Olympe de Gouges (Author of The Rights of Woman) edit data Olympe de Gouges, born Marie Gouze, was a French playwright and political activist whose feminist and abolitionist writings reached a large audience. She became an outspoken advocate for ameliorating the condition of slaves in the colonies and she began writing political pamphlets. Today she is perhaps best known as an early feminist who demanded that French women be given the same rights as French men. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality. She was executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror for attacking the regime of Maximilien Robespierre and for her close relation with the Girondists. Marie-Olympe de Gouges Facts LINK / CITE ADD TO WORD LIST Marie-Olympe de Gouges Facts French author and activist Marie Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) achieved modest success as a play wright in the 18th century, but she became best known for her political writing and support of the French Revolution.

Considered a feminist pioneer, de Gouges was an advocate of women's rights. Her most famous work was The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, (1791). Even in revolutionary France, feminist ideas were considered radical. In 1793, she was executed for crimes against the government. Early Life Marie-Olympe de Gouges was born Marie Gouzes in Montauban, in southern France, on December 31, 1748. The facts about her true parentage are somewhat vague, and de Gouges herself contributed to the confusion by encouraging rumors about her illegitimacy. It is commonly believed that she was born and raised in a modest family, the daughter of Pierre Gouze, a butcher, and Anne Olympe Moisset, a maidservant. However, it was rumored that de Gouges's mother, who reportedly was a beautiful women and unhappy in her marriage, had an affair with a person of high social rank, Marquis Lefranc de Pompignan. The marquis, many claimed, was de Gouge's real father. Another circulated rumor suggested that de Gouges was the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XV.

When asked about her true parentage, de Gouges would only answer somewhat ambiguously. Fueling the speculation about de Gouge's illegitimate birth was the fact the Pierre Gouze's name did not appear on any significant documents relating to his daughter's paternity. However, it is now generally believed today that Gouze was indeed her real father. Whatever the true facts about her parentage, she actually lived with Gouze, who died when she was two years old. During her youth, de Gouges already demonstrated the kind of rebelliousness that would come into play in her adult life. In 1765, when she was 17, de Gouges married a French officer, Louis Aubrey. Two years later, they had a son. Aubrey was much older than de Gouges and he died three years into the marriage. Following his death, and displaying her characteristic rebelliousness, de Gouges refused to accept her position as a widowed mother or the designation of "Widowed Aubrey," a personal stance that was counter to the social convention. Even more, she vowed never to remarry.

Moved to Paris Abandoning her son, de Gouges went to Paris in 1770 to seek fame as a writer. For her pen name she chose simply Olympe de Gouges, a variation of both her mother and father's names. She actively sought to achieve her ambition, propagating the rumors of her illegitimate birth. It has been suggested that she started, or at least encouraged, the rumors because she believed that, by tying her lineage to a marquis, she'd gain her entrance into the higher social circles that she aspired. Also, she most likely believed that a blood tie with Marquis Lefranc of Pompignan, who was a well-known author, would help her establish her own reputation as a writer. The rumor gained currency in her lifetime even though no proof existed of its truth. During this period, she furthered her career by meeting and establishing connections with the most famous writers and philosophers of the time, and she worked her way into the highest social circles. Remaining resolute in her desire never to marry again, she reportedly became the mistress of several men of high social rank and she divided herself between her many lovers and her writing.

A self-educated woman, de Gouges wrote plays, novels, and sociopolitical pamphlets. Her dramatic works included Le Mariage inattendu de Chérubin and Zamore et Mirza ou l'Heureux naufrage. Her career as a playwright turned out to be somewhat disappointing, as it resulted in only modest success. She was poorly educated, could barely read for a good portion of her life, and her grammar and punctuation were terrible. As a result, her writing tended to be plodding, verbose, and awkward. However, greatly affected by current events, she would soon enter the phase of her career that proved the most productive and thematically significant. She began turning out political works that helped influence the course of human rights, specifically for women. Paris, in the late 1780's, was a political focal point. France was a country in turmoil and on the verge of an influential and inspiring, though bloody, revolution that would attract the attention of the world. De Gouges was swept up in the fervor of the times. Although most of her fellow citizens were exuberantly political, and even fanatically revolutionary, de Gouges initially took a moderate stance.

Reforms she suggested in her political materials were intended to bring about change without sacrificing the social stability. Indeed, de Gouges had friends in the French royalty that was about to be overthrown, but her works often attempted to negatively depict the extremists on both sides of the political spectrum: the royalists, or monarchists, and the revolutionaries. As the storms of revolution swirled, de Gouges still considered herself a royalist. Her 1788 piece Droits de la femme articulated advanced revolutionary ideals while expressing her sympathies for the French monarchy. Also in 1788, she published her Patriotic Remarks, wherein she presented a large program of social reforms and advocated for the dismantling of the monarchial government. The document also outlined the abuses of the elite social class. One of her works was a political satire, Project of a Patriotic Case By Citoyenne, involving a "voluntary tax." But de Gouges would become disillusioned by the French monarchy's inaction, and she would encourage the French king Louis XVI to abdicate his throne and put in its place a regent government. She felt that this would be a workable solution to an ever-growing crisis.

