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Women of the French Revolution
On may 4, 1789, Madame de Stael, daughter of the finance minister Jacques Necker, watched the opening procession of the States General. Seven years later, on the eve of his departure for Italy and glory, Josephine de Bauharnais married the young Napoleon Bonaparte. Between these two dates the French Revolution had run its course. At every stage, women, whether as witnesses or participants, were closely associated with its main events. Their experiences, recorded in the letters and memoirs of the day, give a fresh slant on the revolution's often told story and incidentally cast a light on women's lot in general at the time.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 22, 2017
Despite its remarkable resemblance to something that fell off a carrel shelf at the local elementary school, Linda Kelly has produced a fiendishly terrific little volume here. In it, she traces the path of several conspicuous figures of the French Revolution and draws our attention deftly to the fact that, in such a day and age, "conspicuous" was all a woman might feasibly aspire to. Although the assemblies, councils, clubs and pamphlets sounded their insurrectionary claxon for equality across all spheres and territories of French life, a line was drawn at gender. No woman would be elected to represent a town or a faction, to hold an office, to manage an issue or dictate a term. They made a lovely garland to the phalanx of a protest and added a certain spice to the reportage, but they were not to be taken seriously or invested with an ounce of legitimate sway. Such was the hypocrisy a woman faced when confronting the revolutionary corridor of power. And so it was as most of these old stories go, she did her best to work around it.
Kelly reserves most of her focus for six of the leading lights of Parisian public life: Madame de Stael, Madame de la Tour du Pin, Theroigne de Mericourt, Madame Roland, Olympe de Gouges and (the dark horse here) Josephine Beauharnais. Each receives the benefit of an objective accounting enriched by insight and genuine compassion. The biographies weave, as they must in every revolutionary tapestry, around and across, above and beneath; travails glancing one off the other through the force of a series of momentous events. What drove one woman into exile would thrust another to the forefront by the promotion of a husband or the opening of a salon. Several of these women wrote, all of them campaigned; each risked life and limb to remain in some way relevant to the cause she held dear and the time she lived in.
As to those who moved me most, the bounty makes a choice difficult. Is it Theroigne, swathed in her blood-red cloak, sabre by her side, two pistols at her waist, charging through so many riots, down so many streets? Kidnapped by the Austrian government and rigorously put to question, she returned to France a broken soul yet no less fierce in her conviction. Perhaps it is Olympe, the playwright, determined to exercise her prerogative to say whatever came into her head, until the Revolutionary tribunal saw no recourse but to take this troublesome body part from her. Or perhaps a personage from the second tier - that dark beauty, the Marquise de Fontaney, whom hard circumstance forced into the bed of the vicious Tallien and who, through sheer guile and careful manipulation, managed to save so many from the guillotine (only to be ostracized in later years by the very people for whom she'd made the effort). A fair number of Kelly's accounts are absolutely fascinating.
It's an old book, published first in 1987, yet if you come across a copy? Well worth a look.
Kelly reserves most of her focus for six of the leading lights of Parisian public life: Madame de Stael, Madame de la Tour du Pin, Theroigne de Mericourt, Madame Roland, Olympe de Gouges and (the dark horse here) Josephine Beauharnais. Each receives the benefit of an objective accounting enriched by insight and genuine compassion. The biographies weave, as they must in every revolutionary tapestry, around and across, above and beneath; travails glancing one off the other through the force of a series of momentous events. What drove one woman into exile would thrust another to the forefront by the promotion of a husband or the opening of a salon. Several of these women wrote, all of them campaigned; each risked life and limb to remain in some way relevant to the cause she held dear and the time she lived in.
As to those who moved me most, the bounty makes a choice difficult. Is it Theroigne, swathed in her blood-red cloak, sabre by her side, two pistols at her waist, charging through so many riots, down so many streets? Kidnapped by the Austrian government and rigorously put to question, she returned to France a broken soul yet no less fierce in her conviction. Perhaps it is Olympe, the playwright, determined to exercise her prerogative to say whatever came into her head, until the Revolutionary tribunal saw no recourse but to take this troublesome body part from her. Or perhaps a personage from the second tier - that dark beauty, the Marquise de Fontaney, whom hard circumstance forced into the bed of the vicious Tallien and who, through sheer guile and careful manipulation, managed to save so many from the guillotine (only to be ostracized in later years by the very people for whom she'd made the effort). A fair number of Kelly's accounts are absolutely fascinating.
It's an old book, published first in 1987, yet if you come across a copy? Well worth a look.
November 21, 2025
A great little book. This helped me understand the french revolution that no other book on that subject has ever done. Maybe coming from a different angle, a female point of view helped things to fall in place more easily.
I always thought that the revolution was about Men, I didn't realise just what a part women had to play in breaking down the "ancien regimen". From the fishwives and other females who marched on Versailles. and then helped to attack the Bastille to Madame Roland who was a leader/supporter of the Girondins.
It's well worth a read.
I always thought that the revolution was about Men, I didn't realise just what a part women had to play in breaking down the "ancien regimen". From the fishwives and other females who marched on Versailles. and then helped to attack the Bastille to Madame Roland who was a leader/supporter of the Girondins.
It's well worth a read.
September 1, 2011
As a soon to be graduate student in French Studies, Linda Kelly's book is great tool for investigating the roles of women with regards to the French Revolution. As I constructed my paper for presentation, her work was relied on greatly. Easy to understand, a smooth text, the reader will have no difficultly in grasping the historical context of Ms. Kelly's writing. Recommended for those who are interested in Women's studies or their role in the French Revolution.
May 30, 2026
After years and years of running across such names as Mme. Roland, Olympe de Gouges, and the Comtesse de La Tour du Pin, it is very nice now to know their stories. One thing is certain: the French Revolution did nothing for the civic rights of women. It might even have been a retrograde progression.
February 13, 2021
It was ok. Good for Western standards, and a compelling read, but not very far reaching. Would still recommend trying to read fs
December 13, 2016
This is a book I happened to just pick up off a shelf. I have a poor knowledge of the French Revolution. This book was easy to read and compelling. Very seamless. I am off to research more on these women.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews