We Must Hope That It Will Soon Be Over Still Image

A peasant man bends under the weight of a clergyman and a nobleman riding piggyback on him, symbolizing the burden of taxes and privileges imposed on the Third Estate by the clergy and nobility.
A French Revolutionary caricature shows an elderly peasant bent over, carrying a nobleman and clergyman piggyback, symbolizing the commoners' burden under feudal privilege.

Dublin Core

Title

We Must Hope That It Will Soon Be Over

Description

A common complaint of rural petitions was the abuse of seigneurial dues owed by peasants to lords supposedly in exchange for protection and supervision. This image demonstrates the view that peasants envisioned their lords not as protectors, but as exploiters who constantly turned the screws on them to extract ever more rent or other payments.

Creator

None Identified

Source

Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Date

1789

Rights

Public Domain

Relation

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/144/|de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 17 (pièces 2760-2907), Ancien Régime et Révolution

Format

JPEG

Language

French

Identifier

144

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Engraving

Physical Dimensions

18.5 x 12.5 cm

Title (French)

A faut esperer qu'ca finira ben tot

Citation

None Identified, “We Must Hope That It Will Soon Be Over,” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION, accessed November 9, 2026, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/144.