HST 492 Research Paper

8/14/2019 HST 492 Research Paper

1/13

Courtney Peloso

History 492

Dr. HughesNovember 23, 2006

The Role of Women in the French Revolution

Liberty, equality, fraternity. Revolutionaries during the French Revolution

preached, fought, and died to make these principles a reality in France. Beginning with the

storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 and lasting until Napoleons coup against the

Directory in 1799, the French Revolution was a period of intense discontent, unrest, and

change. The Revolution transformed France from the corporate society of the Old Regime

to the authoritarian state led by Napoleon Bonaparte, changing the nation in many ways

during the process. French society emerged from the Revolution much more egalitarian,

with the exception of Napoleon. The right to vote and thus influence their government was

granted to all adult males, though to varying degrees of effectiveness during different

Revolutionary phases. This idea of popular sovereignty was an improvement from the

absolutist monarchy of the Old Regime, where the centralized government under the king

made all major decisions without consultation of the people. However, suffrage was never

made entirely equal during the French Revolution; one important group was excluded

women. Although women played a crucial role through their work as salonnires and other

Revolutionary activism, by the end, women had gained little ground in reaching equality

with men. By the end of the Revolution, women were still, and arguably more than ever,

seen as unfit for politics and meant for domestic work only. During this period of intense

social and political change centered upon equality, the feminist movement grew

dramatically, with women continuously calling for their political rights, but to no avail.

1


2/13

The importance of women to the Revolutionary cause can be seen clearest in their

positions as salonnires. The salons hosted by French aristocratic women were essentially

an Old Regime institution, which adapted to the changing times of the Revolution. 1Salons

were hosted by a small group of aristocratic women who both knew and admired one

another.2 Contrary to belief of the men who frequented the salons and to what some

historians believe, salonnires did not open salons as a way to associate themselves with

the powerful and brilliant male figures in France. Rather, these aristocratic women were

concerned with their own education. As historian Dena Goodman says, The initial and

primary purpose of Enlightenment salons was to satisfy the self-determined educational

needs of the women who started them. 3 For example, Suzanne Necker, wife of Jacques

Necker, was first concerned with her own education and the education of her fellow

women above all else, applying her principle of paying attention to the time spent in her

salon. Necker believed that The great secret of conversation is continual attention,4 and

through making sure the men who attended her salon obeyed this principle, she created a

place solely focused on the development, exchange, critique, and collaboration of ideas.5

Becoming asalonnire was a career for women that required a long apprenticeship

before becoming independent and opening ones own salon. Salonnire falls under the

category of careers because it involved firm commitment and life-long work, but these

women did not gain economically. The benefits they assumed through the social gatherings

in their salons were purely intellectual.

1Steven D. Kale,French Salons (John Hopkins University Press, 2004), p. 32Dena Goodman, The Republic of Letters: A Cultural History of the French Enlightenment

(Cornell University Press, 1994), p. 743Goodman, The Republic of Letters, p. 764Suzanne Necker, Mlanges (Paris, 1798), 3:2975Goodman, The Republic of Letters, p. 81

2


3/13

These gatherings were central to le monde, or high society. During the Old Regime,

topics of discussion at these salons included literature, art, fashion, and business, which

were the important issues concerning the elites of the day. Enlightenment ideas and

theories were also popular subjects of discussion. During the Old Regime, these salons

were centers of literary and artistic criticism, known for the intelligence, wit, and good

manners existing there.6The good manners that were an essential characteristic of French

salons during the Old Regime were emphasized and monitored by the female hostesses of

these gatherings. To ensure the smooth functioning of the salon, aristocratic women

applied the rules of polite conversation to the discussions. The salonnires served as

mediators, managing the debate and discussion between the men attending the salon

gatherings.7 The rules imposed bysalonnires were intended to maintain the respectability

and propriety of these institutions.8However, according to historians such as Alan Charles

Kors, the rules of polite conversation that were so important to the salonnires limited the

free speech, truth, and debate that should have been part of salon discussion. Among the

rules that the women emphasized were the impoliteness of pessimism, questioning the

womens religious beliefs, and quarreling, especially when done in a sincere and

unrelenting manner.9 The ability of women to control and monitor the events at their salon

meetings was a source of power and prestige for women of Old Regime society.