The citizens had armed themselves, the Bastille had been stormed, and blood was literally flowing in the streets. De Gouges would remain a royalist until Louis XVI escaped from the country, a move that further increased the growing chaos. From that point on, her political material become more pointed and she sided more strongly with the revolutionaries. In 1789, after Louis XVI's escape, she produced two more satires, Cry of Wise by a Woman and To Save the Fatherland. Feminist Thought The sociopolitical works that de Gouge produced during this period focused strongly on the issues of civil rights, particularly the rights of women, which she deemed were "natural" and "inalienable." Her dedication to and advocacy for these issues stemmed from her much broader belief in the complete equality of all human beings. The revolution created the type of environment that fostered innovative ideas such as feminism. One of the feminist organizations created during this period was the Society of Republican and Revolutionary Women. Its members encouraged de Gouges to develop a document that would essentially serve as a declaration of rights for women.

She set out to produce the work, which would eventually be published as the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen in 1791. In the meantime, her name was becoming widely known in radical circles, just as it had a few years earlier when she established her standing in the bourgeois. In October 1789, the year the French Revolution came to a boil, she proposed a radical reform platform to the French National Assembly, a governing body comprised of the nation's new leaders. Appearing before this board, she advocated for the complete legal equality of the sexes, more job opportunities for women, a legal alternative to the private dowry system, better education for young girls, and the establishment of a national theater that would show only plays written by women. Declaration of Women's Rights Finally published in September of 1791, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman (Déclaration of the Droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne) was, in a way, a response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen that was published in 1789 and was to the French Revolution what the Declaration of Independence was the to the American Revolution.

De Gouge's declaration called for an extension of the rights demanded in the latter including complete freedom of speech, the right to vote, and the opportunity to seek public office. Lest anyone miss her point, de Gouge employed the same kind of language and rhetoric that characterized the male "Declaration." De Gouge dedicated the work to Queen Marie Antoinette, hoping that the royal would support women's rights. The work consists of a preamble, 17 articles, and an epilogue. Her words were provocative and incited women to action. In the epilogue, de Gouge proclaimed, "Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies. The flame of truth has dispersed all the clouds of folly and usurpation. Enslaved man has multiplied his strength and needs recourse to yours to break his chains. Having become free, he has become unjust to his companion. Oh, women, women! When will you cease to be blind?

What advantage have you received from the Revolution?" Essentially, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen stated that women were equal to men in every respect and thus were entitled to the same rights. The work would create enemies for de Gouge; she believed that because many women participated in the French Revolution, they would or should automatically receive the new-found rights extended to the male citizenry. Accused of Sedition De Gouge's outspokenness would eventually lead to her arrest, conviction, and execution. The government that came to power after the overthrow of the monarchy demonstrated no tolerance for perceived subversion or even criticism. In a way, one tyranny replaced another, and de Gouge had placed herself in a rather tenuous situation. She felt she had the right to speak out on the behalf of the citizenry and to assert the rights of women. But in doing so, she violated traditional social boundaries that even the revolutionaries held inviolable, thus invoking the ire of the ruling body. Also, she harshly criticized Maximilien Robespierre, the recognized leader of the new government.

Her advocacy of women's rights combined with this criticism, which she published as Pronostic de Monsieur Robespierre pour an animal amphibie, as well as her previous support of King Louis XVI, led to accusations of sedition. In retrospect, and given the tenor of the times, de Gouge's publications of the criticism and "Declaration" were highly impetuous and imprudent actions. Sent to Trial At the time of her arrest, she was known publicly as Marie Olympe de Gouges, femme of letters. She was 38 years old and lived in the Pont-Neuf section of Paris, on rue du Harlay. A review of her trial proves enlightening, as it provides a typical example of the persecution that befell the revolutionaries who criticized the new government that arose in the wake of the monarchy's downfall. As this new government, the so-called National Convention, grew stronger, it took on the force of a "Reign of Terror." De Gouges was charged on July 25, 1793, with having written works contrary to the wants and needs of the entire nation and directed against those in power.

She was imprisoned and her writings were reviewed by a public prosecutor the next day. Her interrogation began on August 6, 1793. Following the review and her interrogation, it was determined that she had produced writings that were considered an attack on the sovereignty of the people and that she had questioned and openly provoked civil war and sought to arm citizens against one another. The public prosecutor assigned to her case expressed great indignation for de Gouges and her writings, claiming that she stated "perfidious intentions," as it is written in the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website. Describing de Gouges as "criminal," the prosecutor ascribed to her "hidden motives" against the sovereignty of the citizens of France and accused her of seeking to reestablish the monarchial government. He also criticized her for alleged inappropriate behavior during her public hearing, accusing her of smirking during her hearing, shrugging her shoulders at the accusations, raising her eyebrows at various statements, and smiling at spectators. The prosecutor drew up formal accusations and de Gouge was held for trial.

She was found guilty and condemned to death according to article one of the new constitution, quoted by the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website, "Whoever is convicted of having composed or printed works or writings which provoke the dissolution of the national representation, the reestablishment of royalty, or of any other power attacking the sovereignty of the people, will be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal and punished by death." In an attempt to escape the guillotine blade, de Gouges claimed she was pregnant. She was examined by doctors and midwives, who determined that her claim was false. Executed by Guillotine De Gouge was executed in Paris on November 3, 1793, put to death by guillotine, the instrument that had taken the lives of so many royals and members of the bourgeoisie during the revolution, as well as the lives of many staunch and true revolutionaries who dared defy or criticize the implacable government that rose to power.

According to reports in the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website, de Gouge ascended the scaffold at 4 p.m., looked into the assembled crowd, and said, "Children of the Fatherland, you will avenge my death." Following the execution, a published report, quoted in an article by Jone Johnnson Lewis, stated that "Olympe de Gouges, born with an exalted imagination, mistook her delirium for an inspiration of nature. She wanted to be a man of state. She took up the projects of the perfidious people who want to divide France. It seems the law has punished this conspirator for having forgotten the virtues that belong to her sex." Before her death, she wrote to her son, as seen on the Bibliotheca Augustana website, "Good-bye, my son, I will not live any more when you receive this letter. You will repair the injustice which one makes to your mother." In a public statement, she wrote, "Think of me and remember the action that I carried out in favour of the women! I am certain that we will triumph one day!" Books Darline Gav Levy, H. Applewhite, and M.

Johnson, eds., Women in Revolutionary Paris, University of Illinois Press, 1979. Online Johnson Lewis, Jone, "Olympe de Gouges and the Rights of Women," About.com : Women's History, (March 15, 2003). "Marie Gouze, known as Olympe de Gouges," History on Line, (March 15, 2003). "Marie Olympe Aubry de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Women (1791)," The University of Adelaide Department of History, (March 15, 2003). "Olympe de Gouges," Women of the French Revolution, ~pecoy/projects/gouges/ (March 15, 2003).

"Olympe de Gouges 1748-1793," Bibliotheca Augustana, ~harsch/gallica/Chronologie/18siecle/DeGouges/gou_fils.html &=/search%3Fq%3Ddegouges%2Bidol%25C3%25A2trie%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG (May 21, 2003). "The Trial of Olympe de Gouges," Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, (March 15, 2003).

Olympe de Gouges • Biography & Facts Olympe de Gouges Olympe de Gouges Olympe de Gouges (French pronunciation: ​[olɛ̃p də ɡuɡ]; 7 May 1748 – 3 November 1793), born Marie Gouze, was a French playwright and political activist whose feminist and abolitionist writings reached a large audience.She began her career as a playwright in the early 1780s. As political tension rose in France, de Gouges became increasingly politically engaged. She became an outspoken advocate for improving the condition of slaves in the colonies as of 1788. At the same time, she began writing political pamphlets. Today she is perhaps best known as an early feminist who demanded that French women be given the same rights as French men. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male–female inequality. She was executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror for attacking the regime of the Revolutionary government and for her close relation with the Girondists.

Personal facts Olympe de Gouges Olympe de Gouges General Pierre Aubry de Gouges Signature ( listen) ; 7 May 1748 – 3 November 1793), born Marie Gouze, was a French playwright and political activist whose feminist and abolitionist writings reached a large audience. She began her career as a playwright in the early 1780s. As political tension rose in France, Olympe de Gouges became increasingly politically engaged. She became an outspoken advocate for improving the condition of slaves in the colonies of 1788. At the same time, she began writing political pamphlets. Today she is perhaps best known as an early feminist who demanded that French women be given the same rights as French men. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male–female inequality. She was executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror for attacking the regime of the Revolutionary government and for her close relation with the Girondists .

Contents 6 External links Biography Marie Gouze was born into a petit bourgeois family in 1748 in Montauban , Quercy (in the present-day department of Tarn-et-Garonne ), in southwestern France. She believed that she was the illegitimate daughter of Jean-Jacques Lefranc , Marquis de Pompignan and his rejection of her claims upon him may have influenced her passionate defence of the rights of illegitimate children . [1] In 1765 she married Louis Aubry, a caterer, who came from Paris with the new Intendant of the town. This was not a marriage of love. Gouze said in a semi-autobiographical novel (Mémoire de Madame de Valmont contre la famille de Flaucourt), “I was married to a man I did not love and who was neither rich nor well-born. I was sacrificed for no reason that could make up for the repugnance I felt for this man.” [2] Her husband died a year later, and in 1770 she moved to Paris with her son, Pierre, and took the name of Olympe de Gouges.

[1] Olympe de Gouges In 1773, according to her biographer Olivier Blanc, she met a wealthy man, Jacques Biétrix de Rozières, with whom she had a long relationship that ended during the revolution. She was received in the artistic and philosophical salons , where she met many writers, including La Harpe , Mercier , and Chamfort as well as future politicians such as Brissot and Condorcet . She usually was invited to the salons of Madame de Montesson and the Comtesse de Beauharnais , who also were playwrights. She also was associated with Masonic Lodges among them, the Loge des Neuf Sœurs that was created by her friend Michel de Cubières . In 1784, the year that her putative biological father died, she began her career as a public intellectual, and over the remaining nine years of her life she wrote some forty works – essays, manifestos, literary treatises, political pamphlets and socially conscious plays. In 1784, she wrote the anti-slavery play Zamore and Mirza. For several reasons, the play was not performed until 1789.

De Gouges published it, however, as Zamore et Mirza, ou l’heureux naufrage (“Zamore and Mirza, or the happy shipwreck“) in 1788. It was performed as L’Esclavage des nègres (“Slavery of the negroes“) in December 1789, but shut down after three performances. Subsequently, it was published in 1792 under the title L’Esclavage des noirs. [3] She also wrote on such gender-related topics as the right of divorce and argued in favour of sexual relations outside of marriage. As an epilogue to the 1788 version of her play Zamore et Mirza, she published Réflexions sur les hommes nègres (“Reflections on the negroes“). In 1790 she wrote a play, Le Marché des Noirs (“The Black Market“) which was rejected by the Comédie Française; the text was burned after her death.

In 1808 the Abbé Grégoire included her on his list of the courageous people who pleaded the cause of “les nègres.” A passionate advocate of human rights , Olympe de Gouges greeted the outbreak of the Revolution with hope and joy, but soon became disenchanted when égalité (equal rights) was not extended to women. In 1791, she became part of the Society of the Friends of Truth , an association with the goal of equal political and legal rights for women. Also called the “Social Club”, members sometimes gathered at the home of the well-known women’s rights advocate, Sophie de Condorcet . Here, De Gouges expressed, for the first time, her famous statement, “A woman has the right to mount the scaffold. She must possess equally the right to mount the speaker’s platform.”{The Declaration of the Rights of Women} That same year, in response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , she wrote the Déclaration des droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne (“ Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen “).

This was followed by her Contrat Social (“Social Contract“, named after a famous work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau ), proposing marriage based upon gender equality. [4] She became involved in almost any matter she believed to involve injustice. She opposed the execution of Louis XVI of France , partly out of opposition to capital punishment and partly because she preferred a relatively tame and living king to the possibility of a rebel regency in exile. This earned her the ire of many hard-line republicans, even into the next generation—such as the comment by the 19th-century historian Jules Michelet , a fierce apologist for the Revolution, who wrote, “She allowed herself to act and write about more than one affair that her weak head did not understand.” [5] Michelet opposed any political participation by women and thus disliked de Gouges. [6] In December 1782, when Louis XVI was about to be put on trial, she wrote to the National Assembly offering to defend him, causing outrage among many deputies. In her letter she argued that he had been duped; that he was guilty as a king, but innocent as a man, and that he should be exiled rather than executed. The deputies ignored her offer.

[7] Arrest and execution Les trois urnes, the 1793 poster by Olympe de Gouges that led to her arrest and execution The execution of Olympe de Gouges As the Revolution progressed, she became more and more vehement in her writings. On 2 June 1793, the Jacobins arrested her allies, the Girondins , imprisoned them, and sent them to the guillotine in October. Finally, her poster Les trois urnes, ou le salut de la Patrie, par un voyageur aérien (“The Three Urns, or the Salvation of the Fatherland, By An Aerial Traveller“) of 1793, led to her arrest. That piece demanded a plebiscite for a choice among three potential forms of government: the first, unitary republic , the second, a federalist government, or the third, a constitutional monarchy . After she was arrested, the commissioners searched her house for evidence. When they could not find any in her home, she voluntarily led them to the storehouse where she kept her papers.

It was there that the commissioners found an unfinished play titled La France Sauvée ou le Tyran Détroné (“France Preserved, or The Tyrant Dethroned“). In the first act (only the first act and a half remain), Marie-Antoinette is planning defence strategies to retain the crumbling monarchy and is confronted by revolutionary forces, including De Gouges herself. The first act ends with De Gouges lecturing the queen for having seditious intentions and on how to lead her people. Both De Gouges and her prosecutor used this play as evidence in her trial. The prosecutor claimed that Olympe’s depictions of the queen threatened to stir up sympathy and support for the Royalists, whereas De Gouges stated that the play showed that she had always been a supporter of the revolution. [8] She spent three months in jail without an attorney , trying to defend herself. The presiding judge denied De Gouges her legal right to a lawyer, on the grounds that she was more than capable of representing herself. It seems as though the judge based this argument on De Gouges’s tendency to represent herself in her writings.

[8] Through her friends, she managed to publish two texts: Olympe de Gouges au tribunal révolutionnaire (“Olympe de Gouges at the revolutionary tribunal“), where she related her interrogations and her last work, Une patriote persécutée (“A [female] patriot persecuted“), where she condemned the Terror. The Jacobins, who already had executed a King and Queen , were in no mood to tolerate any opposition from the intellectuals. De Gouges was sentenced to death on 2 November 1793, and executed the following day for seditious behaviour and attempting to reinstate the monarchy. [8] Olympe was executed only a month after Condorcet had been proscribed and just three days after the Girondin leaders had been guillotined. Her body was disposed of in the Madeleine Cemetery .

Olympe’s last moments were depicted by an anonymous Parisian who kept a chronicle of events: Yesterday, at seven o’clock in the evening, a most extraordinary person called Olympe de Gouges who held the imposing title of woman of letters, was taken to the scaffold, while all of Paris, while admiring her beauty, knew that she didn’t even know her alphabet…. She approached the scaffold with a calm and serene expression on her face, and forced the guillotine’s furies, which had driven her to this place of torture, to admit that such courage and beauty had never been seen before…. That woman… had thrown herself in the Revolution, body and soul. But having quickly perceived how atrocious the system adopted by the Jacobins was, she chose to retrace her steps. She attempted to unmask the villains through the literary productions which she had printed and put up. They never forgave her, and she paid for her carelessness with her head.” [9] Legacy Pierre Aubry de Gouges After her death, says Olivier Blanc, [10] her son General Pierre Aubry de Gouges went to Guyana with his wife and five children.

