na YI CARLA HESSE THE Other ENLIGHTENMENT ‘How French Women Became Modern PRINCETON AND OXFORD,‘eta by Picton Unveray Pass, liam Su, Pat, New Jey 540 ipsa cen nh nye ene he Uta af Cape Nn cll hh inn he res "he he Eiger show Pech women vee ate Cite He Inada tee nibs Bog fa ieee Sep jan ta ‘ih hay Clg iin es i ie Wher woul we be... fall women we Sided by 0h thy al eee gh Germaine de Sia, Depine (1802)‘Table 21. French Women in Print, 1750-1820, 37 Saas TBBE22 Engh Mena 790-19) ble? clnc Pabst Fach Woe 1789-100. 4 Tee 24 Socal Sasa enh Women rs Hy ‘Ebie25-Nal Sats of Fonh on os Bo. Thisbook sa history ofhow Feneh women cme into consiousess ‘of themselves as modem individuals at the end ofthe eighent anu The nation of an other Enlightenment” may stem a the ut ‘tobe a contraction in terms, at indeed would be if by “EN- lightnmene” we meant the belie in an apprehensible et of universal laws of hurnan nature. A universal conept admits no “otherness ‘Theor, many Enlightenment philosophers have been compelled > "seal power elipue_ Ct in the esses ofthis wanton were he pres andthe press of the Year, for whom eloquence had be- ‘ome prlous af indeed cn de ung OD CHAPTER TWO Women into Print Neher etry hs hich re rb f women fies Pere Bic (180) Ld that the postevolutionary wornan of ltrs Fortunde Brique vould ree with such optimism on the French Revolution, when 0 much recent historical writing suggests that it silenced women— both high and low-—and relegated them mo ves of domestic own ‘Thee work of spnc—of the sles nd he fiahwives—were de> stioyed or badly damaged. Tey were denied the vote in 1789, profib- ted fom politics mobilization during the Teror, denied civ quality ‘wsthin marrage nd, finaly, eth the promlgation of the Civil Code {1801 legally subordinated to the wl oftheir husbands. Bourgeois seem in chor, was not god for women, Convery, along tration in French cultural history, dating at Jeaetback to the Goncourt brothers inthe IS celbrates he prerewo- Iutionry era, the age of absolutism as an age of greater sexual eualty apd reedom fr women, when, indced—anks to thesalo, and othe "huss ofcourtsocety "women rule” Thin entrepublican perpec tive stl ave today, especialy in feminist cles. aga Une ound emer go Psi tr iti sree tren ee eo iTemacin rns sett g eater ue Pre meee nt pet pene or Bu Sst dels (ite dr Pahot ddr ae Cae an, ap. Rea eet ‘SEG fam gut Nel Fea “bn Ire are ‘ents ge 9 isn tet is Vie a a Fe nto PR Pe“The Old Regine ent chor argue sustained intatons not ny the salon, but abo the cou the theater, and the provincial polit ‘alanemblee—wehih were moreineuaire of women than were the de- ferinedly masculine forums ofthe new epublcan onde, Biological _eprecton wos athe cane ofthe transmission of sil and pli Cal power in aristocratic society, with herdtary monarhy at apex women a the bearer of chide hs enjoyed, aorta test a ‘Seen plac in tha public order After he Revolution i would be pre SielyseproductiveHelogy that would exclude them. The Republic ‘would be ndestod as held lopster not by the old bonds of es be ‘voen generations, ented By the womb, but by 2 socal contac ssmong men ane? in act the collapse ofpatrarhalsm, which had prerdoscallysucoret women in its generous embrace, orought with ‘a susained assaak on public women-—meost notably the Qucen— ‘wl atersy whch tok ts place, in principle exci women 2 Solty conatuted asa band of brothers ‘Thisstory stot explain he appar puzzling fact hat the le isator of the revolttnary and Napoleonic period (1782-1815}—the ‘upporter and ei ofthe gh of mar—could so easly sty thee Sena of equal il and plea igh to women. Itisbased almost x- clusvey om an analysis of discursve and vimal representations of go der norms generattby mall group of male propagandists anc spo pists Cradely put Od Regine ideologies nchded women in publ [feand revolutionary ones did the opposite Yetta in factbeen said shout what women staly cid, We ave a plasible hitory of pre mee an ee ono eo cates ae Cred, "sath chen on Land Wn de ae pe of he Sa pcr re ey a non Ge A Sone en ao, pads yar pr oc ott od ‘exit Came treaty Pes 9) a my ‘ala Sot Stout Coe ty Cay PROMS aa NY Cred ay Sra en te ier oi 1 wp enn F ‘forth dee en noe a et iy fan Ma Se “ame se py eA” on Nn Sa ii ‘a Ore UX oes Pa 8 pI Fr eh em oes py ee Fg Cone Pr tal“ me ‘torpor ev rina ESC he A rite Gener fae ae rane Soa ei Fre Car 9) Women inioPest 33 scxiptve gece roles but nota history of female partipation inthe po- lial and ctrl upheaval ofthe ate Enlightenment an Revolution, what if we take a cliferent point of departire—not that of the doomed inaatons ofthe salon or of marke women, nt tat ofthe ‘eomentators onthe plac of women in publi but of woman doing Something that vill become, after 178 mmensly important and fat smore common than ever before: wing, Consider, forexampl, Lnse- heabeth Vigte Lebran’s 1794 Dorr of the Cotes de Ceres (igre 21), toler a rae depction in madern Westem portaltre a young ‘woman capred oti the act of reading a common and highly ga dete rope) bat ata moment of completing writen text: Ista ete? ‘Toalover? Nomatter® Sie as juetset down the pen and he gaze ot the viewer withthe satisfaction of sence who has succesfully ex pressed her thoughts, Its commanding imagecfiterary competence "he pictur suggests another story than that of silence sn excson It capes a momen of entry Ino the modem World, & word in which neage no longer determined identity andthe reflective activites a ‘ellectualpreducion—reading and writing—werebecomung the pr sary means of makings ef How d we rconcethe aati worsen bing driven fom pb lilfest the endo the eghtenth century withthe exubersnt itll ergy captured by Vigée Lorn inher poruaitof the Countess of Crs? ‘The answers that ather than dseppenring, wemen’cltral energies swerhitingeaewhere and tkingem new publ forme At the very mo ‘evita worldof the slnie and the ihwie was being sty, {whole new altura tre for women was already in the making rng the French Revolution, women, in unprecedented numbers, una new public voice print. Tel his story [begin with int ‘principles: A women writer isa person of the female sex who has p= thn pining en ie "ay Folding Lat Com eh” ‘eigen i san tinh Samtar oA Young Cup te neopets STO: Ne {RIA ann’ pt Orval pce of women ne ay Ses “ad Pr Pabew”Sas nso Car Sy {inert Hes ee (Simone apis ety Pr 98AAA pte? Lae Babi ig Lara “Lady Flings Leer (Portia ‘te Count of Ces)” (1788 To Museu of Art Oo. lished her iting “publiation” ean form of printed weriting rom | a pumphletor play toa mulivelume dcinary a period, arapilo- Sophia wets. Bat "a Fen woman writer” and." French publication” are not so simple o define Linguistic and legal boundaries are never somorphic nd in an ea before national izerehip and Intemational copyright laws, thse boundaries are even less cet, The national houndeies of France were roreover in continuous sat of x luring the war of 12 1615. Male czenehp wae defined during the Revolution but ‘oman’ legal nationality was determined by the citizenship of hea her or husband So, in sry legal tr, the most famous woman wring in Pench during the period, Mine de Stl, would have been ‘onadered a Swiss and Inter 8 Swedish writer To avoid this legal ‘moras, Lopt fr 8 broader cltral definition of nationals, weighing Such factors as residence, larguage, and locaton of her principal pe Iishers booksellers and readers exclude women who wrote oiially fn Ianguages other than French, even f thir works were widely tans: Inte Into French. But I srclade—on cultura, rather than jsidial, ‘rounds—severl Swiss or Dutch women (Ea Palm Acders and le Selle de Chase, for example) who wrote ia French and ad major Ierary or politcal careers in France. Finally, Lam conservative in aturbuting anonymous and peeudonymas publcton: Certainty is pteforablaoinclustvenas. More importa, any woman who never Dublished inher own name or wha was nt widely known daring Ue Period a the author of pubiation fet fully par he “other” En ightenment whose history Iam recount the public presence of women during the period that changes, and dicey had tobe Inown tthe time in onde or ther 0 be newly vise This rales the question of now being “publi” is made marist. Ther st date ao deftivebibloprephic record of French publi tions—by men or women—in the eighteenth entry that approaches the comprehensiveness ofthe Eighnth-Century Engh Shr Title Cat lbgue And the bibliographic record for the revotionary decade is ven mae fragmentary and dispersed than that ofthe Od Regine Under the creumsances, ny universe fom 1750 fo 1750 is cca ibd ly two source: he i iti: mace coe ‘ctory of published writers and hee publications, which appeared in Aiterent gales between 1754 and 1750), andthe extacrdinary Al ‘graphed genre rman (1751-1800, recently comple by eam of bblographer” From these, the world of prervaltionary women ‘iter canbe recaptured more or less deftly. er Du Ci ie fone ace pT eas {creat at ai he 1) ate Fame Epson 97 Lando Ne SPFor the revolutionary decade (1789-1800) the Bibliographic du _gemreromanesyue confines tobe arch source for novelist, but not fr Sthers For them {searches through Monglond's massive La Face ‘elutonnaicetmprie annals debibiograpie; Mastin and Wiler's Cul des arp e jurmas dea porn route 8a Bi Tithgue Nationale he Colao de Histoire de Franc which ists old ings tthe Bibliothigue Nationale thematically and chronologically; trary avalable collation of documents of women’s ering fom the period und rita! eins of particular women rites and, finaly very major publister's ade urra rom the revolutionary period T fvtacind the names and obiations of every “French woman ‘wrte:” Tay ere fen cros ogrphicnusces Cumulatively they revealed nothing short of Mer tary explosion at the end ofthe eighteenth century: Though they had some eminent predicessors, well ve al the women she documented ‘ame fromthe revoutonary generation! Tusthow drama change the French Revolution wrought iemsade ven clearer if we compare the history of female publication in England with that of France uring the same Period (ce Table 22)" Acros the oman uct Desi ere "Sj ai Sm, Sat Pe Wen Winging rom 640 “able2.2 Engh Woman in Prin 1738-1790 im e017 cnn the numbers of women increased steadily fr the whole second halo the century, yee no doubt by the geet feof ome Ierary expansion. In France, by eantast numbers remained steady— an low (ity toles than eighty) decade afer dead; the, inst