22. 1700-1850 The Enlightenment and Women
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The Enlightenment period is well known for the philosophical and societal changes it brought to our modern day world, however, women also found their place during this time period. There were great female leaders, such as Catherine the Great or Olympe de Gouges, that would go on to inspire women of future suffrage movements and women today. Defying male and societal expectations became a reoccurring pattern during this time.
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Wikimedia Commons
The Enlightenment Period was a time of social upheaval and restructuring of western societies. Nobilities were overthrown in favor of democracies. Men previously bound to live lives similar to their fathers finally found opportunities in government and commerce. And while these changes would catapult the world forward into the modern era, it would be over a century before the same principles would be extended to women. Throughout the west, the hypocrisy of the enlightenment era was abundant. In kingdoms and empires where female monarchs had been relatively routine, women would be barred from the politics of the democracies that replaced them. It’s important that we ask, enlightened for whom?
The Bad: Despite the Protestant Reformation in Europe and the relative progress it brought to women’s education, the general view by men of women’s intellect and need for education was still overwhelmingly negative. Although change did not seem apparent, there was a small social revolution occurring with all the Enlightenment and Revolutionary talk of the period– women were bound to grab hold.
Across the western world, the rise in state-sponsored schools was motivated by the Protestant belief that it was the duty of the family, church, and state to educate every child, male and female, to gain spiritual understanding. Boys were first, but girls followed– but it was painfully slow– almost two centuries from when a public boys school opened in the region.
Male attitudes toward women’s intellectual promise remained steadfast. Even profound thinkers of the time could not fathom the need for women’s education. For example...
The Bad: Despite the Protestant Reformation in Europe and the relative progress it brought to women’s education, the general view by men of women’s intellect and need for education was still overwhelmingly negative. Although change did not seem apparent, there was a small social revolution occurring with all the Enlightenment and Revolutionary talk of the period– women were bound to grab hold.
Across the western world, the rise in state-sponsored schools was motivated by the Protestant belief that it was the duty of the family, church, and state to educate every child, male and female, to gain spiritual understanding. Boys were first, but girls followed– but it was painfully slow– almost two centuries from when a public boys school opened in the region.
Male attitudes toward women’s intellectual promise remained steadfast. Even profound thinkers of the time could not fathom the need for women’s education. For example...
Ideal Role of Women in Enlightenment, Public Domain
Immanuel Kant felt women were like incomplete men, stating, “[M]an should become more perfect as a man, and the woman as a wife.” To belittle women further, he added, “[Women] need to know nothing more of the cosmos than is necessary to make the appearance of the heavens on a beautiful evening a stimulating sight to them.” Unsatisfied with his degradation of women, and perhaps confronted by an intellectual woman, he continued, “Even if a woman excels in arduous learning and painstaking thinking, they will exterminate the merits of her sex.”
Another intellectual, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, wrote, “[A woman’s] dignity requires that she should give herself entirely as she is [to her husband] and . . . utterly lose herself in him. The least consequence is that she should renounce to him all her property and her rights. Henceforth, she has life and activity only under his eyes and in his business. She has ceased to live the life of an individual; her life has become a part of the life of her lover… Woman . . . cannot and shall not go beyond the limits of her feeling.”
Despite all the years separating them from the Romans, these men were stuck in Ancient thinking. It was certainly an evolution from the outright vile spewed at women of previous periods in European history, but it was still a dreadfully low view of women’s potential, like Dead Sea low.
Another intellectual, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, wrote, “[A woman’s] dignity requires that she should give herself entirely as she is [to her husband] and . . . utterly lose herself in him. The least consequence is that she should renounce to him all her property and her rights. Henceforth, she has life and activity only under his eyes and in his business. She has ceased to live the life of an individual; her life has become a part of the life of her lover… Woman . . . cannot and shall not go beyond the limits of her feeling.”
Despite all the years separating them from the Romans, these men were stuck in Ancient thinking. It was certainly an evolution from the outright vile spewed at women of previous periods in European history, but it was still a dreadfully low view of women’s potential, like Dead Sea low.
Salons and Coffeehouses: Women, however, would find their place in intellectualism. In France, the laws barred the gathering of intellectuals and political criticism, and women of the aristocracy became increasingly involved in observing thinkers in “Salons.” Madame Rambouillet’s salon, known as “le Chambre Bleu” opened in 1618 as an escape from the shallow and rigid court life. There, great minds sang, recited poetry, and talked about ideas. Her model was quickly copied by other hostesses around Paris.
Women who managed salons could hold their own with their patrons. They were educated, literate, versed in mediation, and wealthy. They selected their patrons with care, sometimes requiring a letter of recommendation for entrance. These Salonierre’s managed conversations with ease, others with iron fists. Madame de Tencin and Mademoiselle Lespinasse had more liberal approaches to their guests diving into divisive topics like politics. Whereas Madame Geoffrin and Madame de Rambouillet, strictly managed the topics. If conversation waned or became uncomfortably dangerous, Geoffrin would put an end to the discussion with her famous simple phrase “Voilà qui est bien,” or “That’s enough.” Intellectuals from around Europe came to participate. The salons established a haven for French intellectuals to discuss ideas freely and women had a front seat. Nobody puts bébé in a corner!