He died in 1802, after which his widow attempted to return to France, but died aboard the ship during her return. In Guadeloupe , the two young daughters were married, Marie Hyacinthe Geneviève de Gouges to an English officer (Captain William Wood), who subsequently settled in Tasmania, and Charlotte de Gouges to American politician Robert Selden Garnett , a member of the United States Congress who had plantations in Virginia . Hence, many Australian and American families have Olympe de Gouges as an ancestor (per Olivier Blanc). [10] On 6 March 2004, the Paris junction of the Rues Béranger, Charlot, de Turenne, and de Franche-Comté in Paris was proclaimed the Place Olympe de Gouges. The square was inaugurated by the mayor of the 3rd arrondissement , Pierre Aidenbaum, along with the first deputy mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo . The actress Véronique Genest read an excerpt from the Declaration of the Rights of Woman.

2007 French presidential contender Ségolène Royal expressed the wish that the remains of de Gouges be moved to the Panthéon . However, her remains—like those of the other victims of the Reign of Terror—have been lost through burial in communal graves, so any reburial (like that of Condorcet ) would be only ceremonial. Writings First page of Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen Olympe de Gouges wrote her famous Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen shortly after the French constitution of 1791 was created in the same year. She was alarmed that the constitution, which was to promote equal suffrage, did not address—nor even consider—women’s suffrage. The Constitution gave that right only to men. It also did not address key issues such as legal equality in marriage, the right of a woman to divorce her spouse if he abused her, or a woman’s right to property and custody of the children. So she created a document that was to be, in her opinion, the missing part of the Constitution of 1791, in which women would be given the equal rights they deserve.

Throughout the document, it is apparent to the reader that Gouges had been influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment , whose thinkers, using “scientific reasoning”, critically examined and criticized the traditional morals and institutions of the day. Gouges opens up her Declaration with a witty, and at times sarcastically bitter, introduction in which she asks men why they have chosen to subjugate women as a lesser sex. Her opening statement put rather bluntly: “Man, are you capable of being just? It is a woman who poses the question; you will not deprive her of that right at least.” The latter part of the statement shows her assertion that men have been absurdly depriving women of what should be common rights, so she sarcastically asks if men will find it necessary to take away even her right to question. Gouges begins her long argument by stating that in nature the sexes are forever mingled, cooperating in “harmonious togetherness.” There she uses Enlightenment logic: if in nature the equality and the cooperation of the two sexes achieves harmony, so should France achieve a happier and more stable society if women are given equality among men.

After her opening paragraph she proceeds to her declaration, which she asks be reviewed and decreed by the National Assembly in their next meeting. Her preamble explains that the reason for contemporary public misfortune and corrupt government is due to the oppression of women and their rights. The happiness and well-being of society would only be insured once the rights of women were equally important as those of men, especially in political institutions. In her document Gouges establishes the rights of women on the basis of their equality to men: that they are both human and capable of the same thoughts. Gouges also promotes the rights of women by emphasizing differences women have to men; however, differences that men ought to respect and take notice of. She argues that women are superior in beauty as well as in courage during childbirth. Addressing characteristics that set women apart from men, she adds what she probably thought was logical proof to her argument that men are not superior to women, and therefore, women are deserving at least of the same rights.

Her declaration bears the same outline and context as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, but Gouges either changes the word “man” to “woman” or adds “for both women and men.” In article II, the resemblance is exact to the previous declaration except that she adds “especially” before “the right to the resistance of oppression”, emphasizing again how important it is to her to end the oppression of women, and that the government should recognize this and take action. A main difference between the two declarations is that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen emphasizes the protection of the written “law” while the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen emphasizes protection of the “law” and “Natural Laws.” Gouges emphasizes that these rights of women always have existed, that they were created at the beginning of time by God , that they are natural and true, and they cannot be oppressed. Article X contains the famous phrase: “Woman has the right to mount the scaffold; she must equally have the right to mount the rostrum.” If women have the right to be executed, they should have the right to speak.

She modifies article XI to say that a woman has the right to give her children the name of their father even if they be out of wedlock or the father may have left her. Gouges is passionate about this because she believed that she herself was an illegitimate child. In her postscript, Gouges exhorts women to wake up and discover that they have these rights. She assures them that reason is on their side. Gouges asks, “What have women gained from the French Revolution?” She states that the answer is nothing, except to be marked with yet more disdain. She exclaims that women should no longer tolerate this, they should step up, take action, and demand the equal rights they deserve. Gouges calls the notion that women are lesser beings an “out-of-date” concept. In this, she shows strongly her Enlightenment perspective—to break from old, illogical traditions that are now archaic. She asserts that to revoke women’s right to partake in political life is also “out-of-date.” Her last paragraph is titled a “Social Contract between Men and Women.” Taking a leaf from Rousseau’s book, the contract asks for communal cooperation. The wealth of a husband and wife should be distributed equally.

Property should belong to both and to the children, whatever bed they come from. If they are divorced, their land should be divided equally. She called this the “marriage contract.” Gouges also proposed to allow a poor man’s wife to have her children adopted by a wealthy family – this would advance the community’s wealth and reduce disorder. Near the end of the contract, Gouges requests creation of a law to protect widows and girls from men who make false promises. This, perhaps, is the most important issue she deals with in France. In the postscript section of her document, Gouges describes the consequences for a woman who is left by an unfaithful husband, who is widowed with no fortune to her name, and of young, inexperienced girls who are seduced by men who leave them with no money and no title for their children. Gouges therefore demands a law that will force an unfaithful or unscrupulous man to fulfill his obligations to such a woman, or to at least to pay a reimbursement equal to his wealth.