en years from 1789 the number quadrupled to over te hundred. For ‘ost of the period, England had proportionally more wernen writers than did Feance after 1789, the proportions evened out So wil in both counties, mare and moze women vere published, the ferences inthe pattem and rate of their entry into the word of commercial prin cre was sking. The ibeaizaton of pola ife fer 1799—new fvecom of the res the ferment around the Fatates General andelectonsforthe ace fous assembles and conventions ~dos nt provide e mufcent expla ‘ation. The numer of pabliaton by women did not deine signi ‘andy after the ed of the Revluton’s Heal phase and renewed repression ofthe press, What realy mattered was the sing of cltral snd commercial life more generally: the collapse of cour and ait {atc patronage and the demgulation of the priating and publishing ‘worl wih he demise the system of trary privileges and gull eg ‘lation Infact incidence of publstions by women diring the reva- tionary decade, year by yer, was inked les tothe pla vias ofthe Revolution othe relative tolerance or epressvenc ofthe suc cessive revolusonary governments, than i wae to the expenslon ad orizaction of consnercl publishing afer the colape of sate regula ‘Son, Table 23 shows the gates. "Women writers were leary carried along bythe outpouring of inte matter after the decaration ofthe feeder ofthe psn 1789, {nd the dramatic plical moblization of he carly years of he Revo ‘STR in Egle Cy Nig ds Fd NC Rees od SE Teese ek Greed Psy 98 p26 Sun dr mt ce Fo sbi sy but he Engst epeefo CHAPTER Two “Table 23 Incidence f Pubcon y eee Women 1798-1800 0 a 6 » v1 o ve “* re » 10 6 Unda "ea o Jatin. Bat more nesting isthe fact that publiaton by women did ‘ot decrease dramatically athe height of paiical repression during the “Temor (1753-1798, or, more relevant tothe inmedite subject, ring, the moment of the emargeney revolutionary legislation profiting public semble of women. Women remained in pring and remain {oe we sll se i 4 moment) both politely and calerally active through their publbatons during hase dsporte years The decline inthe nusbers of publications by women during the ‘hermidrianpecial (1795-1796, after the fall of Rbespierr, when | Thorson the pres and public peach were one agai relatively eral, and then the steady erese afterwards ntl 180, when censorship twas apn ascendant, corte onfous of what we know about the ‘Sommer ater than the leg history of publishing during the pe fod, and the trajetory of French comanerce more generally: dene ‘tring the css afer Thermidor ineease during theboomt othe Di rectors and thena second cris begining in 160. Tis isa pattern dletemina by the demands ofthe rary marketplace nt legal Scone oe seein. The gue oe He 181 fy Tae 2 oor ‘confirm this pointy showing thal the empesion of censorship under ‘he Napoleonic rege andthe restoration ofthe monarchy di litle © ‘nin the numberof women in print ‘French womenthus experienced something ike a terry awaken ing daring the decide ofthe Revlution. The bibliographic record they fave lefts permits us to ape something of ts social and calc coutesta ella tajectory overtime ™ Forwomen, as forme, Pris (several a, 9). a "Se App abana nga een We WomeninioPint was the epicenter of Pench publishing. OF he 657 imprints they pro- “ced, 536 soe fom over 200 dferent publishers inthe epi. A few of hese, for example, Caucde rangle Maradan, Pere Sebeten epriur and Hugene Onetoy stand out or ter comaneriallegiance to new novela gene im which women excelled. And one publisher, Gtroy, is memorable for his feriess commitment to publishing the protests ofnumerous women durlgthe Teor ecomatmenthat le fumately cost him his ite ‘Wornensliterary activity was not however an excsively Parisian Phenomenon, Women published twenty-nine provinces, on tnd hamlets from the major regionl centers, Ike Lyon, Toulouse Caen, Dijon and Avignon, to remote vlages, such as Phir, Brig oles and Lise In Toulouse, Avignon, andarde Calis omen an ‘he regional newspapers. At Dampier, in St-Résy CGyonne-lsabethJostphe de Lal, the Duchess of Mantmoreny, made use ofthe privat presses at her chateau to elize her aspirations fe poet and to print her translation of Robin Crane She ls mace her presies availabe to her fend, the marie de Lafayete, for her own wetings. More modes sores mothers, female merchants, an local administrators employed the power ofthe presto plead various personal cas, publicly celebrate important familial event, enter provincial academe competitions in both Iteatue and the sciences, land advocate fr social or political reforms. For the atentve rede «kind of topography of female itera Me begin emerge fom what ata Bt lance appears o bea dey an r+ ‘ane bibliographic near Atthe piace of leary fe were exnent ‘women of eters and ladies of the cour, such as Mine de Gen, the aches of Polignac Mie de Sad Mme de Souza (the Counts of Fs- aus and Mme de Chir, who svete work ate smltane ‘uy oy international publng groupe nal te major cso Europe Indeed, eighy-ve publications by women during the revolutionary notoriety with besten novels. Of course the greatest het not ight ‘cnanatd rom Pai, where mutant women onal ies of he Reval ‘on efered fl