Court Society

This book takes the people and their daily lives in the court society during the French Old Regime as the research object. It analyzes every carefully designed detail of court life in terms of etiquette, ceremony, taste, clothing, customs and even conversation, showing the obvious differences between the speech and behavior of people in the court society and other social groups. The internal structure and exterior decoration of their residences follow strict class distinctions. Not only their entertainment, but also their professional life itself must reflect their class and fulfill their social obligations and needs, because it is related to reputation and will determine whether they are prosperous or declining. The author uses a large number of examples to prove that this form of court life is a means of maintaining and controlling the nobility. It not only shapes the personality of the nobility, but even the king is not immune; it also produces cultural, political and historical consequences.