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Sarah Becker

English 137H

Professor Taheri

9 October 2022

Women’s Inequalities of the French Revolution

The French Revolution was a historical period for France as it led to the abolishment of

feudalism and the destruction of the Old Regime. The rise of the American Revolution and other

new ideas influenced the citizens of France to rebel against the current monarchy. Most

individuals recognized the importance of changing the division of classes, but one of the

overlooked events was the transformation in women’s rights. Because the French revolution

involved the entire country and not just one group of people, women had the opportunity to take

a stand and object to the laws for their rights. One major document created was the Declaration

of the Rights of Woman written by French feminist and activist Olympe de Gouges. She fought

for the same rights that men asked for during the revolution through the establishment of the

Declaration of the Rights of Man by Jean-Jaques, another French activist. The Declaration of the

Rights of Woman became a powerful archive through the use of kairos during the French

Revolution, the commonplace ideology of women’s inequality in society, and de Gouges’s strong

opinions in her post-script of how women are not objects.

The kairos of the French Revolution enhanced the influence of this document as the

revolution changed the economic, political, and social aspects of life in France. France was

falling apart as there was such a large division between the three social classes and the abuse of

power by the monarchy. De Gouges used this revolution as a way to gain women’s rights
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because of how the revolution impacted the entirety of France. This document was created in

1791, which was shortly after the Revolution began. The document's preamble recognizes all

types of women, “Mothers, daughters, sisters, female representatives of the nation ask to be

constituted as a national assembly” (de Gouge). The national assembly represented all citizens of

France during the revolution who favored amending economic and political laws. De Gouge

wanted it to be well known that she, alongside all other women of France, should have the same

opportunities as any man to help make a change. Moreover, de Gouges’ objection to the Old

Regime’s laws against women was particularly difficult to defend, as most radical men of the

Revolution were against women’s rights. “...(The declaration of the rights of women), clearly

identified the legislators’ exclusionary politics and attempted to include women and people of

color in the founding charter of the French Republic” (Vanpee 53). Although this was a

revolution for all, it was challenging to find other powerful figures willing to support her cause.

Most men wanted this revolution to change class divisions and the power of the government.

Alongside that, the Declaration of the Rights of Man was created during the French revolution

but failed to include women in these basic rights that they were asking for, such as freedom of

speech and representation. The French Revolution was a kairotic moment as it heightened the

argument made in de Gouge’s document.

All women felt a similar commonplace during the mid-century because of France’s

highly oppressive laws. They created a like-minded community to solve this issue because of the

similarities they all shared–regardless of social or political status. The Declaration of the Rights

of Woman was a document all women could relate to, hence creating a commonplace for the

women of France. In the 1700s and 1800s, women were seen as the sole purpose of creating and

raising children, even by male revolution activists. For example, one of the most radical
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revolutionary activist groups, the Jacobins, had members who said that it was a “civic

responsibility” (Scott 3). for women to engage in acts such as breastfeeding to uphold their duty

to society and had the strong belief that even women could not help in this revolutionary

advancement, which is quite ironic as it was created to help all French citizens, not just white

males. Furthermore, in de Gouges' preamble, she starts by stating how the government has

wronged the women of France. “Considering that ignorance, neglect, or contempt for the rights

of woman are the sole causes of public misfortunes and governmental corruption…” (de

Gouges). This sentence alone demonstrates how the corrupted First Republic of France denied

inalienable rights to women and how this revolution was the time to fix it. Putting this phrase in

the first paragraph and including it in the last paragraph establishes how the commonplace of

women’s rights in France created such a strong argument for de Gouges to grab the attention of

her audience. This commonplace sparked protests started by women, including the Women’s

March of Versailles, where women demanded change within their community. The similar

beliefs that all of these women held allowed them to become a stronger force because of the

commonplace that was created against them.

Olympe de Gouges’s postscript is one of the strongest parts of this document, as she uses

rhetorical proof to engage her audience. The laws that were placed into this writing came from

the Declaration of the Rights of Man document to show how men and women should be equal,

but the conclusion of de Gouges’s writing is filled with ethos. First, she has gained the trust of

the audience by also being a fellow woman who is being affected by these cruel laws that

overlook the true power of a woman. The reason her statements are so impactful is that she is

telling the truth. She counterargues her own opinions by stating how women only needed to do

two things to be “successful” in life. For example, “A woman only had to be beautiful and
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amiable; when she possessed these two advantages, she saw a hundred fortunes at her feet” (de

Gouges). Her truthfulness in saying how women technically had everything they needed during

The Old Regime, yet still says women deserve much more than that, catches the audience’s

attention. She holds the audience’s trust because she does not just say what the audience wants to

hear but also says what they do not want to hear. Having a sense of realism in her ending

paragraph supports the idea of how women have been brainwashed by society to follow their

“duty” as a woman.

Following that, de Gouges' powerful use of pathos is created through her use of diction

and examples that create emotion within her audience. For instance, “A young woman without

experience, seduced by the man she loves, abandons her parents to follow him; the ingrate leaves

her after a few years, and the older she will have grown with him, the more his inconstancy will

be inhuman. If she has children, he will still abandon her” (de Gouges). This message is so

emotionally-provoking because many women can resonate with this same story. Because of the

limited rights they were given, they had little to no choice but to follow their husbands. The use

of pathos allowed the audience to gain a connection with the writer and the document itself.

Along with that, she showed what women are to society. For instance, “On the one hand, she

attacked women as they were – indulgent, frivolous, seductive, intriguing and duplicitous…”

(Scott 9). This phrase emphasizes the idea that women are described as these not very

complimenting adjectives because of how the nation has created them to be. These five words

make women feel angry, sad, or distraught. Emotions such as enragement are one of the most

powerful ways to start a change or rebellion because feelings this strong make one want to act on

them. De Gouges had a particular way of developing pathos throughout her writing, which was

by making her audience furious and bitter about the way they were treated by society.
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The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, written by activist Olympe de Gouges became

empowering through the use of a kairotic moment, commonplaces, and rhetorical proofs. The

French Revolution was one of the most rebellious events in French history because of the impact

and outcome it would have on France in the future, hence why this document became so

influential for women. The fact that this was a serious issue for women across France showed

how having commonplaces could seriously impact writings such as de Gouges’s. Also, her use of

ethos and pathos in her ending paragraph persuaded her audience of, not just women but all of

France, to give women the rights they deserve. Although women may not have been given their

rights right away, this intelligent piece of writing would mark a step forward in women's rights

across Europe.

Works Cited

“Olympe de Gouges, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman (September 1791),” LIBERTY,

EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, accessed October 5,

2022, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/293.

Scott, Joan Wallach. “French Feminists and the Rights of ‘Man’: Olympe de Gouges’s

Declarations.” History Workshop, no. 28, 1989, pp. 1–21. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4288921. Accessed 5 Oct. 2022.

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Vanpée, Janie. “Performing Justice: The Trials of Olympe de Gouges.” Theatre Journal, vol. 51,

no. 1, 1999, pp. 47–65. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25068623. Accessed 5 Oct. 2022.