fons int the dhetorcal ray of pit Pale ee Append A: ogy feck Were 179-180,2 charter two "Tosatti oft vs eae Teipaon apn clue fm he Ok Regine tough he Rev lation la radalyaferent try rom the oe oferty Mtns gener ology an polis rng he per saps it ofa {have the petri of woe thee at ae teeth and eri epveth cent fale parton nthe pa I ral io OL Regie wos nol ey arg trosaloeatvty static The eid the igh Enlighten dope tleprominenc ofr poplr sve an ew arate sow i war nota pod get inn of women i th pbc tie of liter By const the reottionry decade winner tmatc expucion of eal parton In publ carl le 2 po- US denn er oc tat cara atone fhe mo thy and te ariocny—he slong, ul sytem ofpatonage Sse purge fr lems opal to Fema parition—at tee at emured acces Wo pnt—tan waste bea cx tral pelng word te Revolt nid cont 0 the pete out ec a wey patrons ofthe Od Ree the cme puoier of the rerluonry pred cred sab theta th frase ws dered gif wre he ary Inert of what ie pti pn an whe ont cd Th Rev- Gio ani um eat urpendenid opportnie or wren teeter he pablicnena “This to cny tat the ate ightnth ena and the evar Aeonay prod winesed Be lcrasng abortion of rene ae Pilonopl dures ened at lining coco racy and te fubordisation of wen to men ae th olape of Asotin ae baleen And suceve egies othe revelenay p= “nt dplyed th ny ender leita ee tance pnp, an plist cial wel Te data women wer ges hat the ceo ond conser Von he Ealgtonmert snd Revolution pened up por stalts or femal pacpaton nan eecuely cna rena cf rod rm pce hat wa td th the dominant ae conception of ppp eae between theses Andi farther sugges tat he "npc Thom agian arn Cala a, hea he a ay rae Oey Caio Pe) earn ae {ar Cnr ik Hart Urey Pa 1 ‘lnhoration ofthese philosophical cultural and ultimately jude an plc! gender norms were not so mich reflection of he scioplt {or cultural realities ofthe evalutonary period as they ere a reac ‘ony response toa sociocultural world that was apy and radially stallenging and exploding the normative boundaries of gender that these men held dear “The iterary crt ofthe postrevalutonary period makes clear just how much friction there was between masculine gender norms ast ‘he relies of female cultura! paricpation. On the ane hand, Jen Frangois De Ia Harpe’ gee ou cows de litte ancien et moderne (0797-1808 efecvely wrote women out of French literary istoy* (On the oer hand Mari Joseph Chenin hs Tle historique d= at tds prog del literature frase dept 1789 (1616 oleret he tadicllyiferetalgment hat "Women Bre withthe pretest dis el cg eecaae neaa aa a ae a {he teary achievements of women atest othe social tension crete by the emergence of women a5 major player in the print culture of the ostrevoltonary word. Normative assumptions about women came {nto sherp conf with socoultural realities. THE SOCIOCULTURAL WORLD OF WOMEN WRITERS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA ‘The octal Spaces of Women Wrters ‘Ther hasbeen much written abou the history ofthe stereotyping ofthe woman of letersi ition and in the world-aesoclly marginal Mme de Sal's tragic heroine Corinne, George Sana sive Ll, ot the “bluestockngs” derisively depicted by Honoré Daur in the 1s Images of the woman writer aselther an tat oa bean ‘married ster ora maiden aunt (Actin, ibersine conmopoltan ci ‘oct (Sta, Chae) bohemian (Send), or an sets (Colete) er ‘meate modern culture “onan Clan ei: Deo Ge Pein Ye reek Sgn 8 pa eft aso ny Nb ian “aseacen hence ten btrnea Tarde sin a a). nara Coe en ie Cea Sanaa Thassos em We ‘ei yagi Ne Hien CF Une ontds aiteut wo aig beneath these streorypes, in pst for practical reasons: Womens ves ae less welldocumented tan men's. And be ‘aus their iil sts and even thes names depended on ther rls onsip to men, de sme woman may appen inthe historic] record under many diferat names over a ifetime. So women are mere dif caltto trek: Améti ule Cadell, to take one example became Mine ls Roche an then Mme Simons and ate sil Mae Pie de Senovert, (767-1894). Momover, the socal spces and economic wajectores of ‘women’s lives dont map easily onto the asiicatory grids of dase and profession employe! by traditional soil historians” Tei oil po tions haven seen larly ontngent on her relations tome (bers, husbands, ard lovers) And here too the trajectories of women’s lives elude soci iy. Garmaine de Stel was bath the daughter of Swie bourgeois and the wie of a Swedish arstcrat. Olympe de CGouges was the dasghter of «butcher, the widow ofa banker and 3 courtesan, Clea hey played mulipl soll oles over thelsfetimes. ‘This doesnot mean tt we have to abandon the posslity of fo cating women n te ea word, can, ft, hey itis her selves When women, lke men, chose © publish thee wings no ae compelled them to identiythemselves—but they did. They were ot compelled to usea ven egal name o the same name onal het pub cations, nor were they required fo identi ther socal or cv status, ‘uta great many of them di, Thus the conatitution ofan suthoralsig- nature was an ac f public self-constiuton, relatively independent of the normative strentypes that circulate about thm and sought fx them. ables 24 ard 25 specify the published authoral signatures of French women witersbetiveen 1789 gd 100, based on theirs nd