Misplaced Pages

#23976

90-580: Historically, the height of the demimonde was encapsulated by the period known in France as La Belle Époque (1871–1914), from the end of the Franco-Prussian War to the beginning of World War I .The twentieth century brought the rise of the New Woman , changing economies and social structures, as well as changing fashions and social mores, particularly in the aftermath of World War I. Prostitution and

180-423: A passport and even reside abroad with minimal bureaucratic regulation. World War I, mass transportation, the spread of literacy, and various citizenship concerns changed this. The Belle Époque featured a class structure that ensured cheap labour. The Paris Métro underground railway system joined the omnibus and streetcar in transporting the working population, including those servants who did not live in

270-477: A belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway point : an optimist is said to see the glass as half full, while a pessimist sees the glass as half empty. The term derives from the Latin optimum , meaning "best". To be optimistic, in

360-683: A cafe patron and wounded several others. France enjoyed relative political stability at home during the Belle Époque. The sudden death of President Félix Faure while in office took the country by surprise, but had no destabilising effect on the government. The most serious political issue to face the country during this period was the Dreyfus affair . Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason, with fabricated evidence from French government officials. Antisemitism directed at Dreyfus, and tolerated by

450-546: A different glamour, pursued in the cabarets of Montmartre . Large public buildings such as the Opéra Garnier devoted enormous spaces to interior designs as Art Nouveau show places. After the mid-19th century, railways linked all the major cities of Europe to spa towns like Biarritz , Deauville , Vichy , Arcachon and the French Riviera . Their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but

540-556: A far-reaching impact on European writers, and ran editions in London, Paris, Saint Petersburg, and Berlin. Paris's popular bourgeois theatre was dominated by the light farces of Georges Feydeau and cabaret performances. Theatre adopted new modern methods, including Expressionism, and many playwrights wrote plays that shocked contemporary audiences either with their frank depictions of everyday life and sexuality or with unusual artistic elements. Cabaret theatre also became popular. Musically,

630-444: A five-point scale from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree" and four filler items. Half of the coded items are phrased optimistically, the other half in a pessimistic way. Compared with its previous iteration, LOT-R offers good internal consistency over time despite item overlaps, making the correlation between the LOT and LOT-R extremely high. The Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ)

720-404: A good life. In his philosophical investigations, Socrates followed a model that did not merely focus on the intellect or reason but a balanced practice that also considered emotion as an important contributor to the richness of human experience. Distinct from a disposition to believe that things will work out, there is a philosophical idea that, perhaps in ways that may not be fully comprehended,

810-445: A healthy lifestyle. There is also the notion of " learned optimism " in positive psychology , which holds that joy is a talent that can be cultivated and can be achieved through specific actions such as challenging negative self talk or overcoming " learned helplessness ". However, criticism against positive psychology argues that it places too much importance on "upbeat thinking, while shunting challenging and difficult experiences to

900-556: A lasting impact on modern society. After the telephone joined the telegraph as a vehicle for rapid communication, French inventor Édouard Belin developed the Belinograph, or Wirephoto , to transmit photos by telephone. The electric light began to supersede gas lighting , and neon lights were invented in France. France was a leader of early cinema technology. The cinématographe was invented in France by Léon Bouly and put to use by Auguste and Louis Lumière , brothers who held

990-768: A monumental painting representing The Presentation of Decorations by the President of the Republic to the Survivors of the Disaster of the Fort de la Redoute Ruinée (August 8, 1897), which was exhibited at the Salon des artistes of 1898. Adolphe was also awarded the Legion of Honor cross the same year. Félix Faure is alleged to have suddenly died from a stroke whilst receiving sexual favours from Marguerite at

SECTION 10

#1732883902024

1080-427: A motivation to learn, while perfectionists are highly motivated by a need to prove themselves worthy consistently. Two additional facets of optimalism have been described: product optimalism and process optimalism. The former is described as an outlook that seeks to realize the best possible result, while the latter seeks maximization of the chances of achieving the best possible result. Some sources also distinguish

1170-480: A result of a general well-being factor and family environment influences. Patients with high dispositional optimism appear to have stronger immune systems since optimism buffers against psychological stressors. Optimists appear to live longer. Explanatory style is distinct from dispositional theories of optimism. While related to life-orientation measures of optimism, attributional style theory suggests that dispositional optimism and pessimism are reflections of

1260-630: A series of diplomatic conferences managed to mediate disputes that threatened the general peace: the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Berlin Congo Conference in 1884, and the Algeciras Conference in 1906. Indeed, for many Europeans during the Belle Époque, transnational, class-based affiliations were as important as national identities, particularly among aristocrats. An upper-class gentleman could travel through much of Western Europe without

1350-494: A young Pablo Picasso . More modern forms in sculpture also began to dominate as in the works of Paris-native Auguste Rodin . Although Impressionism in painting began well before the Belle Époque, it had initially been met with scepticism if not outright scorn by a public accustomed to the realist and representational art approved by the Academy. In 1890, Monet started his series Haystacks . Impressionism, which had been considered

1440-627: Is a Paris landmark still open for business today. The Folies Bergère was another landmark venue. Burlesque performance styles were more mainstream in Belle Époque Paris than in more staid cities of Europe and America. Liane de Pougy , dancer , socialite and courtesan , was well known in Paris as a headline performer at top cabarets. Belle Époque dancers and singers such as Polaire , Mistinguett , Paulus , Eugénie Fougère , La Goulue and Jane Avril were Paris celebrities, some of whom modelled for Toulouse-Lautrec 's iconic poster art. The Can-can dance

1530-453: Is based on the explanatory style model of optimism. Subjects read a list of six positive and negative events (e.g. " you have been looking for a job unsuccessfully for some time "), and are asked to record a possible cause for the event. They then rate whether this is internal or external, stable or changeable, and global or local to the event. There are several modified versions of the ASQ including

1620-531: Is no necessity to seeing optimalism realization as divinely instituted because it is a naturalistic theory in principle. Psychological optimalism, as defined by the positive psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar , means willingness to accept failure while remaining confident that success will follow, a positive attitude he contrasts with negative perfectionism . Perfectionism can be defined as a persistent compulsive drive toward unattainable goals and valuation based solely in terms of accomplishment. Perfectionists reject

1710-606: Is positively correlated with life satisfaction , happiness, and psychological and physical well-being, and negatively correlated with depression and anxiety. Seeking to explain the correlation, researchers find that optimists choose healthier lifestyles. For example, optimists smoke less, are more physically active, consume more fruit, vegetables, and whole-grain bread, and are more moderate in alcohol consumption. Research to date has demonstrated that optimists are less likely to have certain diseases or develop certain diseases over time. Research has not yet been able to demonstrate

1800-563: Is simply the lay-term for what researchers know as explanatory style. More commonly, it is found that explanatory style is distinct from dispositional optimism, so the two should not be used interchangeably as they are marginally correlated at best. More research is required to "bridge" or further differentiate these concepts. As with all psychological traits , differences in both dispositional optimism and pessimism and in attributional style are heritable . Both optimism and pessimism are strongly influenced by environmental factors , including

1890-442: Is the opposite end of a single dimension with pessimism, with any distinction between them reflecting factors such as social desirability . Confirmatory modelling , however, supports a two-dimensional model and the two dimensions predict different outcomes . Genetic modelling confirms this independence, showing that pessimism and optimism are inherited as independent traits, with the typical correlation between them emerging as

SECTION 20

#1732883902024

1980-402: The 1889 World's Fair in Paris, launched an era of optimism and affluence. French imperialism was in its prime. It was a cultural center of global influence, its educational , scientific and medical institutions were at the leading edge of Europe. It was not entirely the reality of life in Paris or in France, however. France had a large economic underclass who never experienced much of

2070-623: The Barbizon school plein-air painters. These painters were associates of the Pre-Raphaelites, who inspired a generation of aesthetic-minded " Souls ". Many successful examples of Art Nouveau, with notable regional variations, were built in France, Germany , Belgium , Spain , Austria (the Vienna Secession ), Hungary , Bohemia , Serbia , and Latvia . It soon spread around the world, including Peru , Brazil , Argentina , Mexico , and

2160-668: The First Moroccan Crisis (1905–1906), and the Second Moroccan Crisis (1911). The Belle Époque was an era of great scientific and technological advancement in Europe and the world in general. Inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution that became generally common in this era include the perfection of lightly sprung, noiseless carriages in a multitude of new fashionable forms, which were superseded towards

2250-469: The Folies Bergère , and took her eclectic performance style abroad as well. Sergei Diaghilev 's Ballets Russes brought fame to Vaslav Nijinsky and established modern ballet technique. The Ballets Russes launched several ballet masterpieces, including The Firebird and The Rite of Spring (sometimes causing audience riots at the same time). Optimism Optimism is an attitude reflecting

2340-704: The Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912). The First Balkan War (1912–1913) and the Second Balkan War (1913) are considered prologues to the First World War (1914–1918), whose level of material and human destruction at the industrial level marks the end of the Belle Époque . There were also notable diplomatic conflicts that could provoke world wars such as the 1890 British Ultimatum , the Fashoda Incident (1898),

2430-474: The Second Empire reforms to the city's architecture and public amenities. Haussmann's renovation of Paris changed its housing, street layouts, and green spaces. The walkable neighbourhoods were well-established by the Belle Époque. Cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the orchid and made possible the perfection of fruits grown under glass , as the apparatus of state dinners extended to

2520-483: The United States . European literature underwent a major transformation during the Belle Époque. Literary realism and naturalism achieved new heights. Among the most famous French realist or naturalist authors are Guy de Maupassant and Émile Zola . Realism gradually developed into modernism , which emerged in the 1890s and came to dominate European literature during the Belle Époque's final years and throughout

2610-486: The best of all possible worlds ( le meilleur des mondes possibles ) , or that God created a physical universe that applies the laws of physics. The concept was also reflected in an aspect of Voltaire 's early philosophy, one that was based on Isaac Newton 's view that described a divinely ordered human condition. This philosophy would also later emerge in Alexander Pope 's Essay on Man . Leibniz proposed that it

2700-472: The interwar years . The Modernist classic In Search of Lost Time was begun by Marcel Proust in 1909, to be published after World War I. The works of German Thomas Mann had a huge impact in France as well, such as Death in Venice , published in 1912. Colette shocked France with the publication of the sexually frank Claudine novel series, and other works. Joris-Karl Huysmans , who came to prominence in

2790-509: The super-rich now began to commission private railway coaches , as exclusivity as well as display was a hallmark of opulent luxury. The years between the Franco-Prussian War and World War I were characterised by unusual political stability in Western and Central Europe . Although tensions between France and Germany persisted as a result of the French loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871,

Demimonde - Misplaced Pages Continue

2880-442: The École des Beaux-Arts , held an exhibition of Japanese printmaking that changed approaches to graphic design, particular posters and book illustration ( Aubrey Beardsley was influenced by a similar exhibit when he visited Paris during the 1890s). Exhibits of African tribal art also captured the imagination of Parisian artists at the turn of the 20th century. Art Nouveau is the most popularly recognised art movement to emerge from

2970-522: The Élysée Palace . This part of her life has been fictionalised in the TV series Paris Police 1900 . Possibly the most famous portrayal of the demimonde , albeit from before the word was coined, is in Giuseppe Verdi 's opera La traviata (1853). The opera, in turn, was inspired by Alexandre Dumas fils 's La Dame aux Camélias ; Marguerite Gautier, the heroine of the book and subsequent play,

3060-400: The 1850s, it exerted a strong influence on the next generation of poets and artists. The Decadent movement fascinated Parisians, intrigued by Paul Verlaine and above all Arthur Rimbaud , who became the archetypal enfant terrible of France. Rimbaud's Illuminations was published in 1886, and subsequently his other works were also published, influencing Surrealists and Modernists during

3150-466: The Belle Époque and after. Rimbaud's poems were the first works of free verse seen by the French public. Free verse and typographic experimentation also emerged in Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard by Stéphane Mallarmé , anticipating Dada and concrete poetry . Guillaume Apollinaire 's poetry introduced themes and imagery from modern life to readers. Cosmopolis: An International Monthly Review had

3240-528: The Belle Époque appear to be a time of joie de vivre (joy of living) in contrast to 19th century hardships. It was also a period of stability that France enjoyed after the tumult of the early years of the Third Republic , featuring defeat in the Franco-Prussian War , the uprising of the Paris Commune , and the fall of General Georges Ernest Boulanger . The defeat of Boulanger, and the celebrations tied to

