Olympe De Gouges: The Declaration Of The Rights Of Woman

As Olympe de Gouges was developing The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, France was undergoing major changes. This was the height of the French Revolution, where political and social structures were being criticized and altered completely. Under the Ancien Regime, political power was solely granted through the Divine Rights of Kings and society was divided into three estates: clergy, nobility, and everyone else. This organization was an outgrowth of The Great Chain of Being, a well-established hierarchical worldview. During the time of the French Revolution, ideas and attitudes began to develop that challenged this hierarchically-ordered society and began to understand the human realm as ordered horizontally. It is in this context that the

The idea and value of the woman would not progress under these conditions. Olympe de Gouges’ aim in The Declaration of the Rights of Woman was not only to obtain equal rights for woman, but to reconfigure how womankind was perceived within society. Olympe de Gouges’ woman was not a beautiful plaything, but a strong, opinionated, respected member of the public sphere. In order to demonstrate how Olympe de Gouges sought to obtain rights for women, I will first summarize the passage and define any key terms. I will then define the rights of woman under the Ancien Regime. I will also discuss the parallels drawn between the woman and the slave to illustrate the severe lack of rights women had under the former regime. Next, I will discuss the ideas of her male counterparts and how they are inadequate in her view. I will then go through Gouges’ Rights of the Woman and the Citizeness, and the way in which this bill of rights creates a new prototype of the woman. Next, I will discuss the passage, as a response to Hobbes’ ideas and the implications this piece had on society. I will go on to analyze the passage and discuss its meaning in The

Gouges also claims that women have been impeded by the will of men. In marriage and familial affairs, women require a man to give them rights, wealth, and property. If a husband chooses to leave his wife, there is no consequences for him, yet the wife will be left with nothing, “Marriage is the tomb of confidence and love” (de Gouges 128). The Declaration of the Rights of Woman criticizes the French Revolution. Olympe de Gouges creates a bill of rights for the female citizen and encourages females to assert their own rights. She also constructs an entirely new take on the social contract of marriage, where women will be left with equal wealth to that of her male counterpart. Olympe de Gouges’ aim in publishing this text was to inspire a sexually equal society in France, “…female representatives of the nation ask to be constituted as a national assembly” (de Gouges 124). Although her goal was not ultimately achieved, she succeeded in creating a feminist dialogue in the early modern period. Olympe de Gouges would be extremely content with the modern woman, although her wishes for the rights of womankind have still not been fully incorporated into public society, the modern woman is well-educated and unafraid to assert her