civilstatas If we ae to love what these women say about thea felver-and we hive no reason not tothe socal backgrounds of ‘omen in print sing the pertd were revere vere teil ‘arya hey werenot Few dentable “madwomen inthe atc” here ‘Ther crcumlancis ranged from the most modest even desperate, (Parisian flower gts who signed their petons collectives) tothe pi see fr henane Arend Cdl woh oper, Horan ei tae of wean se fr ng sony er nin {aor and eben dsr Aref Dern Anti, Few ey os Sia ata So. Gann te Pt ay Noe Yk Clana Ue styreon 8 Momeninto Print 48 ‘Tble24 Socal Sas of French Women Weiter, 1789-10 “Tied Arto 09 Conanenes mo ace of cour socety (Mane de Gens. Not surprisingly, very high proportion (one-third) came from the srstocracy (either by bith or rough marriage). They were manifestly not marginal "Noles sigfcany, Rowever how many of them did tcome from this exusve caste full wo thins, Acresso pin rte the Basle, was not the near-excusve privilege of thaee with aes court patronage I was aces fo commensal publishers tat matters [Aclose look tthe umerousonaritocrae women weiter for whom Wwe ave blographial information firther confi this, Fee the snot ast they were solidly bougeol i cicumetaees, tending t0 come from the higher echelons ofthe profesional clases. As in out own tins these were the women who had the education and the fie to ‘write and no doubt greater aces #9 the world of publishers nd printers "The record of the mill status ie ls reveling. Again we find remarkable ina of both divest of experience snd socal iterator, By far the majority of worsen waiter were marie (18) and Rad sc cessfully integrated carors as writers with fem if, Bu its alo true ‘hata mach igher propor of women weit than women i he Population at lrpe were either unmarried (atthe tie of writing or tteougheut thrives) o widowed. Here again, as with soll status, there is some evidence of greater independence from the fara gine, but Htleovidene of svi marge ‘Wing and pubishing ar dificult ar they ze could be adapted more esto the contingencies of women's lives uae or unt ‘able 25 Masta tatu of Pronch Women Wit, 1759-800 Mare 18 Singh SleeFed) than any othe profession that was asntlectually satisfying and economically resuneratve. could be dane st home at any me of ‘day or nght, wilh or without chen, oe « sand or fms. AS ‘George Sand remarked in her autobiography with her tongue only ply inher chook she found herself at homealone with the cre nia need of money, She ad two choles, make dresses or Welt nov ‘s She chose the ter And so did many others, who nt only wrote novels, ut alo engage in related stivies ke Mr Countess Legro- ing dea Maisonnesve who ran the Meare ae the Bol, two maior Journals out of het draeng rom As Germaine de Stal noted, You {id even needa study os desk odo ust pen and paper “There were many rebellious women writes inthe revolutionary cr, who, through kr writing, challenged the soil and ultra plea norms of tne tines, sometimes at the cost of becoming out {sts oF ens lke Mme de Stal and sometines a8 in he cise of (lympe de Gouge, even at the east of tht lives But bacaming 2 ‘women writer was nota inherently margioalizng form of sil 3c- ‘ivy Wig remsned one of the few bourgis professions that ould ‘ll easly be condicted at home, one ofthe ast forms of anstoratic, and then bourgeos, etespse Oat im modem times has remained within the eal ofthe domes ‘Motives for wing are fneitably complex. Bat one motive, in particular emerges repentdly fom the biographical recor, especlally ff middle and apperclass Women in the postrevolutionay pecod ‘ney, Wealthy atstocrate women lke Madame de Sours (he Count ss of Fahaet or habelle de Chari, for exazple, wo dda need the money, wrote or charity, mablizing subscription drives for te books to ass rend in dite who had lost fortunes in the Revel on Public avowels hat one was waiting for chart rather than per nul prof did nes howeve monn Eat women writs were indir cary an iy ty fe Te Ay of Can Sk et ts ‘a Ay ee erty Se Yo Pr ps “tigate eLearn St es aye monte nn dren Pa Depa 180) "Eee Cant on Sia oe The ge ew ng ie Cateye are 89 85-0 Sn Gye sates oom lah Soe. “he Un of he aan tye san inte ch Ron On emo OB Fo rn uaF Comte Hawa ery ran) p15 "Sa Cuan ater loi ay Poy 1-1 BS One seme yp ian Worm inioPast «7 ent tothe profit generate rom their mental abo Sophie Cat, 3 ‘wealthy povicil widow and besteling novelist at once publicly ‘isvowed any personal profits fc her Works, buat the same tie oul be found inher private corespandence, to be avery hat bust ‘est nei with her publisher, Maradon “Ver fiends counseled few se wrote “to demand a higher price” than 400 tves for her newest manuscript, o to sok another publisher ‘But more common than wealthy ladies who wrote aa form ove arity were women lke Mme Roland and Paine de Meulan (he fu- ture Madame Guo?) Pauline de Mean was one of two daughters of nO Regime tax collector who found he fly Veta thou for tune afer the Revolution, She foreswore er cm to a dowry, an, honest suitable marsag, in favor of her yourge sister and instead cof macryingetabout writing novels toretore the ariy'sinancen The fal and Branca sucus of er fest eo novels, Lis Contacto (6795) and Le Gap Ayo (180) launched her into the tera elt ofthe Cones and Epi Tealso brought her the admiration and, ultimately, a propos of smarlage trom FrangolsGuzot who was almost twenty Years Younger ‘han she), Weng in Pauine de Meulan’s case made it possible for her tomave from the margin to the center ofthe posreohstonay wr She id stop oti and publating novels fer he mariage, he ald not stop ering and publishing. Over the ext several decades she ‘wrotea sees of extanrdinary moral eduction ar pelitcal rats and bythe 1805 before er husband achieved his own intellectual rm ‘ence she had emerged as one of the most prominent moral and ed Catone ieorsin the nation She won the prize for moral theory mn the dome Frage in 1822 ad second pre tom He sane it tuon in 1827 for her teases om eveation The private eters nc published acne Int to ue by Wes ve revel hat smn ny father women some famous (ke Laue de Kéralio Raber) oshersob- Sseure—wroteand published in order to estore thelr falis ores, orto ests a fortune ofthe own “The commercial successes of women writers nthe postreveition ay psi suggests one particular reason forthe inzeasing celation ‘of negative stereotypes of them by male journalists and cies in the sage 9 eter ian emi 2 ch iether ae Chace inna ie gi ele ne iene deen)a cHarrer two 1606 anc 1690s, depcing women of eters socially transgressive: “They were sve and competitors forthe unprecedented popula read lng publ that the novels had helped to create In rconstiating the sox identities thet women wes contracted, we confor pleture ‘Foca experience that Mes inthe face of the prescriptive ltrature on fender norte of ter period and erature tht either ilifed or em- pathized with hair warepressons. Mary politcal, socially and cul tural tanepresive women wrote tobe sre but theres evidence that eer women or men perceived wring and publishing obea so ‘lly transgressive act for women in nd of sell. As with men it de pended on what they wrote and published, ‘Olympe de Gauges was excited for puting speci poll views into print because they were perceived to be treasonous bya gover ‘ent inthe gps ofa civil war Germaine de Sil was denied ctizen- shipby the goverment ofthe nation ofherbirth and then exiled ype feally for publahing views eritcl of the Napoleonic rope. Tse ‘women were made outcasts and condemned for wa they wrote and ubllahed. Bt they wer not condemned for wai end publishing per {Indeed theres evidence hat th successive regimes ofthe = ‘Slationary pend sought to excuce women fom patipation i the ‘Pblic Lift of ltes on the Bais of thet Sex On the contrary, every ‘epoe foc the cnetiational monarchy though the acon Conver ftom and even the Napoleon Empire was lighted o offer petronage fo women who wre and published works that they found compatible vith the Hteray aad plitea aims ofthe regime. Women writers came {0 play strategic les in every successive regime "Mademotselle Marie Casiote Pauline Robert de Lazard (1754— 1895, for example wrote forthe reforming monarchy. She was born to tn od le fay ofthe Vendée wth a tradition of multary service ‘du pnonfor thru enn A gilt cl, deeply tence by her seadings in Montsguiu, by the age of treny four, Mlle de eran: hed ossposed a maor political reative defending the con- stitational claim ofthe monarchy (he Tabla des dats lt epi ‘hc monarpue et de ejets das I frat de a monarch jus ros js). The manecript was presented to the young King Lata XVI Ine father in 1778 eater wing hii a, Mae ena sei rn share” Pe Fea Rn fo ‘Sete Une a1ayt Mr racee (slo Per Unvented, 18-0 ee Coes Werenini Pent scems to have lingered in the anechambors of Versilles for over decade ad then suddenly appeared in print 191 under hele = it es is anoigus et pau, slong with hex other work, There {pst dee momar raise 1792, both under te imprint ‘ofthe Pais publisher Nyon aig et Bs, Why? Bacause—as shown by the archives ofthe Royal Bock Tad and those ofthe King’s mone ‘Annas de fo, which ves sein by the Nation Assembly afer the ‘nonarchy fell on Agu 10, 1792—the King in last-ditch effort oun vented public opinion toward his corstiutianal authority, secretly ‘bidet publleation Indeed it seed tobe of such veritive and statgle portance that he guarded the documents of he negotiation ‘opublish temong hiamost private papers” wear seckingevidence ‘of women = parispation athe revalutionry public spere here its “And ding the period of the National Convention (1792-1795), ‘when the Revolution reached its most radical phase, we aso And twomen a the center ofthe mime’ cual polties—indeed, i ise proportionate numbers. The areuves ofthe Committee, and then the {Commisie, on Publi Instruction, which wa the key istitsion of cull patzonage daring the period ofthe Republic, fer sting e- [ence of women’s iterary prominence st ths ine, Of Ue ssc subsidies of publishing pnjets made bythe Convention for which we stlhave recor, sevetonalmest one thir) went to women writes fortranslatons of classic literature and contemporary pulosophy fe igrammars, novels, and plas: fo poetry and songs: And the Con- ‘ention didnot imply ubwidizn woane's walling it made consider {ble efforts propagate So we find that on October 1, 179, dere that Ue novel, Timp dea sinepilosphie oa