3330-466: The Belle Époque was characterised by salon music . This was not considered serious music but, rather, short pieces considered accessible to a general audience. In addition to works for piano solo or violin and piano, the Belle Époque was famous for its large repertory of songs (mélodies, romanze, etc.). The Italians were the greatest proponents of this type of song, its greatest champion being Francesco Paolo Tosti . Though Tosti's songs never completely left

3420-568: The Belle Époque's wonders and entertainments. Poverty remained endemic in Paris's urban slums and rural peasantry for decades after the Belle Époque ended. Conflicts between the government and the Roman Catholic Church were regular during the period. Some of the artistic elite saw the Fin de siècle in a pessimistic light. Those who were able to benefit from the prosperity of the era were drawn towards new forms of light entertainment during

3510-549: The Belle Époque, and the Parisian bourgeoisie, or the successful industrialists called the nouveaux riches , became increasingly influenced by the habits and fads of the city's elite social class, known popularly as Tout-Paris ("all of Paris", or "everyone in Paris"). The Casino de Paris opened in 1890. For Paris's less affluent public, entertainment was provided by cabarets , bistros and music halls . The Moulin Rouge cabaret

3600-602: The Belle Époque. Among the post-Impressionist movements in Paris were the Nabis , the Salon de la Rose + Croix , the Symbolist movement (also in poetry, music, and visual art), Fauvism , and early Modernism . Between 1900 and 1914, Expressionism took hold of many artists in Paris and Vienna. Early works of Cubism and Abstraction were exhibited. Foreign influences were being strongly felt in Paris as well. The official art school in Paris,

3690-1012: The Expanded Attributional Style Questionnaire (EASQ), the Content Analysis of Verbatim Explanations (CAVE), and the ASQ designed for testing the optimism of children. Optimism and health are correlated moderately. Optimism explains between 5–10% of the variation in the likelihood of developing some health conditions ( correlation coefficients between .20 and .30), notably including cardiovascular disease , stroke , and depression . The relationship between optimism and health has also been studied with regard to physical symptoms, coping strategies, and negative effects for those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis , asthma , and fibromyalgia . Among individuals with these diseases, optimists are not more likely than pessimists to report pain alleviation due to coping strategies, despite differences in psychological well-being between

Demimonde - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-451: The Japy family, a powerful dynasty of French industrialists, married minor Academic art painter Adolphe Steinheil in 1890. She acted as her husband's model for some time, but aspired to a more intense and moneyed existence, and opened a salon in their villa at 6 bis, Impasse Ronsin, close to Montparnasse , which was soon frequented by all of Paris. Combining ambition and temperament, her status as

3870-635: The Life Orientation Test for the original dispositional definition of optimism and the Attributional Style Questionnaire designed to test optimism in terms of explanatory style. Variation in optimism between people is somewhat heritable and reflects biological trait systems to some degree. A person's optimism is also influenced by environmental factors , including family environment, and may be learnable. Optimism may also be related to health . Researchers operationalize

3960-553: The Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. Physicist Gabriel Lippmann invented integral imaging , still in use today. In 1890, Vincent van Gogh died. It was during the 1890s that his paintings achieved the admiration denied them during his life; first among other artists, then gradually among the public. Reactions against the ideals of the Impressionists characterised visual arts in Paris during

4050-538: The ability to change an individual's level of optimism through psychological interventions , and thereby perhaps alter the course of disease or likelihood for development of disease. An article by Mayo Clinic argues that steps to change self-talk from negative to positive may shift individuals from a negative to a more positive/optimistic outlook. Strategies claimed to be of value include surrounding oneself with positive people, identifying areas of change, practicing positive self-talk, being open to humor, and following

4140-403: The archetypal demimondaine rose as she conducted affairs with some of the most influential and generous men in the country. Marguerite, always concerned about her husband's career, obtained artistic commissions for him from her protectors, which helped Adolphe accept his marital misfortunes. Marguerite's affair with the President of the Republic, Félix Faure, won Adolphe an official commission for

