Discontent is growing amongst the French people, the lower and middle classes want freedom, but what is freedom and what does it mean to have it? This will be the question for the philosophers, writers, artists, and statesmen of mid-18th century France. A movement known as the Enlightenment is spreading across Europe,  taking root in the underground presses and circles of intellectuals and common men alike, jump-starting necessary conversations surrounding human rights, democracy, and justice. In the gathering places of salons, diverse influential figures will be able to join forces to contest the oppression of absolute monarchy, debate and define the bounds of a liberated society, stoke revolutionary sentiments, and ultimately shape the freedoms of mankind in Western society.