good jobs, leaving nothing for the Grub Street writers. The purpose of the Grub Street writers then shifted from writing philosophy to exposing the wickedness and immorality of the le monde philosophers. They, in effect, wrote to correct the injustices brought upon them. So they too were writing not for the good of society anymore but just to spite the le monde writers.
English: Imaginatory portrait of the Marquis de Sa...
Portrait_de_Sade
The drawing dates to 1760, when the Sade was nearl...One of the Grub Street writer's pamphlets frequently referenced the "venereal disease passed on from the Cardinal de Rohan to the queen and all the great figures of the court during the Diamond Necklace Affair" (Darton, High Enlightenment 36). Morande did expose the corrupt regime, but how did writing about sexual matters of the elite help solve the problems in the Grub Society? Mornade's motives in writing were questionable because "He meant to make money, both by exploiting the market for sensationalism and by blackmailing the persons he libeled" (Darton, High Enlightenment 34). The Grub Street writers, caught up in their own injustice, were rebelling against the old society with no vision for a new society. Rebelling against the current accepted ideology or morality could be good or bad depending on whether...