Last Lesson

Author: (French) Alphonse Daudet
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: "The Last Lesson" is a typical example of depicting a grand theme through a small scene. In the Franco-Prussian War, France suffered a humiliating defeat, and the eastern provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were soon under the rule of a foreign power. The patriotic spirit of the people in these provinces, inspired by this tragedy, was not expressed through large-scale protests, demonstrations, or loud slogans, nor was it proclaimed with gunshots and artillery fire. Instead, it was conveyed through a French language class in a small school. A French language class may seem ordinary, but it was the "last lesson." The primary school teacher, M. Hamel, was an ordinary teacher, the