Mirbeau is best known for writing intensely polemical and satirical works in which he attacked many of the institutions and individuals representing the established social and political order of his time. The targets of Mirbeau's wrath included the Catholic Church, the bourgeoisie, the government of the French Third Republic, politicians, foreigners, and his numerous personal enemies. Critics have noted that although his political views changed during the course of his life from monarchist to Bonapartist to republican, and finally to anarchist, throughout his career Mirbeau consistently championed the causes of individual liberty and intellectual honesty.