ri poi ‘ss oma, by the “iznese Boowere,” "be ditbued by her in the ‘aro departments ofthe Republic” atthe Conventions expense Sap erect ona a Cae Sta alate tytn rnin wots A vier St tet fon Nyon Se Anscombe Ba ne po Spent bedi wen iC re ian patnagel women fit eM Guan rc es br nt art a Cora 7 a pan ih tn en eer lan Vo a 5 9 ce ec 2“Women are wrihg more than men these days or sit seemed to Is belle de Charrige upon hearing ofthe publication of Sophie de Con ‘orci’ French transition of Adam Seth's Mora Sentient (tha [government ubsiy) in 1798: Tis atthe very moment when tele ‘logue Pier Jeu-CGeorge Cabanie and his dips wee propound- Ing blog theres supposdly proving the intelectual inferiority cof women™ ‘Under the Empis—when the Civil Code legally subordinated sone to mn—there ke further evence that Napoleon courte a _many women were ashe perseosted. In 1801 the Pst Cons gece to revive the daicason of Mane Fartunée Bague’sDictiowatehis- torque lita iligrapie des fogs tds ranges natural ses en France, She celbrated his great ptronage of eles tres gen ‘erally and pointed to the ational ploy he garezed by “pezmitng amy Dison te appear under his ausplees"™ Individual stone of [Napolemic ptronage of women of eters abound, Frangise Three Antonete, Counts Legroing de Maisonneuve (1761-183), for exam- ‘les entarod.aconeent a he age ten anc reply proved herself tobea dstrguihed cassia! ingust trough her warsations of Homer, ‘Virgin Char By the age of eighteen se also shoved hero be a person of extossinary administrative vison and kl ehen she was ‘charged with revsing the constition fone of the mast mpuabie ‘women’s religion commits in France, "rom her relgious rust, she began °o write ction, which was published with gna succes, aft without her permission Legon ‘ela Maisionneane emigrated during theRevolution, butcontinued er ‘Merary pursuits, poling an Esa su ge istration le pls lagu i destination des fms (799). This work, in tune withthe new regime's views ofwhat were appropriate roles forthe to sexes, drew {he attention of Nepoion eho invite her to become the supernien- ‘dent of to majoreducainal nations under the auspices of the Le ‘on of Honor She deeined on pol grounds. But afer the restora ‘on of the Bourbens, she retered to France, ete two major jours, tated Cte Let Bj ag 8 ao shim va en ene te € Canney ee bb Soon nett Sake ahve pe ee ne ne Sm Sey hah oy re Pr Rtn ey Urey ot te a history ofthe Gauls and was granted and accepted a terary petson fr LoulsXVIE=® Patonage by officials was not wielded excusvaly for "he prose of shaping public moral It ould alo be ewecised, more covert © Sasfy the private ster of men in power, Thus in the achives of the Nepoleane Miaisty ofthe Interior we discover that Fait de CChoseul Meuse, was dependent on offal patronage for her sur vival Remembered today as the author of th infamously Domo" {graphic pantche of Roussenu’s Nowe Helse, ul sade tne Rowe (1807), among many other works, Caiseu-Mewse clearly ound an audience fr her terry productions, not aly in the market place bitin the corridor of power a wel? “Thee slko considerable evidence ofthe stained ncusin and recognition of women ofletersby the majo rary and sini aad ‘eniss—for example, Lose de Kécalio (istry), Pauline Guizt (moral theory, Fanny de Beauharnas(zvels), Charote de Bournon, Cou tes of Malarme (novels), Claudine Guyton de Morves natural se tes), Anne Marie de Montgegout de Coutances, Countess de Beas fort d'Hautpol(poety) and Sophie Basu (poet). After years of pattonage fom the Napoleon regime, n115,Mme Durénoy became the poet nares ofthe Frangase Académie, its highest terary honor Sina i the new publishing and iteray soe ofthe revoluion- fry period ke the Carle Sn and La Harpe’s yet, women found {Dexielves welcomed among the men. "The mumber of women vig and publishing in France during the ‘evoliaonary era may have ben fe beth in elation othe total n= ter of writers andthe population at large, but Sey were Rarely mar final in scia cakural or even polit ie. And theirmumbes, 35 we Fave ee, increased dramatically over this period. Noteven a he > tnt of gietet public andety shout the pie inuence of women cig yr lepng leanne Nha a Br rie ER i Ac 6 at i ee Cas an ie obi ae Eathom Naber "Mating Sex PN Conse ert eta a Pee ae Shem ge oie cme "Tet mt hia ee Ft nr ec Fr ev pen nO nn 1-0, 2s pita(cepeciallyduringthe Terr and under Napoleon) i her evidence of systematic discrimination against write onthe basi afsex It as c- tent not gender tat mated It was wha they rote and published, rather than sho vote and published, that mattered, Thus while the ‘mathe opened upthe possibility of exposing viewpoints hat were ‘dependent of and even in conic with, the values ofthe suerte regime of the pod, the regimes Smelves sought atthe same tine forcptre the nevly awakened ierey talents of women snd deploy them toward thelr own ends Women and Gennes ‘Women wrote aves, This prevaling normative view has along tad- ton in French Iteraty history and cris, dating back othe beg rings ofthe mode novel sel inte clasial age (Bollea) and rever- bering, n both Selgrating and laudatory terms, down to cur ov time® There so doube that, fm Me de Sudéry and Mime de Lafaytito