The Geography of Enlightenment and Equality in Perfume: The Story of a Murder Kyle Freeman 12th Grade

Enlightenment and Equality in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer The Enlightenment emerged in the late 17th- and early 18th-century as an intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and equality. The Enlightenment presented a challenge to traditional French societal values, and many Enlightenment thinkers were considered the progressives of their day. In the novel, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Süskind, the geographical landmarks of Paris and Grasse symbolize 18th century societal values, particularly the emphasis on equality and meritocracy. These values are expressed through the scent motif as it changes according to setting.

During the Age of Enlightenment, Paris was the center for enlightened change. Ironically Paris was the smelliest place in all France. According to Perfume’s narrator, “the rivers stank, the marketplace stank, the churches stank;” (Suskind 4). The narrator’s list is an ironic statement on equality; the city’s stench crosses all the socioeconomic boundaries that traditional French society had erected before the Enlightenment’s emphasis on equality. Despite the Enlightenment’s equalizing effect underscored by the narrator’s opening assertion, class is suggested through...