4230-542: The artistic avant-garde in the 1860s, did not gain widespread acceptance until after World War I. The academic painting style, associated with the Academy of Art in Paris, remained the most respected style among the public in Paris. Artists who appealed to the Belle Époque public include William-Adolphe Bouguereau , the English Pre-Raphaelite 's John William Waterhouse , and Lord Leighton and his depictions of idyllic Roman scenes. More progressive tastes patronised

4320-654: The arts markedly flourished, and numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theatre and visual art gained extensive recognition. The Belle Époque was so named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a continental European " Golden Age " in contrast to the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. The Belle Époque was a period in which, according to historian R. R. Palmer , " European civilisation achieved its greatest power in global politics, and also exerted its maximum influence upon peoples outside Europe." Two devastating world wars and their aftermath made

4410-430: The atrocities committed by the pre-revolutionary France against its people. As defined by Nicholas Rescher , philosophical optimalism holds that this universe exists because it is better than the alternatives. While this philosophy does not exclude the possibility of a deity , it also does not require one, and is compatible with atheism . Rescher explained that the concept can stand on its own feet, arguing that there

4500-417: The character Lola Devereaux is labeled a demimondaine by the character Sigmund Freud . In Goodbye to Berlin , the character Sally Bowles is described as a demimondaine . Belle %C3%89poque The Belle Époque ( French pronunciation: [bɛlepɔk] ) or La Belle Époque ( French for 'The Beautiful Era') was a period of French and European history that began after

4590-404: The earliest forms of philosophical optimism was Socrates' theory of moral intellectualism, which formed part of his model of enlightenment through the process of self-improvement. According to the philosopher, it is possible to live a virtuous life by attaining moral perfection through philosophical self-examination. He maintained that knowledge of moral truth is necessary and sufficient for leading

SECTION 50

#1732883902024

4680-557: The end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic , it was a period characterised by optimism , enlightenment, regional peace, economic prosperity, nationalism , colonial expansion , and technological , scientific, and cultural innovations. In this era of France's cultural and artistic climate (particularly in Paris of that time ),

4770-429: The end of the era by the automobile , which was for its first decade a luxurious experiment for the well-heeled. French automobile manufacturers such as Peugeot were already pioneers in carriage manufacturing. Edouard Michelin invented removable pneumatic tires for bicycles and automobiles in the 1890s. The scooter and moped are also Belle Époque inventions. A number of French inventors patented products with

4860-454: The family environment. Optimism may be indirectly inherited as a reflection of underlying heritable traits such as intelligence , temperament , and alcoholism . Evidence from twin studies shows that the inherited component of the dispositional optimism is about 25 percent, making this trait a stable personality dimension and a predictor of life outcomes. Its genetic origin interacts with environmental influences and other risks, to determine

4950-514: The favoured composer of the Belle Époque was Edvard Grieg , who enjoyed the height of his popularity in both Parisian concert and salon life (despite his stance on the accused in the Dreyfus affair). Ravel and Frederick Delius agreed that French music of this time was simply "Edvard Grieg plus the third act of Tristan ". Modern dance began to emerge as a powerful artistic development in theatre. Dancer Loie Fuller appeared at popular venues such as

5040-489: The first film screenings in the world. The Lumière brothers made many other innovations in cinematography . It was during this era that the motion pictures were developed, though these did not become common until after World War I. Although the aeroplane remained a fascinating experiment, France was a leader in aviation . France established the world's first national air force in 1910. Two French inventors, Louis Breguet and Paul Cornu , made independent experiments with

5130-407: The first flying helicopters in 1907. Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 while working with phosphorescent materials. His work confirmed and explained earlier observations regarding uranium salts by Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor in 1857. It was during this era that biologists and physicians finally came to understand the germ theory of disease , and the field of bacteriology

5220-574: The general French public in everyday society, was a central issue in the controversy and the court trials that followed. Public debate surrounding the Dreyfus Affair grew to an uproar after the publication of J'Accuse…! , an open letter sent to newspapers by prominent novelist Émile Zola , condemning government corruption and French antisemitism. The Dreyfus affair consumed the interest of the French for several years and it received heavy newspaper coverage. European politics saw very few regime changes,

