Question

Evaluate the role of women in France before the revolution.

Answer 1

Hint: Women in France got the rights of voting in about 1946. Women participated in almost every aspect of the French Revolution, but their participation almost always proved divisive.

Complete Answer:
French revolution brought a new light in the political history of the world. It gave the ideals of equality, liberty and fraternity and promoted the importance of nationalism all over the world. People living within France witnessed a large change in their course of life. Their collective struggle resulted in the betterment of their lives. A large section of commoners including women participated wholeheartedly in the revolution. But the position of women before the revolution was way different.

Position of women in France before the revolution:
1. In France before the revolution, women had no voting rights; they couldn't vote or hold any political office.
2. They were considered passive citizens; forced to rely on men in the government to decide what was best for them.
3. They were the men who established these categories, and in the political arena, women were forced to embrace male dominance.
4. They taught women to be committed to their husbands.
5. The education of a woman mostly consisted of learning to be a good wife and mother; as a result, women were not expected to be engaged in the political sphere, as the raising of future people was the limit of their power.
6. Before the revolution, the subordinate position of women was perhaps best exemplified by the Frederic Code, published in 1761 and which was criticised by philosophers and publishers of the Enlightenment.

Note: - Marie Curie, also known as Madame Curie who lived from 1867 to 1934 belonged to France. She became the first person who won the Nobel prize two times and was the first woman in the world who won this prize. Because of her big contribution in the scientific world which was male-dominated that time, she was consecrated at the Pantheon, France’s national mausoleum.
- The most known organisation formed by women in the french revolution was ‘The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women’.