6Amelia Gere Mason, The Women of the French Salons (The Worldwide School, 2000),

Chapter XVII7

Kale,French Salons, p. 38 Goodman, The Republic of Letters, p. 59. Some critics claim that the proprietyemphasized by the salonnires was hypocritical due to their improper actions, such as

acting scandalously by taking lovers. These critics, such as Alan Charles Kors, say that

these women applied the rules of polite conversation for their own selfish ends, includingthe praise and glory resulting from running a proper, respectable salon.9Alan Charles Kors,DHolbachs Coterie: An Enlightenment in Paris (Princeton, 1976), p.

92

3


4/13

One of the key characteristics of the salons of French mondanit, or society life,

was the avenue of sociability they provided. Salons provided for sociability between the

sexes, with women as hostesses and men as attendants. However, sociability was not only

encouraged between the sexes, but between different classes of people as well. During the

Old Regime, society was structured hierarchically, through a corporate system of Estates.

The First Estate consisted of the clergy, the Second of the nobility, while the Third

constituted the rest of society. Through a strict system of privileges, the First and Second

Estates held power in Old Regime society, with little allowance for social mobility. The

French salons, although hosted by women of the aristocratic class, were attended by

members of the bourgeoisie as well. The bourgeoisie, although wealthier than the other

sections, the working class and the peasantry, were still members of the Third Estate. The

presence of the bourgeoisie at the aristocratic salons allowed for an intermingling between

the classes and the clash of their ideals, as well.10 For the nobility, courage, honor,

reputation, and prestige were important qualities. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand,

valued virtue, honesty, and merit. The bourgeoisie attendants of the aristocratic salons

played a significant role in the discussion of Enlightenment ideas, as they were influenced

more by its principles than the aristocracy was.

When the Revolution broke out in 1789, the makeup of French salons and their

function changed. Although it did not alter the salons status as an institution for elite

socialization, the Revolution did modify the topic of conversation. The Revolution

politicized the salons of French society, allowing the salonnires and the participants, or

habitus, to combine the critical reflection of the Enlightenment with politics, helping to

10 Kale,French Salons, p. 10

4


5/13

shape public opinion to embrace Revolutionary ideas.11 The conversations in the salon

became more opinionated and argumentative, but for the most part the old rules of polite

conversation persisted. The adaptive nature of French salons due to its anchorage to

cultural norms allowed these public institutions to persist throughout the societal change of

the early French Revolution. The basic features of the salon, including location within

luxurious aristocratic homes, female control, and select guest lists, remained the same as

the Revolution took hold. French salons also had the advantage of being flexible

institutions whose size, location, and function could easily be altered, adding to the reason

for the persistence of the salons throughout times of change.12

The outbreak of the Revolution changed the topic of conversation from

philosophical, Enlightenment discussion to a more political agenda. Although many

salonnires tried to keep political discussion to a minimum within their salons, keeping the

discussion centered upon literary works and philosophy, most were forced to concede.

Society was becoming increasingly politicized and it was these political issues men wished

to discuss when gathered at a salon. Some salonnires, such as Madame Necker, who dealt

with her daughter, Madame de Staels political friends and those of her politically active

husband, tried to preserve the philosophical nature of her salon by scheduling certain times

where political issues could not be discussed.13Others, such as Madame Roland, welcomed

the politicization of their salons, allowing them to become the rallying points of different

political parties.14 Although a salon normally developed a certain clientele holding similar

11Kale,French Salons, p. 4612Kale,French Salons, p. 313Kale,French Salons, p. 4814Mason, The Women of the French Salons, Chapter XVII

5


6/13

political views, they were not as strictly divided as political clubs. To diversify the

habitus, asalonnire could simply expand or alter her guest list.15

Unlike othersalonnires, Madame Marie-Jeanne Roland allowed her salon, which

she hosted at the Htel britannique on the rue Gungaud, to become extremely politicized.

Rolands salon developed into more of a political conference than a traditional salon. 16

According to Laure Abrants, Rolands salon was a center that aided in the

centraliz[ation] of the Girondin faction of republican ideology.17 The inner circle of the

Girondin, including Brissot, Barbaroux, and Buzot, made up the group of regulars that

frequented Madame Rolands salon. Her husband, Jean-Marie Roland, who served as

minister of the interior in 1792 when the notoriety of the Roland salon was at its peak, was

another important member of the Girondin party. Although Madame Rolands salon was

mostly made up of the regular attendants, the central figures of the Girondin party, other

well-known guests could occasionally be seen at that venue, including Maximillien

Robespierre and Marquis de Condorcet. Females were excluded from the guest list of the