5310-439: The global explanations do so for all types of events, and the styles correlate among each other. In addition, individuals vary in how optimistic their attributions are for good events and on how pessimistic their attributions are for bad events. Still, these two traits of optimism and pessimism are un-correlated. There is much debate about the relationship between explanatory style and optimism. Some researchers argue that optimism

5400-752: The immediate prewar years were marked by a general armaments competition in Europe. Additionally, this era was one of massive overseas colonialism , known as the New Imperialism . The most famous portion of this imperial expansion was the Scramble for Africa . Most of the great powers (and some minor ones such as Belgium, the Netherlands, or Denmark) became involved in imperialism , building their own overseas empires especially in Africa and Asia. Although there were numerous revolutions, civil wars and colonial insurrections,

5490-480: The keeping of mistresses did not disappear, but the label demimondaine became obsolete as the 'half-world' changed. Demimondaine became a synonym for a courtesan or a prostitute who moved in these circles—or for a woman of social standing with the power to thumb her nose at convention and throw herself into the hedonistic nightlife. A woman who made that choice would soon find her social status lost, as she became "déclassée" . Marguerite Steinheil , from

SECTION 60

#1732883902024

5580-473: The major exception being Portugal , which experienced a republican revolution in 1910. However, tensions between working-class socialist parties, bourgeois liberal parties and landed or aristocratic conservative parties did increase in many countries, and it has been claimed that profound political instability belied the calm surface of European politics in the era. In fact, militarism and international tensions grew considerably between 1897 and 1914, and

5670-443: The measures distinguish attributions for positive and negative events. Optimistic people attribute internal, stable, and global explanations to good things. Pessimistic explanations attribute these traits of stability, globality, and internality to negative events, such as relationship difficulty. Models of optimistic and pessimistic attributions show that attributions themselves are a cognitive style – individuals who tend to focus on

5760-568: The mid-1880s, continued experimenting with themes and styles that would be associated with Symbolism and the Decadent movement , mostly in his book à rebours . André Gide , Anatole France , Alain-Fournier , and Paul Bourget are among France's most popular fiction writers of the era. Among poets, the Symbolists such as Charles Baudelaire remained at the forefront. Although Baudelaire's poetry collection Les Fleurs du mal had been published in

5850-945: The most notable are: the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), two Boer Wars (1880–1881 and 1899–1902), the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895–1896), the Greco-Turkish War (1897), the Spanish-American War (1898), the Philippine-American War (1899–1902), the Russo-Japanese War (1905), and

5940-410: The other personality factors. Over time, the more optimistic students were less stressed, less lonely, and less depressed than their pessimistic counterparts. This study suggests a strong link between optimism and psychological well-being. Low optimism may help explain the association between caregivers' anger and reduced sense of vitality . A meta-analysis of optimism supported findings that optimism

6030-756: The overall optimism and longevity of cohorts of men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study and women from the Nurses' Health Study . The study found a positive correlation between higher levels of optimism and exceptional longevity, defined as a lifespan exceeding 85 years. Another study conducted by Aspinwall and Taylor (1990) assessed incoming freshmen on a range of personality factors such as optimism, self-esteem, locus of self-control, etc. Freshmen who scored high on optimism before entering college had lower levels of psychological distress than their more pessimistic peers while controlling for

6120-717: The period. This largely decorative style ( Jugendstil in central Europe), characterised by its curvilinear forms, and nature-inspired motifs became prominent from the mid-1890s and dominated progressive design throughout much of Europe. Its use in public art in Paris, such as Hector Guimard 's Paris Métro stations, has made it synonymous with the city. Prominent artists in Paris during the Belle Époque included post-Impressionists such as Odilon Redon , Gustave Moreau , Maurice Denis , Pierre Bonnard , Édouard Vuillard , Paul Gauguin , Henri Matisse , Émile Bernard , Henri Rousseau , Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (whose reputation improved substantially after his death), Giuseppe Amisani , and

6210-432: The pessimistic position that, since this is the best of all possible worlds, it is impossible for anything to get any better. Conversely, philosophical pessimism might be associated with an optimistic long-term view because it implies that no change for the worse is possible. Voltaire found it difficult to reconcile Leibniz's optimism with human suffering as demonstrated by the earthquake that devastated Lisbon in 1755 and