Marguerite Yourcenar, women writers played a central oe ‘nthe invention athe modem novel and continued wo be noted as rac ‘isomers fhe gear Wonsen wits have thas come tobe sen asthe great chroniclers ‘of private rather han pabliliea fabicators officio rather than radacors frat x prophets of ers rather ha shapers fou polit ‘eal world Bute look what women actually published atthe open- Jngof the modernarathischaracoiaton seems superiial atbest (ae “able 26) ned, we encounter en rising tension between the rary prctces of women and the calla representation of them a ‘few towering female intellects figures emerge rom the bib phic record of female publication during the revalutonary ‘Sende, anc ther sams come tn surpese wo ose famar withthe period: Siphaniede Gens, lympe de Gouges, Germaine de Sta I= Abele de Charibe, and Louist de Kerli. Ther iterary careers had ‘no genericbourdares They published everything from poll paz- cea Dr mn XV en ap rman tdci B81 or oC tas Ue Pe yon Dea er segs onan Orgy en Yor Co nr Py Sevy se ce Age aC rn eng of (Sher ne ACF the nN ‘Stet own tice ft Bc ey ‘Orginal Wes Pata 25 Law/thilo, Nes 9% Amasce 5 Pays ° alte 5 Biotin Hay 4 Posy = Uwnme 2 pr) Mowe 5 Conmerssl 7 ee 5 Memos 15 Soe 3 tm Nm 1 Sees B cee a Reign 10 er a nations Nowe 2 aes 1 Hisery 2 Pocty 1 ‘Teter 1 oar a ‘TOTAL PUBLICATIONS. pies, history, pose andedutonal ete 1 nove, plays a pots. ‘ore ane there wore no special “elninegenves” during the Reon, Worn wrt and able in every trary and por ‘ic form ofthe period om the plus progestins of Clothe Libros oh re port calectors of Suze Gna; om the ‘lea err ofl deLésrto ond hcl ens {Mine de Cond snd Court egrig de a Masormenve to the {fanaton o texts on foal formation by Casdine Guyton de Morwesu and te songs ofthe make women ofthe ditt ft Pa * ‘Novel were a charted form of seltenpeion for women hey proce mont one nde of them over he every decade) Exttynomeane predominant one Women were alo cera thee lon ural ring te Revo founding ad eating over remy pedal a string gue in proporoa wi anal mam “teename snr Append4 cHAPTER Two ber. But by far the most common form of publication by women Was the political pamphlet especially petisons to public authorities La eed, the most sting, and moving Voie to meng rom the ib. {graphic record ae hon of ver twohuundred women both emlnentand ‘hocure, who at geet persona sk sought publicly redress what hey peweived to be polical and fnancs! uses by the authorities eas! thesalves their fre, and thei communis ts pechape rot worpiing that women aseeried the new and un precedente right to palpate in public polite scourge ater the Eslapse of royal regulation and cersorhip ofthe publishing and pnt lng world. But there is no common “women’s perspective” on the ‘naive aca, ultra, a plies! poesibltis thatthe Revolution pened up Intent, we Bind an extraordinary divest of politcal and Sci views, rang fom amecalte pampaeteers to royaist apalo- fists, fei cling fr equal ght and antifemiists calling women bck to the home defenders ofthe Quoen (Stal) and vililers ofthe (Queen (Kéato Biber), abuldonste (Gouge) and slave waders (he ‘widow Grégote His etsy erpeilly for Mteraryhistrians, o is ins this pruliesaion of polite ephemera and to fcws instead on he literary masterpissesof Gemaine de ttl or Isbelie de Chari. But the ournale ani pamphlets ofthe evolutionary period ultimately di [ere to change le world and area more powerfl testament tothe ine ‘vention of democratic cultural ie we shit our perspective fom the history of gender ideology to the sad ofthe lterary pracos of women during the Er- lightenment and he French Revolution, tee points become cet: (2) ‘The Pench Revastion marked the advent of unprecedented female participation in public debte, not ts suppression; @) women who ‘rote here not kl saga a outcast rebel ater hey rer a the very cote of her social and pollca words as diverse as {howe words wer and (3) there were no typical "frinne” forms of it teary seltexpresson or feminine” perspectives on the plans {Sal wor: Women wrote in every genre and from ll ses cf the pol ‘cal spectrum, “same Deh pil he nly of pening in he pref ema vies Sng be eae tpt ating Pay 2 ‘Si Winey Pcl mph tay Revs ed a Ae, ig tons tng So Fe hy 79 “SSeeuecnnis aproae “There was no “women’s ovation” in 1785 but trough he comn- mercilzation of cultural if, the Fonch Revolution opened wp the un- ‘resected opportnity for women to participate in public politi ‘isourse and debate ara indee to debate the appropiate Place for ‘women withinademocraticpoiy. And women didsoindramaticnum- bem And these evlutonary gains in public representation were not «ephemeral The neretsod number of women‘n print was rustanes well {tothe nineteenth centary. Though t denied women equal poltial and cil igh, the French Revolution in opening up the poss for this debate though the democratization feltra ie, made it possi- ‘le or the rst time in istry for almest any woman of man to appeal bli tothe rnson of fellow ctzens and lima twin cit and politcal equality for women—even ft took moe than a centry to do {The “other Enlightenment” the public exercise of female reason, ‘gan in fll with the commeriaization of French clr fe afer 178,