One of the last arguments in her document is directed to men who still see women as lesser beings: “the foolproof way to evaluate the soul of women is to join them to all the activities of man, if man persists against this, let him share his fortune with woman by the wisdom of the laws.” She challenges men that, if they wish, they may evaluate scientifically the consequences of joining man and woman in equal political rights. She wrote numerous other works, and the olympedegouges.eu website provides translations of many of her pamphlets: “Denied a place in the powerful circles of her day she found her political voice by writing an astonishing number of pamphlets and posters that she freely disseminated around Paris. Her texts chart her battles against injustice and inequality, her belief that solidarity and cooperation should predominate, her hatred of dictatorships and the corrupting influence of power, her profound pacifism, her respect for humankind, her love of nature, and, of course, her desire that women be allowed a worthwhile role in society. She pleaded against slavery and the death penalty, dreamt of a more equal society and proposed intelligent taxation plans to enable wealth to be more fairly divided.

She called for a form of welfare state, trial by jury and reasonable divorce laws to protect women and children from penury. Believing in the power of drama to encourage political change she wrote several plays that ingeniously highlight contemporary concerns.” See also Marie-Olympe de Gouges - Biography Bith Date: December 31, 1748 Death Date: November 3, 1793 Place of Birth: Montauban, France Nationality: French Gender: Occupations: writer, activist French author and activist Marie Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) achieved modest success as a playwright in the 18th century, but she became best known for her political writing and support of the French Revolution. Considered a feminist pioneer, de Gouges was an advocate of women's rights. Her most famous work was The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, (1791). Even in revolutionary France, feminist ideas were considered radical. In 1793, she was executed for crimes against the government.

Early Life Marie-Olympe de Gouges was born Marie Gouzes in Montauban, in southern France, on December 31, 1748. The facts about her true parentage are somewhat vague, and de Gouges herself contributed to the confusion by encouraging rumors about her illegitimacy. It is commonly believed that she was born and raised in a modest family, the daughter of Pierre Gouze, a butcher, and Anne Olympe Moisset, a maidservant. However, it was rumored that de Gouges's mother, who reportedly was a beautiful women and unhappy in her marriage, had an affair with a person of high social rank, Marquis Lefranc de Pompignan. The marquis, many claimed, was de Gouge's real father. Another circulated rumor suggested that de Gouges was the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XV. When asked about her true parentage, de Gouges would only answer somewhat ambiguously. Fueling the speculation about de Gouge's illegitimate birth was the fact the Pierre Gouze's name did not appear on any significant documents relating to his daughter's paternity.

However, it is now generally believed today that Gouze was indeed her real father. Whatever the true facts about her parentage, she actually lived with Gouze, who died when she was two years old. During her youth, de Gouges already demonstrated the kind of rebelliousness that would come into play in her adult life. In 1765, when she was 17, de Gouges married a French officer, Louis Aubrey. Two years later, they had a son. Aubrey was much older than de Gouges and he died three years into the marriage. Following his death, and displaying her characteristic rebelliousness, de Gouges refused to accept her position as a widowed mother or the designation of "Widowed Aubrey," a personal stance that was counter to the social convention. Even more, she vowed never to remarry. Moved to Paris Abandoning her son, de Gouges went to Paris in 1770 to seek fame as a writer. For her pen name she chose simply Olympe de Gouges, a variation of both her mother and father's names.

She actively sought to achieve her ambition, propagating the rumors of her illegitimate birth. It has been suggested that she started, or at least encouraged, the rumors because she believed that, by tying her lineage to a marquis, she'd gain her entrance into the higher social circles that she aspired. Also, she most likely believed that a blood tie with Marquis Lefranc of Pompignan, who was a well-known author, would help her establish her own reputation as a writer. The rumor gained currency in her lifetime even though no proof existed of its truth. During this period, she furthered her career by meeting and establishing connections with the most famous writers and philosophers of the time, and she worked her way into the highest social circles. Remaining resolute in her desire never to marry again, she reportedly became the mistress of several men of high social rank and she divided herself between her many lovers and her writing. A self-educated woman, de Gouges wrote plays, novels, and sociopolitical pamphlets. Her dramatic works included Le Mariage inattendu de Ch&eacute;rubin and Zamore et Mirza ou l'Heureux naufrage.

Her career as a playwright turned out to be somewhat disappointing, as it resulted in only modest success. She was poorly educated, could barely read for a good portion of her life, and her grammar and punctuation were terrible. As a result, her writing tended to be plodding, verbose, and awkward. However, greatly affected by current events, she would soon enter the phase of her career that proved the most productive and thematically significant. She began turning out political works that helped influence the course of human rights, specifically for women. Paris, in the late 1780's, was a political focal point. France was a country in turmoil and on the verge of an influential and inspiring, though bloody, revolution that would attract the attention of the world. De Gouges was swept up in the fervor of the times. Although most of her fellow citizens were exuberantly political, and even fanatically revolutionary, de Gouges initially took a moderate stance. Reforms she suggested in her political materials were intended to bring about change without sacrificing the social stability.

Indeed, de Gouges had friends in the French royalty that was about to be overthrown, but her works often attempted to negatively depict the extremists on both sides of the political spectrum: the royalists, or monarchists, and the revolutionaries. As the storms of revolution swirled, de Gouges still considered herself a royalist. Her 1788 piece Droits de la femme articulated advanced revolutionary ideals while expressing her sympathies for the French monarchy. Also in 1788, she published her Patriotic Remarks, wherein she presented a large program of social reforms and advocated for the dismantling of the monarchial government. The document also outlined the abuses of the elite social class. One of her works was a political satire, Project of a Patriotic Case By Citoyenne, involving a "voluntary tax." But de Gouges would become disillusioned by the French monarchy's inaction, and she would encourage the French king Louis XVI to abdicate his throne and put in its place a regent government. She felt that this would be a workable solution to an ever-growing crisis. The citizens had armed themselves, the Bastille had been stormed, and blood was literally flowing in the streets.