6300-401: The present moment is in an optimum state. This view that all of nature—past, present, and future—operates by laws of optimization along the lines of Hamilton's principle in the realm of physics is countered by views such as idealism , realism , and philosophical pessimism . Philosophers often link the concept of optimism with the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , who held that we live in

6390-400: The realities and constraints of human ability. They cannot accept failures, delaying any ambitious and productive behavior in fear of failing again. This neuroticism can even lead to clinical depression and low productivity. As an alternative to negative perfectionism, Ben-Shahar suggests the adoption of optimalism. Optimalism allows for failure in pursuit of a goal, and expects that while

6480-554: The recovery process for a number of patients that had undergone surgery. The study showed that optimism was a strong predictor of the rate of recovery. Optimists achieved faster results in "behavioral milestones" such as sitting in bed, walking around, etc. They also were rated by staff as having a more favorable physical recovery. At a six-month follow-up, optimists were quicker to resume normal activities. A number of studies have been done on optimism and psychological well-being. One 30-year study undertaken by Lee et al . (2019) assessed

6570-596: The repertoire, salon music generally fell into a period of obscurity. Even as encores, singers were afraid to sing them at serious recitals. In that period, waltzes also flourished. Operettas were also at the peak of their popularity, with composers such as Johann Strauss III , Emmerich Kálmán , and Franz Lehár . Many Belle Époque composers working in Paris are still popular today: Igor Stravinsky , Erik Satie , Claude Debussy , Lili Boulanger , Jules Massenet , César Franck , Camille Saint-Saëns , Gabriel Fauré and his pupil, Maurice Ravel . According to Fauré and Ravel,

6660-418: The side"—threatening to become toxic positivity . A study involving twins found that optimism is largely inherited at birth. Along with the recognition that childhood experiences determine an individual's outlook, such studies demonstrate the genetic basis for optimism reinforces the recognized difficulty in changing or manipulating the direction of an adult's disposition from pessimist to optimist. One of

6750-743: The tasks of processing and incorporating beliefs regarding good and bad information respectively. The Life Orientation Test (LOT) was designed by Scheier and Carver (1985) to assess dispositional optimism – expecting positive or negative outcomes. It is one of the more popular tests of optimism and pessimism. It was often used in early studies examining these dispositions' effects in health-related domains. Scheier and Carver's initial research, which surveyed college students, found that optimistic participants were less likely to show an increase in symptoms like dizziness, muscle soreness, fatigue, blurred vision, and other physical complaints than pessimistic respondents. There are eight items and four filler items in

6840-866: The term "optimism" differently depending on their research. As with any trait characteristic, there are several ways to evaluate optimism, such as the Life Orientation Test (LOT), an eight-item scale developed in 1985 by Michael Scheier and Charles Carver. Dispositional optimism and pessimism are typically assessed by asking people whether they expect future outcomes to be beneficial or negative (see below). The LOT returns separate optimism and pessimism scores for each individual. Behaviourally, these two scores correlate around r =0.5. Optimistic scores on this scale predict better outcomes in relationships, higher social status , and reduced loss of well-being following adversity. Health-preserving behaviors are associated with optimism while health-damaging behaviors are associated with pessimism. Some have argued that optimism

6930-485: The test. Four are positive items (e.g. "In uncertain times, I usually expect the best") and four are negative items e.g. "If something can go wrong for me, it will." The LOT has been revised twice—once by the original creators (LOT-R) and also by Chang, Maydeu-Olivares, and D'Zurilla as the Extended Life Orientation Test (ELOT). The Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) consists of six items, each scored on

7020-446: The trend of activity is towards the positive, it is not necessary always to succeed while striving towards goals. This basis in reality, prevents the optimalist from being overwhelmed in the face of failure. Optimalists accept failures and learn from them, encouraging further pursuit of achievement. Ben-Shahar believes that optimalists and perfectionists show distinct motives. Optimalists tend to have more intrinsic, inward desires, with

