Role of Women in the French Revolution

Introduction

was a path breaking movement in European history that introduced radical, societal, and political changes. Women’s contribution to the revolution was outstanding. Prior to the Revolution, in the initial years, participation of women was only limited to the domestic realm. However, they all wanted to voice their political opinions and grievances and participate in public life like men.

Image 1 : The Women's March on Versailles, 1789 - Derivative version of a contemporary illustration (SteveStrummer, Women's March on Versailles002, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The concept of equality and brotherhood resonated with women apart from family obligations and duties. Women slowly started unifying and demanding equal rights through various forms of activism. They refused to play the role of passive second-class citizens and wanted to make their own decision. The male-dominated political sphere saw resistance from the women who wanted equal rights.

Traditional Duties of Women

The French Revolution had gone through numerous changes in social and political spheres by overthrowing the monarchy, establishing a republic, and, after massive political upheavals, establishing a dictatorship of Napoleon. The revolution introduced many progressive ideas and values throughout Europe.

However, women were regarded as second-class citizens before the French Revolution started in Eighteenth-century. They were not given any respectable position in society nor were they given any political rights. All the important decisions were taken by men on their behalf. Fathers took decisions for them before they were married.

After marriage, their husbands took all the decisions for them. Women who belonged to the third estate were denied formal education. They were taught only how to be good wives and mothers. Even the progressive writers who wrote about enlightenment were against the political rights of women.

Women were not given any kind of property rights. They were still considered only sexual beings, a lot different from their male counterparts, thus ideally suited for the domestic sphere. Because of their feminine characteristics, they were considered weak and submissive, and not fit for the social sphere where there was a need for power and strength.

Although women of the third estate were denied formal education, they worked their way up by selling flowers, vegetables, and fruits in the market, working in tailoring shops, laundries, or maidservants in the house of rich people to earn their living. Whereas the women, who belonged to the upper class, took part in gatherings known as Salons, to discuss new ideas about education, rights of the individuals, and other social issues before the revolution started. They had the privilege of getting a formal education and were considered intellectuals like their male counterparts: French aristocrats or ministers. Although, they still had no legal rights to participate in the public sphere.

Revolutionary Activism of Women

After the inception of the uprising, taking advantage of the turbulent political situation, many of these women from different classes of society took to the streets to voice their anger.

Women’s March

A large group of women, in 1792, equipped with arms participated in a procession which crossed the Legislative assembly’s halls of the Legislative and went to the Tuileries Gardens to eventually reach the residence of the Monarch, as they heard the King is organizing a counterrevolution.

Thousands of women were agitated by the rising prices of grains and the paucity of bread. Over 60,000 women took part in the famous Women’s March on the Versailles where apart from the issue of the economic crisis, bigger demand for full citizenship of women by feminist revolutionaries named Pauline Léon and Théroigne de Méricourt, also got intertwined. Although the demand for citizenship for women fell on deaf ears.

Newspapers and Social Groups

But whatever the situation was, women couldn’t be kept away from public life in times of revolution. Individual women’s revolutionary activism was also a significant aspect of the French revolution. Nicolas de Condorcet brought out a newspaper that uphold the demand for the political rights of women. This newspaper eventually established a group named Cercle Social led by a Dutch woman called Etta Palm d'Aelders who demanded equal rights for women in marriage and education.

Activism through Writing

Women writers were also showing their protest through their writings. Olympe de Gouges published a writing in 1791 named ‘Declaration of the Rights of Woman’ which followed a similar structure and language to the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen’ to uphold the truth of the authority's denying of rights to women for time immemorial. For this kind of activism, she paid a huge price by going under the guillotine.

Political Organization of Women

The revolutionary activism of women was not only restricted to marching in the streets or organizing demonstrations. Léon and her ally Claire Lacombe established an organization in 1793 named ‘Society of Revolutionary Republican Women’ to uphold their unfaltering support to the Republic by wearing tricolored symbols and fighting against the high prices of bread, stockpiling of grains, and eventually bringing down the price hike. When their demands were not heard, they soon took resorted to rioting by vandalizing shops, taking hold of hoarded grains, and abducting officers.

Banning and Execution of Women Activists

In the meantime, the revolutionary men were opposing the equal rights of women. They were dominating the Jacobins and they labeled the Revolutionary Republican Women as dangerous agitators. As the Jacobins had lots of influence over the government, they eventually broke down the famous organization and banned the other women's political clubs too. The women were sent home to take care of their families and children.

They were reminded by men that women are nature’s creation for child-bearing and rearing. They are not allowed to get citizenship rights. Their right place is in the household and public life is for men. Only men can exercise political power. Most of the women activists were punished by getting detained, arrested, executed, or sent to exile.

Conclusion

Women’s role in the French Revolution has been remarkable and noteworthy. Women from every section and class of society took part in the revolution. By taking part in the demonstration, raising voices on economic issues, forming political clubs to demand their rights, publishing newspapers, and writing plays to show how women were being denied their rights.

Despite knowing the result of activism, women voluntarily took part in the Revolution. After the formation of the Revolutionary government, women got their right to education, right to consent to marriage, and right to divorce. But the women could not vote or be in charge of office until 1946. Thus, women’s manifold role in the French Revolution eventually established equal opportunity for women in every sphere of life.

FAQs

Q1.Who were the Jacobins?

Ans.The Jacobins were members of the political club called Jacobin Club. It was a revolutionary political club and one of the famous clubs in the times of the French Revolution. The organization called ‘Society of Friends of the Constitution’ changed its name during the French Revolution into ‘Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality’. They were followers of the constitution which upheld the Rights of Man and preserve natural rights.

Q2.Who killed the Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat? Why?

Ans.Charlotte Corday murdered the Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat on 13 July,1793. The Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat brought out a newspaper named “The Friend of the People” which vehemently condemned the people who were questioning the Revolution’s direction towards violence, threats, and other kinds of aggression. He criticized and threatened to behead the aristocrats, moderate republicans, hoarders, and failed officials. This enraged Griondist Charlotte Corday who then assassinated Jean-Paul Marat.

Q3.Who was Marie Antoinette? What was her role in Monarchical rule in France?

Ans.Marie Antoinette became the queen of France after marrying the King Louis XVI of France. Marie Antoinette was infamous among the people of France because of her resistance to progressive reform ideas. It is believed that her popularity was one of the main reasons behind the fall of the Monarchy in France.

Q4.What changes the Revolutionary Government had introduced to better the condition of women?

Ans.The Revolutionary Government came into power in 1792 in France. They brought in legal amendments to improve the lives of all women. New laws were set forth to establish schools in different states. Education for all girls became mandatory. The laws directed that marriages could not be imposed upon women forcefully. Marriage was declared as a registered contract under civil law between free and wilful individuals. Divorce was also declared legal. Either of the individuals could file for a divorce if they wanted. Laws were also introduced to ensure that women could take training to start their small businesses, become artists, or do any other kinds of jobs.

Q5.Who were the Counter-revolutionary women?

Ans.Counter-revolutionary women were those people who opposed the de-Christianisation movement of the French Revolution which led to the deaths of the Catholic Church. This absence of the Church meant a lack of order and unity among the community among the commoners. The women were in favor of all the political and social changes the Revolution introduced apart from the silencing of Church bells. Therefore, they took to the streets to protest this amendment introduced by the Revolutionaries and considered them defenders of the faith.