Roland salon, save for Madame Roland herself.18 Many of the political ideas the Girondin

presented at the National Assembly originated and were worked out in the home of

Madame Roland.19

Madame Roland also differed from the salonnires of the past, as well as some of

her contemporaries, such as Madame de Stael, in that she did not, for the most part, take a

direct part in the conversations held in her salon. She sat quietly on the outskirts of the

15Kale,French Salons, p. 49-5016Kale,French Salons, p. 5517Laure Junot Abrants, Salons rvolutionnaires (Paris: France Empire, 1989), p. 8718Kale,French Salons, p. 5519Mason, The Women of the French Salons, Chapter XVII

6


7/13

conversation, all the while paying close attention to what was discussed. Of herself, Roland

said, [t]his disposition suited me perfectly; it kept me abreast of things in which I took an

active interest, but I never went beyond the limits imposed upon my sex.20 Madame

Roland prided herself on keeping with the principles of aristocratic propriety expected of

women of her social stature. This difference between women such as de Stael and Roland

derives more so from differences in background rather than a difference in personality.

Madame de Stael was of aristocratic origin, while Madame Roland was born to a

bourgeoisie family. This accounted for a difference in the way these women saw

themselves; de Stael saw herself as a very public person, and therefore became an

instrument of political activism in her salon, while Roland believed women should not

outspokenly contribute to political work.21 During her trial on November 8, 1793, when

repeatedly asked to admit she was the director of a secret society whose purpose it was

to further the Federalist cause, she insisted that she had only engaged in casual, public

conversation and worked as her husbands secretary while his political friends were guests

in her home and salon. Her insistence of this was to no avail, however, because she was

indicted for counterrevolutionary conspiracy because of her letters and the private

conversations she denied having.22

Although she claims to have not actively participated in much of the political

discussion held in her home, Madame Roland was the soul of the Gironde.23 Historians

of the period such as Abrants and Dominique Godineau are not convinced of Rolands

20Kale,French Salons, p. 5621Kale,French Salons, p.5722 Carla Alison Hesse, The Other Enlightenment: How French Women Became Modern

(Princeton University Press, 2001), p. 7-923Madame Roland & Edward Gilpin Johnson, The Private Memoirs of Madame Roland

(A.C. McClurg & Co. Publishers), p. 14

7


8/13

silence. Godineau insists that Madame Roland not merely received company but directed

the discussions and exerted a real influence on the guests. 24 Similarly, Abrants argues

that even in silence, Roland forced her hidden direction upon the men that attended her

salon gatherings, thus making her an integral part of the ideas that constituted laws later

becoming part of the civil code in France.25 Also along these lines, Madame Roland was

seen to have a great influence on her husband, and therefore an impact on his political

work of minister of the interior. In September of 1792, Georges Jacques Danton ridiculed

Monseigneur Roland when it was proposed to the National Convention that he continue to

hold the position of minister of the interior by saying, I suggest that if you invite him to

be Minister, you should also extend the invitation to Madame Roland, for everyone knows

that he was not alone in his department! Jean-Paul Marat, a journalist associated with the

radical Jacobin faction, used Madame Roland as a way of assaulting the Girondin. He

claimed that it was she, rather than her husband, who actually ran the Ministry of the

Interior. He related her to the then hated Queen Marie Antoinette, saying that she was a

siren who distributed her favors to her most submissive adorers.26

Besides working as salonnires, women played other significant roles in

revolutionary activism during the French Revolution. Before the Estates General met in

May of 1789, King Louis XVI called for people of all classes of society to draw up cahiers

de dolances, which were essentially letters of complaint and grievance, telling the

government what they would like changed. Most women did not participate in the

24 Dominique Godineau, The Women of the French Revolution (University of California

Press, 1988)25Abrants, Salons rvolutionnaires, p. 6826Joan B. Landes, Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution

(Cornell University Press, 1988), p. 119

8


9/13

development of the cahiers de dolances, with the few known ones of female authorship

originating in the religious communities and trade societies. However, women did

participate in creating unofficial grievances in the form of political pamphlets and other

publications. These pamphlets reveal a lot about the state of feminist ideology in France at

the time. Some pamphlets call for a return to the old system of moral justice, while

others show an increasing desire to call out for the rights of women. The working class

women of France desired more freedom within the market and release from the constraints

of the laws of the Old Regime. In addition to the right to freely practice their respective

trades, these Third Estate women also appeal to their King for the right to an education,

both in the moral and practical sense. For example, they discuss the tragedies that befall an

uneducated girl in society, who easily becomes the prey of a seducer, only to fall into

licentious ways.27

One of the most important roles women played during the French Revolution was

their participation in the events of October 1789. This was an essential time in the

Revolution, where its fate truly hung in the balance.28 During the previous summer, women

began to engage in dress rehearsals for the march to Versailles through processions

monitored by the National Guard. These female marchers were showing the rest of French

society that they had the right to participate in public affairs of their concern. These

rehearsals led up to the events of October 5, 1789.