De Gouges would remain a royalist until Louis XVI escaped from the country, a move that further increased the growing chaos. From that point on, her political material become more pointed and she sided more strongly with the revolutionaries. In 1789, after Louis XVI's escape, she produced two more satires, Cry of Wise by a Woman and To Save the Fatherland. Feminist Thought The sociopolitical works that de Gouge produced during this period focused strongly on the issues of civil rights, particularly the rights of women, which she deemed were "natural" and "inalienable." Her dedication to and advocacy for these issues stemmed from her much broader belief in the complete equality of all human beings. The revolution created the type of environment that fostered innovative ideas such as feminism. One of the feminist organizations created during this period was the Society of Republican and Revolutionary Women. Its members encouraged de Gouges to develop a document that would essentially serve as a declaration of rights for women. She set out to produce the work, which would eventually be published as the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen in 1791.

In the meantime, her name was becoming widely known in radical circles, just as it had a few years earlier when she established her standing in the bourgeois. In October 1789, the year the French Revolution came to a boil, she proposed a radical reform platform to the French National Assembly, a governing body comprised of the nation's new leaders. Appearing before this board, she advocated for the complete legal equality of the sexes, more job opportunities for women, a legal alternative to the private dowry system, better education for young girls, and the establishment of a national theater that would show only plays written by women. Declaration of Women's Rights Finally published in September of 1791, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman (Déclaration of the Droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne) was, in a way, a response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen that was published in 1789 and was to the French Revolution what the Declaration of Independence was the to the American Revolution. De Gouge's declaration called for an extension of the rights demanded in the latter including complete freedom of speech, the right to vote, and the opportunity to seek public office.

Lest anyone miss her point, de Gouge employed the same kind of language and rhetoric that characterized the male "Declaration." De Gouge dedicated the work to Queen Marie Antoinette, hoping that the royal would support women's rights. The work consists of a preamble, 17 articles, and an epilogue. Her words were provocative and incited women to action. In the epilogue, de Gouge proclaimed, "Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies. The flame of truth has dispersed all the clouds of folly and usurpation. Enslaved man has multiplied his strength and needs recourse to yours to break his chains. Having become free, he has become unjust to his companion. Oh, women, women! When will you cease to be blind? What advantage have you received from the Revolution?" Essentially, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen stated that women were equal to men in every respect and thus were entitled to the same rights.

The work would create enemies for de Gouge; she believed that because many women participated in the French Revolution, they would or should automatically receive the newfound rights extended to the male citizenry. Accused of Sedition De Gouge's outspokenness would eventually lead to her arrest, conviction, and execution. The government that came to power after the overthrow of the monarchy demonstrated no tolerance for perceived subversion or even criticism. In a way, one tyranny replaced another, and de Gouge had placed herself in a rather tenuous situation. She felt she had the right to speak out on the behalf of the citizenry and to assert the rights of women. But in doing so, she violated traditional social boundaries that even the revolutionaries held inviolable, thus invoking the ire of the ruling body. Also, she harshly criticized Maximilien Robespierre, the recognized leader of the new government. Her advocacy of women's rights combined with this criticism, which she published as Pronostic de Monsieur Robespierre pour an animal amphibie, as well as her previous support of King Louis XVI, led to accusations of sedition.

In retrospect, and given the tenor of the times, de Gouge's publications of the criticism and "Declaration" were highly impetuous and imprudent actions. Sent to Trial At the time of her arrest, she was known publicly as Marie Olympe de Gouges, femme of letters. She was 38 years old and lived in the Pont-Neuf section of Paris, on rue du Harlay. A review of her trial proves enlightening, as it provides a typical example of the persecution that befell the revolutionaries who criticized the new government that arose in the wake of the monarchy's downfall. As this new government, the so-called National Convention, grew stronger, it took on the force of a "Reign of Terror." De Gouges was charged on July 25, 1793, with having written works contrary to the wants and needs of the entire nation and directed against those in power. She was imprisoned and her writings were reviewed by a public prosecutor the next day. Her interrogation began on August 6, 1793.

Following the review and her interrogation, it was determined that she had produced writings that were considered an attack on the sovereignty of the people and that she had questioned and openly provoked civil war and sought to arm citizens against one another. The public prosecutor assigned to her case expressed great indignation for de Gouges and her writings, claiming that she stated "perfidious intentions," as it is written in the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website. Describing de Gouges as "criminal," the prosecutor ascribed to her "hidden motives" against the sovereignty of the citizens of France and accused her of seeking to re-establish the monarchial government. He also criticized her for alleged inappropriate behavior during her public hearing, accusing her of smirking during her hearing, shrugging her shoulders at the accusations, raising her eyebrows at various statements, and smiling at spectators. The prosecutor drew up formal accusations and de Gouge was held for trial.