Even the King’s official mistress was in on it! Jeanne Antionnette Poisson, better known as Madame Pompadour, used her position and wealth to host thinkers like Voltaire and Diderot. She also lobbied for the publication of France's first encyclopedia– a means to get knowledge to anyone who could read. Pompadour has perhaps been mistreated in history for using sex to influence over the King, but in the sheltered court at Versailles, everyone was doing it–syphillis be damned! The King relied on her as an advisor, sometimes de facto prime minister, but she was also patron of the arts and intellectuals.
Women who managed salons could hold their own with their patrons. They were educated, literate, versed in mediation, and wealthy. They selected their patrons with care, sometimes requiring a letter of recommendation for entrance. These Salonierre’s managed conversations with ease, others with iron fists. Madame de Tencin and Mademoiselle Lespinasse had more liberal approaches to their guests diving into divisive topics like politics. Whereas Madame Geoffrin and Madame de Rambouillet, strictly managed the topics. If conversation waned or became uncomfortably dangerous, Geoffrin would put an end to the discussion with her famous simple phrase “Voilà qui est bien,” or “That’s enough.” Intellectuals from around Europe came to participate. The salons established a haven for French intellectuals to discuss ideas freely and women had a front seat. Nobody puts bébé in a corner!
Even the King’s official mistress was in on it! Jeanne Antionnette Poisson, better known as Madame Pompadour, used her position and wealth to host thinkers like Voltaire and Diderot. She also lobbied for the publication of France's first encyclopedia– a means to get knowledge to anyone who could read. Pompadour has perhaps been mistreated in history for using sex to influence over the King, but in the sheltered court at Versailles, everyone was doing it–syphillis be damned! The King relied on her as an advisor, sometimes de facto prime minister, but she was also patron of the arts and intellectuals.
Jeanne Antionnette Poisson, better known as Madame Pompadour, Wikimedia Commons
Not all intellectuals enjoyed the salons. Jean-Jacques Rousseau felt that women’s presence in the salons degraded serious conversation between men. He also resented women micromanaging the conversation. He said, “they talk about everything so everyone will have something to say; they do not explore questions deeply, for fear of becoming tedious, they propose them as if in passing, deal with them rapidly, precision leads to elegance; each states his opinion and supports it in few words; no one vehemently attacks someone else’s, no one tenaciously defends his own; they discuss for enlightenment, stop before the dispute begins; everyone is instructed, everyone is entertained, all go away contented.” While we might read that as a positive thing, he was appalled.
Across the channel, the coffee houses of the Islamic world made it to Oxford in 1652. The coffee houses of England were where thinkers came to discuss ideas, science, and chatter. Each coffee house had a particular clientele, defined by scholarly interests, politics, or occupation. The coffeehouses created a sense of meritocracy and leveled the playing field to allow for the sharing of ideas.
Although the houses expressly barred women entry, it is highly likely women frequently attended as these were places of “sober” discourse. Famous male intellectuals wrote accounts where they described conversing with women at the coffee house– although these may have been describing prostitutes who worked there. In fact, most women at these houses were there to work in some capacity. Women owned, managed, labored and served in coffeehouses across the United Kingdom.
Women in English coffeehouses were relegated to the help, while French women ran the show in the Salon. The presence of women in Salons and absence in coffeehouses led to these two places having very different atmospheres for intellectual discussion. Coffee house debates got a little rowdy, whereas Salons maintained the respectability harshly lamented by Rousseau.
However, women were not merely the hostesses, they also thought and wrote extensively on enlightenment ideas. Their works and theories were widely read by their male peers and became staples of enlightenment thinking. Of course many of those ideas that extended to women were all but ignored.
Across the channel, the coffee houses of the Islamic world made it to Oxford in 1652. The coffee houses of England were where thinkers came to discuss ideas, science, and chatter. Each coffee house had a particular clientele, defined by scholarly interests, politics, or occupation. The coffeehouses created a sense of meritocracy and leveled the playing field to allow for the sharing of ideas.
Although the houses expressly barred women entry, it is highly likely women frequently attended as these were places of “sober” discourse. Famous male intellectuals wrote accounts where they described conversing with women at the coffee house– although these may have been describing prostitutes who worked there. In fact, most women at these houses were there to work in some capacity. Women owned, managed, labored and served in coffeehouses across the United Kingdom.
Women in English coffeehouses were relegated to the help, while French women ran the show in the Salon. The presence of women in Salons and absence in coffeehouses led to these two places having very different atmospheres for intellectual discussion. Coffee house debates got a little rowdy, whereas Salons maintained the respectability harshly lamented by Rousseau.
However, women were not merely the hostesses, they also thought and wrote extensively on enlightenment ideas. Their works and theories were widely read by their male peers and became staples of enlightenment thinking. Of course many of those ideas that extended to women were all but ignored.
Maria Theresa, Wikimedia Commons
Maria Theresa: Some monarchs chose to embrace enlightenment thinking. Maria Theresa, the Habsburg queen considered the grandmother of Europe because so many of her children were married off to be royalty around Europe, ruled in her own right as Empress of the Austria Hungarian Empire, a position she inherited because of a special provision written by her father. Initially her role was challenged from the outside by invading armies when she was just a young pregnant mother. But after successfully winning these military engagements, Theresa sought to stabilize her empire and bring it into a period of growth. She was a vocal opponent of enlightenment thinking, but oddly embraced enlightenment ideas: she expanded access to education, improved meritocracy in government positions, and instigated a number of social reforms to help the poor.
She promoted schools and in particular women’s education, a rather Enlightened idea. Her stated goal was, “to make both sexes good Christians, and industrious, intelligent, and obedient subjects in the different orders of society.”
She promoted schools and in particular women’s education, a rather Enlightened idea. Her stated goal was, “to make both sexes good Christians, and industrious, intelligent, and obedient subjects in the different orders of society.”
Catherine the Great, Wikimedia Commons
Catherine the Great: In Russia, another monarch dodged political revolution by adopting enlightenment ideas. Following the westernization reforms of Peter the Great, in the 1760s, Catherine the Great further shifted the cultural and intellectual Russian world.
Catherine was born in 1729, the well educated, eldest daughter of an impoverished Prussian prince. She was sought by the Russian Empress Elizabeth to marry Elizabeth’s nephew, Peter, a descendant of Peter the Great.
A product of the Enlightenment, Catherine was disappointed at the ineptitude of her spouse. Catherine and the younger Peter were married for eight years in what was, by all accounts, a rocky and childless marriage. They both had extra-marital affairs at court, her with Sergei Saltykov, a Russian military officer whom the Empress Elizabeth supported over her own nephew.
Soon after, Catherine became pregnant. This led to wild scandal that perhaps Peter was either sterile or incapable of consummating their marriage. Her son Paul was deemed a legitimate heir, but there was no question that her subsequent three children were fathered by other men.
When Elizabeth died in 1762, Peter's inability to lead was quickly evident. Catherine plotted a bloodless coup to arrest and overthrow her own husband! In custody for only eight days, having ruled for less than six months, Peter died, possibly at the hands of Catherine’s new lover, though there is no evidence that she knew of the plans for his murder
Catherine’s reign was marked by vast territorial expansion and attempts at governmental reforms. Catherine considered herself to be one of Europe’s most enlightened rulers, and historians agree! She wrote numerous books, pamphlets and educational materials aimed at improving Russia’s education system. She was a champion of the arts, keeping up a lifelong correspondence with Voltaire and other prominent minds of the era. She was also one of those rare elite women who used their position to help other women, establishing the first higher education institution for women in Russia.
Historians and contemporaries loved to gossip about Catherine’s love life, which included a lot of lovers whom she was incredibly loyal to throughout and after their love affairs. Had she been male, these love affairs probably would have hardly been mentioned in chronicles. She bestowed upon her lovers indentured servants, land, and titles. When Catherine died, her unconventional and apparently “lustful life” was an open secret.
Catherine was born in 1729, the well educated, eldest daughter of an impoverished Prussian prince. She was sought by the Russian Empress Elizabeth to marry Elizabeth’s nephew, Peter, a descendant of Peter the Great.
A product of the Enlightenment, Catherine was disappointed at the ineptitude of her spouse. Catherine and the younger Peter were married for eight years in what was, by all accounts, a rocky and childless marriage. They both had extra-marital affairs at court, her with Sergei Saltykov, a Russian military officer whom the Empress Elizabeth supported over her own nephew.
Soon after, Catherine became pregnant. This led to wild scandal that perhaps Peter was either sterile or incapable of consummating their marriage. Her son Paul was deemed a legitimate heir, but there was no question that her subsequent three children were fathered by other men.
When Elizabeth died in 1762, Peter's inability to lead was quickly evident. Catherine plotted a bloodless coup to arrest and overthrow her own husband! In custody for only eight days, having ruled for less than six months, Peter died, possibly at the hands of Catherine’s new lover, though there is no evidence that she knew of the plans for his murder
Catherine’s reign was marked by vast territorial expansion and attempts at governmental reforms. Catherine considered herself to be one of Europe’s most enlightened rulers, and historians agree! She wrote numerous books, pamphlets and educational materials aimed at improving Russia’s education system. She was a champion of the arts, keeping up a lifelong correspondence with Voltaire and other prominent minds of the era. She was also one of those rare elite women who used their position to help other women, establishing the first higher education institution for women in Russia.
Historians and contemporaries loved to gossip about Catherine’s love life, which included a lot of lovers whom she was incredibly loyal to throughout and after their love affairs. Had she been male, these love affairs probably would have hardly been mentioned in chronicles. She bestowed upon her lovers indentured servants, land, and titles. When Catherine died, her unconventional and apparently “lustful life” was an open secret.
Theroigne de Mericourt, Wikimedia Commons
American Revolution: But not all monarchs embraced Enlightenment thinking, and they paid dearly for it. The American Revolution was the first political revolution as a result of enlightenment thought. Women were foundational in rallying support for the war and imagining the government that would replace the English rule they found increasingly taxing. Learn more about the integral role women played in the Revolution in our chapter in the US series.
French Revolution: Across the ocean, inspired by the American Revolution, French revolutionaries saw an opportunity to overthrow the corrupt King Louis and his unscrupulous wife, Marie Antoinette, the daughter of Maria Teresa. France was divided into three estates: the first was the nobility who represented about 1% of the population, the second was the church which again represented 1% of the population, and the other 98% of the population was the commoners who lived in abject poverty. Marie Antoinette lived at the palace of Versailles, a hugely expensive and elaborate estate built by previous Kings. Here she hosted elaborate parties and bought gowns to the envy of the world although the people were starving for basic necessities, like bread.
For years the commoners tried to negotiate. They asked for greater representation in the legislature. When the nobility refused, they broke off forming their own legislature. In May 1789 the commoners declared themselves a National Assembly, which would operate outside the monarchy’s supervision. In response, King Louis XVI shut down the spaces where they were meeting, so the men gathered in an indoor tennis court and pledged their unity until France had a new constitution. Women were excluded from these events. They routinely asked for a seat at the table and were routinely denied.
All out rebellion in France began on July 14, 1789 when a Paris mob stormed the Bastille fortress prison in search of arms and ammunition. At the time, over 30,000 pounds of gunpowder was stored. The Bastille, to them, was also a symbol of the monarchy's tyranny. And of course women were there. In fact, women were at the front. A woman, dressed like an Amazon, led the attack. She was a 26-year-old Belgian named Theroigne de Mericourt. She had only recently moved to Paris to escape a painful past as a prostitute. In full rebellion already, she had dressed in men’s clothes and embraced the revolutionary spirit of France full on. Royalists called her the “patriots’ whore“ and the hideous “war chief“ of the revolution. Her background as a prostitute didn’t help when they accused her of having sex with all 576 members of the National Assembly.
French Revolution: Across the ocean, inspired by the American Revolution, French revolutionaries saw an opportunity to overthrow the corrupt King Louis and his unscrupulous wife, Marie Antoinette, the daughter of Maria Teresa. France was divided into three estates: the first was the nobility who represented about 1% of the population, the second was the church which again represented 1% of the population, and the other 98% of the population was the commoners who lived in abject poverty. Marie Antoinette lived at the palace of Versailles, a hugely expensive and elaborate estate built by previous Kings. Here she hosted elaborate parties and bought gowns to the envy of the world although the people were starving for basic necessities, like bread.
For years the commoners tried to negotiate. They asked for greater representation in the legislature. When the nobility refused, they broke off forming their own legislature. In May 1789 the commoners declared themselves a National Assembly, which would operate outside the monarchy’s supervision. In response, King Louis XVI shut down the spaces where they were meeting, so the men gathered in an indoor tennis court and pledged their unity until France had a new constitution. Women were excluded from these events. They routinely asked for a seat at the table and were routinely denied.
All out rebellion in France began on July 14, 1789 when a Paris mob stormed the Bastille fortress prison in search of arms and ammunition. At the time, over 30,000 pounds of gunpowder was stored. The Bastille, to them, was also a symbol of the monarchy's tyranny. And of course women were there. In fact, women were at the front. A woman, dressed like an Amazon, led the attack. She was a 26-year-old Belgian named Theroigne de Mericourt. She had only recently moved to Paris to escape a painful past as a prostitute. In full rebellion already, she had dressed in men’s clothes and embraced the revolutionary spirit of France full on. Royalists called her the “patriots’ whore“ and the hideous “war chief“ of the revolution. Her background as a prostitute didn’t help when they accused her of having sex with all 576 members of the National Assembly.
Women's March on Versailles, Wikimedia Commons
Women’s March on Versaille: Three months later women again led the charge again in the Women’s March on Versailles. Why were women leading the charge? Because women were suffering more. As caregivers they often fed their families before they fed themselves-- a sexist expectation in a patriarchal society. They were hungrier and angrier as they watched their own children deteriorate due to the lack of bread, while women in the aristocracy thrived in elegant gowns and at extravagant dinner parties.
On October 5, 1789, a young woman marched through the streets of Paris beating a drum. She was joined by around seven thousand of her fellow countrywomen, some wielding makeshift weapons. They seized a church and began ringing the bells to wake their countrymen, all the while chanting “When will we have bread?” A group of fishwives, who were perhaps the rowdiest of the marchers and famously vulgar, began shouting, “The old order? We don’t give a f*** for your order!”
The mob was only dissuaded from all out lynching when officials steered their anger toward the Man in charge: King Louis. The mob marched six hours to the Palace of Versailles where they were greeted with refreshments. Women shouted proclamations of outrage and that they had come to overthrow those who were not serving the will of the people. Women began chanting anti-clerical slogans. One woman slapped a priest who offered his hand in greeting, stating, "I am not made to kiss the paw of a dog.”
On October 5, 1789, a young woman marched through the streets of Paris beating a drum. She was joined by around seven thousand of her fellow countrywomen, some wielding makeshift weapons. They seized a church and began ringing the bells to wake their countrymen, all the while chanting “When will we have bread?” A group of fishwives, who were perhaps the rowdiest of the marchers and famously vulgar, began shouting, “The old order? We don’t give a f*** for your order!”
The mob was only dissuaded from all out lynching when officials steered their anger toward the Man in charge: King Louis. The mob marched six hours to the Palace of Versailles where they were greeted with refreshments. Women shouted proclamations of outrage and that they had come to overthrow those who were not serving the will of the people. Women began chanting anti-clerical slogans. One woman slapped a priest who offered his hand in greeting, stating, "I am not made to kiss the paw of a dog.”
Queen Marie Antoinette, Wikimedia Commons
It took a while to calm the crowd and elect a delegation of six women to see the King. One of the selected, Pierrette Chabry, was only seventeen, and fainted when she saw the King. Louis promised them that food would be sent to Paris to feed the hungry.
Early the next morning, an armed group of people broke into the royal apartments screaming that they intended to "tear out [the Queen Marie Antoinette’s] heart…cut off her head, fricassee her liver.” Two guards were murdered in the process. Marie Antoinette ran barefoot from her room shouting for someone to save her children. The intruders were stopped by National Guardsmen who whisked the Queen and her children away.
Just hours later, the Queen would appear on a balcony in front of this wild crowd of 60 thousand or more people to perform a show of faith. Their home surrounded, the family had no choice but to go to Paris. The King announced, "My friends, I shall go to Paris with my wife and my children…it is to the love of my good and faithful subjects that I entrust all that is most precious to me!"
The crowd followed the royal family and wagons full of flour and bread to Paris. Women reveled in their victory singing that they were bringing "the baker, the baker's wife, and the baker's lad to Paris!"
Early the next morning, an armed group of people broke into the royal apartments screaming that they intended to "tear out [the Queen Marie Antoinette’s] heart…cut off her head, fricassee her liver.” Two guards were murdered in the process. Marie Antoinette ran barefoot from her room shouting for someone to save her children. The intruders were stopped by National Guardsmen who whisked the Queen and her children away.
Just hours later, the Queen would appear on a balcony in front of this wild crowd of 60 thousand or more people to perform a show of faith. Their home surrounded, the family had no choice but to go to Paris. The King announced, "My friends, I shall go to Paris with my wife and my children…it is to the love of my good and faithful subjects that I entrust all that is most precious to me!"
The crowd followed the royal family and wagons full of flour and bread to Paris. Women reveled in their victory singing that they were bringing "the baker, the baker's wife, and the baker's lad to Paris!"
Pauline Leon, Library of Congress
Political Involvement: By 1790, many of the political clubs formed to discuss political ideas in envisioning a post revolution world were barred to women. The Fraternal Society of Patriots of Both Sexes allowed women to take active roles, hold offices, and mix with male intellectuals. Women also founded their own political clubs: the patriotic and charitable society of the women friends of truth, the society of revolutionary Republican women, the Republican revolutionary women citizens club, and many more. These clubs provided a safe haven where women could challenge not only the monarchy, but the patriarchy, which these women grew to see as intertwined.
Almost every one of the women who had thrown herself into the revolutionary spirit was struggling with a challenging past, a failed love affair, abandonment, and the general failures of the patriarchy to do what it, in theory, intended to do, “protect women.“ The women of France matched or out matched their male partners in the uprisings. Women saw the fall of the male monarch as the fall of the patriarchy and took up the revolutionary spirit with fervor.
Pauline Leon hoped women could become equal in every aspect of society, including involvement in the Armed Forces. She advocated for an all-female national guard to defend Paris and themselves from possible invasion by Austria or Prussia. Her initiative was struck down repeatedly by the men in the movement.
Almost every one of the women who had thrown herself into the revolutionary spirit was struggling with a challenging past, a failed love affair, abandonment, and the general failures of the patriarchy to do what it, in theory, intended to do, “protect women.“ The women of France matched or out matched their male partners in the uprisings. Women saw the fall of the male monarch as the fall of the patriarchy and took up the revolutionary spirit with fervor.
Pauline Leon hoped women could become equal in every aspect of society, including involvement in the Armed Forces. She advocated for an all-female national guard to defend Paris and themselves from possible invasion by Austria or Prussia. Her initiative was struck down repeatedly by the men in the movement.
Olympe de Gouge, Wikimedia Commons
Olympe de Gouges: Women were not just anonymous members of a crowd or members in political clubs. Women were also powerful leaders and voices of Enlightenment thinking. Olympe de Gouges took it further than most. She copied the Declaration of the Rights of Citizen and Man and added, “and woman.” In there she advocated both for the emancipation of women and the enslaved people throughout the French empire. She pointed out, by copying the language used by men, the hypocrisy of not extending these same privileges and rights to government and property to women.
De Gouges lived an unconventional life. At just 17, Olympe was forced into marriage with an older man she despised. She gave birth to a son named Pierre, and shortly after, her husband died. And the next year she fell in love with a rich man, whose family wouldn’t let her marry him; so, she and her son moved into an apartment nearby him in Paris, where he paid for her lodgings and provided for her welfare for the rest of her life-la belle vie indeed! Pretty well hooked up, and living an unprecedented, independent life for a woman in her time, Olympe was free to pursue her passions. She joined the salon of Sophie to Condorcet where she met “the father of economics“ Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson.
Of the revolutionary era women, Olympe was impressive. With a little formal education, she pointedly saw that female inferiority was not necessarily inherent, but planned and structural. It was the systems of government and society that degraded women’s lives. She noticed that everyday power, the decision over finances, and many more, were in the hands of men and men alone. Her writings were a direct attack on the principles of male supremacy.
She wrote, “Women, wake up… recognize your rights! Oh women, women, when will you cease to be blind? What advantages have you gathered in the revolution? A scorn more marked at a stain more conspicuous… Whatever the barrier set up against you, it is in your power to overcome them; you only have to want it!”
De Gouges lived an unconventional life. At just 17, Olympe was forced into marriage with an older man she despised. She gave birth to a son named Pierre, and shortly after, her husband died. And the next year she fell in love with a rich man, whose family wouldn’t let her marry him; so, she and her son moved into an apartment nearby him in Paris, where he paid for her lodgings and provided for her welfare for the rest of her life-la belle vie indeed! Pretty well hooked up, and living an unprecedented, independent life for a woman in her time, Olympe was free to pursue her passions. She joined the salon of Sophie to Condorcet where she met “the father of economics“ Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson.
Of the revolutionary era women, Olympe was impressive. With a little formal education, she pointedly saw that female inferiority was not necessarily inherent, but planned and structural. It was the systems of government and society that degraded women’s lives. She noticed that everyday power, the decision over finances, and many more, were in the hands of men and men alone. Her writings were a direct attack on the principles of male supremacy.
She wrote, “Women, wake up… recognize your rights! Oh women, women, when will you cease to be blind? What advantages have you gathered in the revolution? A scorn more marked at a stain more conspicuous… Whatever the barrier set up against you, it is in your power to overcome them; you only have to want it!”
Execution of Olympe de Gouges, Wikimedia Commons
She dedicated the piece to Queen Marie Antoinette hoping that she could bring these hypocrisies to the queen's attention and gain support from the most well-known woman in the empire. Dedication would prove to be her undoing. Although incredibly radical, tying the peace to the monarchy led many of the male radicals to accuse her of being a monarchist. She was far from a monarchist! She was taking what the men were saying and extending it to the other 50% of the population! She wanted democracy, and she wanted it for everybody!
As tensions in Paris mounted, she left the city to be with her son who was wounded in battle. It appears she planned to leave the dangerous life of Paris and be closer to her family, but she was arrested in July 1793. In October, Marie Antoinnette was dragged out onto the scaffold in a public spectacle and executed by the guillotine, as the French revolutionaries sought to show the public that the power was truly back in the people’s hand. On October 30, the National Convention issued the decree excluding women from all political activity. All of the women’s political clubs were closed, their leaders were arrested, and the engagement that women had had in the Revolution trickled to a halt. The president of the Paris Revolutionary Council, Pierre Chalmette, wrote, “impudent women who want to turn themselves into men, don’t you have enough already?”
As the reign of terror began in Paris (which saw the purging of anyone considered loyal to the monarchy, tried in a trumped up trial where her verdict was all but predetermined, and she was convicted), Olympe was in prison for treason, her life daily threatened, and yet she did not back down! She wrote bold statements from her prison cell and even denied herself the chance to be free when she was sent to an open prison.
In her trial she was ironically named, “the widow Aubrey,” after her old and long dead husband. They stripped her of her chosen name and gave her the chattel name the patriarchy demanded. In a desperate attempt to save her life, she claimed to be pregnant. She was subsequently inspected by a physician who found that she was not pregnant. She was beheaded by the guillotine unceremoniously. On the platform she cried out, “Children of the mother country, you will avenge my death!” Five days later, another woman was executed for engaging in politics while being female, in violation of the decree.
Did the Enlightenment include women? Not in France. Women’s enlightenment and enfranchisement were stopped dead literally by a sharp blade. The French Revolution would move the scale forward a little bit for men, white men, but like most periods of history, women would remain domesticated.
As tensions in Paris mounted, she left the city to be with her son who was wounded in battle. It appears she planned to leave the dangerous life of Paris and be closer to her family, but she was arrested in July 1793. In October, Marie Antoinnette was dragged out onto the scaffold in a public spectacle and executed by the guillotine, as the French revolutionaries sought to show the public that the power was truly back in the people’s hand. On October 30, the National Convention issued the decree excluding women from all political activity. All of the women’s political clubs were closed, their leaders were arrested, and the engagement that women had had in the Revolution trickled to a halt. The president of the Paris Revolutionary Council, Pierre Chalmette, wrote, “impudent women who want to turn themselves into men, don’t you have enough already?”
As the reign of terror began in Paris (which saw the purging of anyone considered loyal to the monarchy, tried in a trumped up trial where her verdict was all but predetermined, and she was convicted), Olympe was in prison for treason, her life daily threatened, and yet she did not back down! She wrote bold statements from her prison cell and even denied herself the chance to be free when she was sent to an open prison.
In her trial she was ironically named, “the widow Aubrey,” after her old and long dead husband. They stripped her of her chosen name and gave her the chattel name the patriarchy demanded. In a desperate attempt to save her life, she claimed to be pregnant. She was subsequently inspected by a physician who found that she was not pregnant. She was beheaded by the guillotine unceremoniously. On the platform she cried out, “Children of the mother country, you will avenge my death!” Five days later, another woman was executed for engaging in politics while being female, in violation of the decree.
Did the Enlightenment include women? Not in France. Women’s enlightenment and enfranchisement were stopped dead literally by a sharp blade. The French Revolution would move the scale forward a little bit for men, white men, but like most periods of history, women would remain domesticated.
"Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen" by Olympe de Gouge, Wikimedia Commons
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"Vindication of the Rights of Woman" by Mary Wollstonecraft, Library of Congress
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Mary Wollstonecraft, Wikimedia Commons
Mary Wollstonecraft: In Paris at the time was an English Enlightenment thinker and writer, Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft had been inspired by the French revolutionary ideals and had long been corresponding with other Enlightenment thinkers around Europe. She was a well-known and respected writer inspired by de Gouges and horrified when de Gouges was executed. She promptly fled France and began an exploration of her own ideas around the rights of women in society. Her piece, the Vindication of the Rights of Woman, would eventually be revived and become one of the most well-known pieces of feminist literature in world history.
Her writing was in direct response to a drafted plan for a robust public education system produced by male Revolutionaries in France. The system only barely included women, who as they saw it, only needed a “domestic education” for service in the paternal home. It is in direct response to this plan that Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her vindication of the rights of woman. Mary was furious and tired of girls being raised solely for domestic servitude and the whims of men. She believed, like Olympe, that women deserved to be involved in every aspect of society but could not if they did not receive an education. She noted that women were intentionally and systematically held back by men and then ridiculed by men for then having limitations! She advocated that women deserved an education.
Wolstoncraft also led an unconventional life. Perhaps that’s a prerequisite of forward thinking women? Her father had been an abuser, and she spent her childhood protecting her mother and younger sisters. But in her thirties she fell madly in love with a 51-year-old Swiss artist who was, unfortunately, married. He rejected her and returned to his wife. She moved to Paris where she again fell head over heels in love with an American schemer and philanderer, and with him she had a daughter. Only months after her birth he left to go to England. Following him there, Mary found he had taken up with another woman, was in the pits of despair, and even attempted to commit suicide twice, once throwing herself into the Thames river. But soon after she met a writer and philosopher William Goodwin who gave her the love and partnership she had long desired. Together they had a daughter named Mary, but just days later adult Mary died from a ruptured placenta.
After her death, her lover published her biography, unintentionally exposing some of the more scandalous aspects of her life. Those who had previously been supportive of her ideas now rejected her fully. It’s one thing to envision women voting, it’s another to envision women being “sexually promiscuous,” as they saw it.
Her writing was in direct response to a drafted plan for a robust public education system produced by male Revolutionaries in France. The system only barely included women, who as they saw it, only needed a “domestic education” for service in the paternal home. It is in direct response to this plan that Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her vindication of the rights of woman. Mary was furious and tired of girls being raised solely for domestic servitude and the whims of men. She believed, like Olympe, that women deserved to be involved in every aspect of society but could not if they did not receive an education. She noted that women were intentionally and systematically held back by men and then ridiculed by men for then having limitations! She advocated that women deserved an education.
Wolstoncraft also led an unconventional life. Perhaps that’s a prerequisite of forward thinking women? Her father had been an abuser, and she spent her childhood protecting her mother and younger sisters. But in her thirties she fell madly in love with a 51-year-old Swiss artist who was, unfortunately, married. He rejected her and returned to his wife. She moved to Paris where she again fell head over heels in love with an American schemer and philanderer, and with him she had a daughter. Only months after her birth he left to go to England. Following him there, Mary found he had taken up with another woman, was in the pits of despair, and even attempted to commit suicide twice, once throwing herself into the Thames river. But soon after she met a writer and philosopher William Goodwin who gave her the love and partnership she had long desired. Together they had a daughter named Mary, but just days later adult Mary died from a ruptured placenta.
After her death, her lover published her biography, unintentionally exposing some of the more scandalous aspects of her life. Those who had previously been supportive of her ideas now rejected her fully. It’s one thing to envision women voting, it’s another to envision women being “sexually promiscuous,” as they saw it.
Code de Napoleon, Boston University
Napoleon: The French Revolution failed to establish a lasting democracy in France. Soon after the Reign of Terror, Napoleon rose to power and imposed himself as an Emperor. Although his rule involved the conquering of most of Europe, it was short lived. He was eventually exiled. But his lasting legacy on the world was his code for women no less.
While still in power, Napoleon introduced “The Code of Napoleon,'' which included a list of the husband’s rights as the head of household and officially extended their power over women. It itemized the financial, political, and social ways women had to defer to their husbands' express permission. This long held law made feminist visions almost impossible to manifest for French women for generations to come. Ironically, freedoms women had under the monarchy went away. Napoleon's code of law spread across Europe and became the model in the colonies and territories held by those countries.
While still in power, Napoleon introduced “The Code of Napoleon,'' which included a list of the husband’s rights as the head of household and officially extended their power over women. It itemized the financial, political, and social ways women had to defer to their husbands' express permission. This long held law made feminist visions almost impossible to manifest for French women for generations to come. Ironically, freedoms women had under the monarchy went away. Napoleon's code of law spread across Europe and became the model in the colonies and territories held by those countries.
Liberty Leads Revolutionaries, Public Domain
Conclusion: One has to remember the ironic slogan of the male French revolutionaries: “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” or brotherhood. Although the male gendering in French is common for mixed crowds, in the case of the French Revolution it was not intended to be inclusive–this was a broligarchy only. Despite women playing a central role, the men of the revolutionary era maintained an abysmally low view of women. The Marquis de Sade, for example, wrote, “Our so-called chivalry, derives from the fear of witches that once plagued our endurant ancestors. Their terror was transmuted… into respect but… such respect is fundamentally unnatural since nature nowhere gives a single instance of it. The natural inferiority of women to men is universally evident, and nothing intrinsic to the female sex naturally inspires respect.”
Historian Rosalind Miles asked, whose revolution was it anyway? Her answer? “So what if the women of France had marched with them and even ahead of them, had fought and died with them from the start? The revolution was men’s business, and always would be.” Despite all of the political clubs, freethinking, and enlightened minds, The male vision of equality stopped short of sexual equality. Instead, real women were passed over for the ideal woman.
Ironically, the most famous painting of the French Revolution depicts the woman symbol of liberty leading a ragtag group of men in charge of the Revolution.
But the ideas of women and their rights were out there! They were able to be read around the world. American suffragists led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton would take the model of de Gouges and Wollstonecraft in crafting their own document, the Declaration of Sentiments, whose template was copied from the Declaration of Independence, a nod to de Gouges. Learn more about the American suffrage movement in our US series.