7110-692: The two groups. A meta-analysis confirmed the assumption that optimism is related to psychological well-being: "Put simply, optimists emerge from difficult circumstances with less distress than do pessimists." Furthermore, the correlation appears to be attributable to coping style: "That is, optimists seem intent on facing problems head-on, taking active and constructive steps to solve their problems; pessimists are more likely to abandon their effort to attain their goals." Optimists may respond better to stress: pessimists have shown higher levels of cortisol (the "stress hormone") and trouble regulating cortisol in response to stressors. Another study by Scheier examined

7200-509: The typical sense of the word, is to expect the best possible outcome from any given situation. This is usually referred to in psychology as dispositional optimism. It reflects a belief that future conditions will work out for the best. As a trait , it fosters resilience in the face of stress . Theories of optimism include dispositional models and models of explanatory style . Methods to measure optimism have been developed within both of these theoretical approaches, such as various forms of

7290-435: The upper classes. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as haute couture was invented in Paris, the center of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle. In Paris, restaurants such as Maxim's Paris achieved a new splendor and cachet as places for the rich to parade. Maxim's Paris was arguably the city's most exclusive restaurant. Bohemian lifestyles gained

7380-405: The vulnerability to depression across the lifespan. Many theories assume optimism can be learned , and research supports a modest role of family-environment acting to raise (or lower) optimism and lower (or raise) neuroticism and pessimism. Work utilising brain imaging and biochemistry suggests that at a biological trait level, optimism and pessimism reflect brain systems specialised for

7470-525: The ways people explain events, i.e., that attributions cause these dispositions. An optimist would view defeat as temporary, as something that does not apply to other cases, and as something that is not their fault. Measures of attributional style distinguish three dimensions among explanations for events: Whether these explanations draw on internal versus external causes; whether the causes are viewed as stable versus unstable; and whether explanations apply globally versus being situationally specific. In addition,

7560-415: The wealthy centers of cities. One result of this commuting was suburbanisation allowing working-class and upper-class neighbourhoods to be separated by large distances. Meanwhile, the international workers' movement also reorganised itself and reinforced pan-European, class-based identities among the classes whose labour supported the Belle Époque. The most notable transnational socialist organisation

7650-544: Was a popular 19th-century cabaret style that appears in Toulouse-Lautrec's posters from the era. The Eiffel Tower , built to serve as the grand entrance to the 1889 World's Fair held in Paris, became the accustomed symbol of the city, to its inhabitants and to visitors from around the world. Paris hosted another successful World's Fair in 1900, the Exposition Universelle . Paris had been profoundly changed by

7740-453: Was based on Marie Duplessis , 1840s Paris courtesan and mistress to a number of prominent men, including Dumas. She would famously be portrayed on stage by Sarah Bernhardt . In writing his 1924 play Easy Virtue , Noël Coward stated his object was to present a comedy in the structure of a tragedy "to compare the déclassée woman of to-day with the more flamboyant demi-mondaine of the 1890s." In The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976),

7830-404: Was established. Louis Pasteur was perhaps the most famous scientist in France during this time. Pasteur developed pasteurisation and a rabies vaccine . Mathematician and physicist Henri Poincaré made important contributions to pure and applied mathematics, and also published books for the general public on mathematical and scientific subjects. Marie Skłodowska-Curie worked in France, winning

7920-440: Was mocked by Voltaire in his satirical novel Candide as baseless optimism of the sort exemplified by the beliefs of one of its characters, Dr. Pangloss , which are the opposite of his fellow traveller Martin 's pessimism and emphasis on free will . The optimistic position is also called Panglossianism which became an term for excessive, even stupendous, optimism. The phrase "panglossian pessimism" has been used to describe

8010-433: Was not God's power to create a perfect world, but he created the best among possible worlds. In one of his writings, he responded to Blaise Pascal 's philosophy of awe and desperation in the face of the infinite by claiming that infinity should be celebrated. While Pascal advocated for making man's rational aspirations more humble, Leibniz was optimistic about the capacity of human reason to extend itself further. This idea

8100-692: Was the Second International . Anarchists of different affiliations were active during the period leading up to World War I. Political assassinations and assassination attempts were still rare in France (unlike in Russia) but there were some notable exceptions, including the killing of President Marie François Sadi Carnot in 1894. A bomb was detonated in the Chamber of Deputies of France in 1893, causing injuries but no deaths. Terrorism against civilians also occurred in 1894, perpetrated by Émile Henry , who killed

#23976