October of 1789 was a time of increasing food shortage, with many people living at

or under the subsistence level. The shortage of bread was a cause for great concern for the

women of France, as it was their responsibility to ensure their families were fed and cared

27Landes, Women and the Public Sphere, p. 107-10928http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap5a.html, Women and the Revolution, p.1

9


10/13

for. This food shortage was leading to increasing discontent among the Third Estate. As the

people were reaching their breaking point, rumor arose that the Kings revolutionary

guards were planning to begin counterrevolutionary activity. Already enraged due to the

food shortage, this was the final push for the women of Paris. The Parisian women took up

a march to the palace of Versailles, where the king and his family were located, with the

intent of demanded bread. During the difficult twelve mile march from the city to the

palace, the crowd following the women grew and grew, amounting to several thousand

people.29 When they finally arrived in Paris, the crowd had grown increasingly chaotic,

with the participants eventually breaking into the National Assembly as well as the royal

apartments. When appealing to the King for bread, they referred to him as the baker and

Marie Antoinette as the bakers wife. They succeeded in achieving a promise of food

from the King, as well as his promise to move his royal family back to Paris so as to

prevent further bloodshed.30

On the night of October 5, the women entered the National Assembly, taking over

the discussions, exerting again, there power to be involved in public matters of their

concern. They continuously called upon the deputies of the Assembly to discuss the issue

that caused the most discontent at the time the food shortage. By doing so, the women

were showing their right to legislate directly, backing up the law with armed force if need

be.31 This first riot and demand for food preceded other bread riots that would occur later

in the Revolution, including those of February 1792 and February 1793.32

29 http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap5a.html, Women and the Revolution, p.130Landes, Women and the Public Sphere, p. 11031 Landes, Women and the Public Sphere, p. 11032 http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap5b.html, p. 2

10


11/13

The fight for political rights for women in French society grew through the

increasing amount of material of female authorship published during the Revolution.

Women produced various kinds of written material during this time; they wrote in every

genre and from all sides of the political spectrum.33During the Revolution, women found

a new public voice in the production of written material.34 The written word provided a

way in which these women could make there ideas public and spread them to others in

society. This new voice through the written word was one of the primary ways women

during the French Revolution tried to make their quest for equality and political rights a

reality.

One of the most important publications dealing with womens rights during

produced in Revolutionary France was theDeclaration of the Rights of Woman , written by

Marie Gouze, better known as Olympe de Gouges. De Gouges wrote this declaration in

September of 1791 in response to the earlierDeclaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

In her declaration, de Gouges discusses the natural, inalienable rights of women. She

insists that women should be included in the promises that theDeclaration of the Rights of

Man and Citizen to the men. De Gouges calls for equality of justice and the right to

participate in the political sphere of French society. In this document, she also calls for the

creation and protection of the rights of women and children, including those born out of

wedlock.35 She did not gain a lot of support for this document, but she did however create a

name for herself through it publication. She remained one of the forerunners of feminist

political activism until her execution in 1793.36

33Hesse, The Other Enlightenment, p. 54-5534Hesse, The Other Enlightenment, p. 3335 Landes, Women and the Public Sphere, p. 124-12736 http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap5b.html, p. 2

11


12/13


13/13

masculine area. Under Napoleons post Revolutionary government, women were, more

than ever, seen as fit only to work in the home. Napoleon himself believed in the

importance of women to domestic life, and her lack of importance in political life.39

Even though women did not succeed in legally gaining the right to participate in

politics, they did succeed in furthering the feminist cause. Feminist ideas were everywhere

during the Revolution, published by authors such as de Gouge and discussed by women

within political parties, such as the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women. The

outpouring of feminist ideology during the French Revolution helped to shape and advance

the overall feminist movement within Europe. The ideas published by French women, as

well as the points made by those who engaged in all types of Revolutionary activism,

proved the power of women. Although not recognized by the male dominated government

of their time, the power of women shown through their involvement in the French

Revolution increased the feminist movement within France.40

39Hesse, The Other Enlightenment, p. 5540Hesse, The Other Enlightenment, p. 55

13

HST 492 Research Paper

Documents

Transcript of HST 492 Research Paper