By the year of 1900, almost every country in the Americas and Oceania had been liberated from their European colonizer using the justification of enlightenment thinking and self representation. But not one of these countries ensured female suffrage. And most of these countries have yet to see a female head of state or government.
To their credit, western nations were some of the first to, eventually and reluctantly, extend the right to vote to women. Why didn’t the Enlightenment occur elsewhere? One of the biggest reasons was the enlightenment emphasis on critical thinking. Confucian countries, in the same time period saw a resurgence of Confucian thinking, putting emphasis on teaching ancient texts rather than new ideas. Similarly, in Muslim countries emphasis on Quranic studies limited the spawning of new ideas, as well as women’s opportunities.
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. When would male views of women change substantially? Could they be changed? Would women remain in a constant cycle of revolutions that relied on female leadership and ultimately denied them liberty?
Historian Rosalind Miles asked, whose revolution was it anyway? Her answer? “So what if the women of France had marched with them and even ahead of them, had fought and died with them from the start? The revolution was men’s business, and always would be.” Despite all of the political clubs, freethinking, and enlightened minds, The male vision of equality stopped short of sexual equality. Instead, real women were passed over for the ideal woman.
Ironically, the most famous painting of the French Revolution depicts the woman symbol of liberty leading a ragtag group of men in charge of the Revolution.
But the ideas of women and their rights were out there! They were able to be read around the world. American suffragists led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton would take the model of de Gouges and Wollstonecraft in crafting their own document, the Declaration of Sentiments, whose template was copied from the Declaration of Independence, a nod to de Gouges. Learn more about the American suffrage movement in our US series.
By the year of 1900, almost every country in the Americas and Oceania had been liberated from their European colonizer using the justification of enlightenment thinking and self representation. But not one of these countries ensured female suffrage. And most of these countries have yet to see a female head of state or government.
To their credit, western nations were some of the first to, eventually and reluctantly, extend the right to vote to women. Why didn’t the Enlightenment occur elsewhere? One of the biggest reasons was the enlightenment emphasis on critical thinking. Confucian countries, in the same time period saw a resurgence of Confucian thinking, putting emphasis on teaching ancient texts rather than new ideas. Similarly, in Muslim countries emphasis on Quranic studies limited the spawning of new ideas, as well as women’s opportunities.
By the end of this era, so much remained in question. When would male views of women change substantially? Could they be changed? Would women remain in a constant cycle of revolutions that relied on female leadership and ultimately denied them liberty?
Draw your own conclusions
March on Versailles, Wikimedia Commons
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How were women Enlightenment thinkers received in their time? What are the western woman's "Founding Documents"? What issues remain problems for women?
In this lesson, students examine writings from Olympe de Gouge, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as well as primary source responses and secondary source explanations of how these documents were received to draw conclusions about Enlightenment perspectives on women's rights. 
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Elizabeth I, Wikimedia Commons
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Was _____ an Absolute Ruler?
This period of history saw the rise of absolute rulers, many of which were female. In this research project, students will get a chance to research one of these women with depth and learn from their peers about some others. The overarching question, were they truly an absolute ruler?
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Lesson Plans from Other Organizations
- This website, Women in World History has primary source based lesson plans on women's history in a whole range of topics. Some are free while others have a cost.
- The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media has produced recommendations for teaching women's history with primary sources and provided a collection of sources for world history. Check them out!
- The Stanford History Education Group has a number of lesson plans about women in World History.
Bibliography
Mark, Harrison W. "Women's March on Versailles." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified June 28, 2022. https://www.worldhistory.org/Women's_March_on_Versailles/.
McDonald, Hollie, "Social Politics of Seventeenth Century London Coffee Houses: An Exploration of Class and Gender" (2013). Honors Projects. 208. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects/208.
Miles, Rosalind. Women’s History of the Modern World: how radicals, rebels, and every woman revolutionized the last 200 years (New York : William Morrow, 2021).
Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.
McDonald, Hollie, "Social Politics of Seventeenth Century London Coffee Houses: An Exploration of Class and Gender" (2013). Honors Projects. 208. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects/208.
Miles, Rosalind. Women’s History of the Modern World: how radicals, rebels, and every woman revolutionized the last 200 years (New York : William Morrow, 2021).
Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.
Primary AUTHOR: |
Kelsie Brook Eckert
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Primary Reviewer: |
Jacqui Nelson
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Consulting Team |
Editors |
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Kelsie Brook Eckert, Project Director
Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer, Consultant Professor of History at Maryville College. Chloe Gardner, Consultant PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University Dr. Whitney Howarth, Consultant Former Professor of History at Plymouth State University Jacqui Nelson, Consultant Teaching Lecturer of Military History at Plymouth State University Maria Concepcion Marquez Sandoval PhD Candidate in History at Arizona University |
Amy Flanders
Humanities Teacher, Moultonborough Academy ReviewersAncient:
Dr. Kristin Heineman Professor of History at Colorado State University Dr. Bonnie Rock-McCutcheon Professor of History at Wilson College Sarah Stone PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University Medieval: Dr. Katherine Koh Professor of History at La Sierra University Dr. Jonathan Couser Professor of History at Plymouth State University Dr. Shahla Haeri Professor of History at Boston University Lauren Cole PhD Candidate in History at Northwestern University |
Remedial Herstory Editors. "22. 1700-1850 THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND WOMEN." The Remedial Herstory Project. November 1, 2022. www.remedialherstory.com.
