Both Uses of
bourgeois
in
Vanity Fair
- They went to the opera often of evenings—to those snug, unassuming, dear old operas in the German towns, where the noblesse sits and cries, and knits stockings on the one side, over against the bourgeoisie on the other; and His Transparency the Duke and his Transparent family, all very fat and good-natured, come and occupy the great box in the middle; and the pit is full of the most elegant slim-waisted officers with straw-coloured mustachios, and twopence a day on full pay.†
Chpt 62bourgeoisie = a member of the middle class OR (in Marxist theory) a member of the property-owing class
- Everybody—everybody that was noble of course, for as for the bourgeois we could not quite be expected to take notice of THEM—visited his neighbour.†
Chpt 63 *bourgeois = typical of the middle class or their values and habits
Definition:
typical of the middle class or their values and habits - typically used disapprovingly
or (in Marxist theory):
typical of the property-owning class
or (in Marxist theory):
typical of the property-owning class
Bourgeois is often used to refer to the values of the upper middle class. You may also see the term petit bourgeois to describe very small business owners.
Note that bourgeois, bourgeoisie, and bourgeoise are often interchanged.
Bourgeois is most common and can be used as an adjective or a noun. Bourgeoisie is typically used only as a noun, and bourgeoise is occasionally used as an alternate spelling of bourgeois.
Note that bourgeois, bourgeoisie, and bourgeoise are often interchanged.
Bourgeois is most common and can be used as an adjective or a noun. Bourgeoisie is typically used only as a noun, and bourgeoise is occasionally used as an alternate spelling of bourgeois.