Women's Role In The French Revolution

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The Women of Revolution In 1789 everyone in France knew that the country was facing collapse: the economy was hit viciously by the mismanagement of the financial debt that was driven by the French involvement in the American Revolution, a period of bad harvest that lead to massive shortages of grain and the extravagant spending of the monarchy. King Louis XVI of France was struggling with growing opposition from the provincial parliaments and political upheaval fueled by the new rhetoric of the Enlightenment that lead more of peasantry to question authority and go to the streets in protest. But no one would have thought though that 1789 would mark the beginning of the end for the French monarchy, the death of the king and a change in how the world works forever. In this essay a major player and cause for the success of the French Revolution that has often been ignored will be examined. Womens’ role in French society pre and post revolution and how they have been portrayed in revolutionary…show more content…
‘Liberty leading the people’ painting of the 1830 revolution consolidates this idea. It is this struggle for equality that would continue throughout the next three centuries that puts women at the heart of the revolution of 1789 and their experience reflects a much bigger challenge faced by revolutionary ideals and principles. The Enlightenment, revolutionary ideals and a new political system saw their foundations shaken by the participation of women in public life and age-old traditions were all questioned as the world saw France shit global politics. It is those often side-lined or forgotten revolutionaries that had pivotal role in the success of the French Revolution, one that might burned with the fire of class equality but ignited the flames of gender equality as

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