She was found guilty and condemned to death according to article one of the new constitution, quoted by the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website, "Whoever is convicted of having composed or printed works or writings which provoke the dissolution of the national representation, the reestablishment of royalty, or of any other power attacking the sovereignty of the people, will be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal and punished by death." In an attempt to escape the guillotine blade, de Gouges claimed she was pregnant. She was examined by doctors and midwives, who determined that her claim was false. Executed by Guillotine De Gouge was executed in Paris on November 3, 1793, put to death by guillotine, the instrument that had taken the lives of so many royals and members of the bourgeoisie during the revolution, as well as the lives of many staunch and true revolutionaries who dared defy or criticize the implacable government that rose to power.

According to reports in the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website, de Gouge ascended the scaffold at 4 p.m., looked into the assembled crowd, and said, "Children of the Fatherland, you will avenge my death." Following the execution, a published report, quoted in an article by Jone Johnnson Lewis, stated that "Olympe de Gouges, born with an exalted imagination, mistook her delirium for an inspiration of nature. She wanted to be a man of state. She took up the projects of the perfidious people who want to divide France. It seems the law has punished this conspirator for having forgotten the virtues that belong to her sex." Before her death, she wrote to her son, as seen on the Bibliotheca Augustana website, "Good-bye, my son, I will not live any more when you receive this letter. You will repair the injustice which one makes to your mother." In a public statement, she wrote, "Think of me and remember the action that I carried out in favour of the women! I am certain that we will triumph one day!" Further Reading Darline Gav Levy, H.

Applewhite, and M. Johnson, eds., Women in Revolutionary Paris, University of Illinois Press, 1979. Johnson Lewis, Jone, "Olympe de Gouges and the Rights of Women," About.com: Women's History, (March 15, 2003). "Marie Gouze, known as Olympe de Gouges," History on Line, (March 15, 2003). "Marie Olympe Aubry de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Women (1791)," The University of Adelaide Department of History, (March 15, 2003). "Olympe de Gouges," Women of the French Revolution, ~pecoy/projects/gouges/ (March 15, 2003).

"Olympe de Gouges 1748-1793," Bibliotheca Augustana, ~harsch/gallica/Chronologie/18siecle/DeGouges/gou_fils.html&amp;=/search%3Fq%3Ddegouges%2Bidol%25C3%25A2trie%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG (May 21, 2003). "The Trial of Olympe de Gouges," Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, (March 15, 2003). Need a custom written paper? Let our professional writers save your time. Not a member yet? Marie-Olympe de Gouges - Dictionary definition of Marie-Olympe de Gouges | Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc.

Marie-Olympe de Gouges French author and activist Marie Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) achieved modest success as a play wright in the 18th century, but she became best known for her political writing and support of the French Revolution. Considered a feminist pioneer, de Gouges was an advocate of women's rights. Her most famous work was The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, (1791). Even in revolutionary France, feminist ideas were considered radical. In 1793, she was executed for crimes against the government. Early Life Marie-Olympe de Gouges was born Marie Gouzes in Montauban, in southern France, on December 31, 1748. The facts about her true parentage are somewhat vague, and de Gouges herself contributed to the confusion by encouraging rumors about her illegitimacy. It is commonly believed that she was born and raised in a modest family, the daughter of Pierre Gouze, a butcher, and Anne Olympe Moisset, a maidservant.

However, it was rumored that de Gouges's mother, who reportedly was a beautiful women and unhappy in her marriage, had an affair with a person of high social rank, Marquis Lefranc de Pompignan. The marquis, many claimed, was de Gouge's real father. Another circulated rumor suggested that de Gouges was the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XV. When asked about her true parentage, de Gouges would only answer somewhat ambiguously. Fueling the speculation about de Gouge's illegitimate birth was the fact the Pierre Gouze's name did not appear on any significant documents relating to his daughter's paternity. However, it is now generally believed today that Gouze was indeed her real father. Whatever the true facts about her parentage, she actually lived with Gouze, who died when she was two years old. During her youth, de Gouges already demonstrated the kind of rebelliousness that would come into play in her adult life. In 1765, when she was 17, de Gouges married a French officer, Louis Aubrey. Two years later, they had a son.

Aubrey was much older than de Gouges and he died three years into the marriage. Following his death, and displaying her characteristic rebelliousness, de Gouges refused to accept her position as a widowed mother or the designation of "Widowed Aubrey," a personal stance that was counter to the social convention. Even more, she vowed never to remarry. Moved to Paris Abandoning her son, de Gouges went to Paris in 1770 to seek fame as a writer. For her pen name she chose simply Olympe de Gouges, a variation of both her mother and father's names. She actively sought to achieve her ambition, propagating the rumors of her illegitimate birth. It has been suggested that she started, or at least encouraged, the rumors because she believed that, by tying her lineage to a marquis, she'd gain her entrance into the higher social circles that she aspired. Also, she most likely believed that a blood tie with Marquis Lefranc of Pompignan, who was a well-known author, would help her establish her own reputation as a writer. The rumor gained currency in her lifetime even though no proof existed of its truth.

During this period, she furthered her career by meeting and establishing connections with the most famous writers and philosophers of the time, and she worked her way into the highest social circles. Remaining resolute in her desire never to marry again, she reportedly became the mistress of several men of high social rank and she divided herself between her many lovers and her writing. A self-educated woman, de Gouges wrote plays, novels, and sociopolitical pamphlets. Her dramatic works included Le Mariage inattendu de Chérubin and Zamore et Mirza ou l'Heureux naufrage. Her career as a playwright turned out to be somewhat disappointing, as it resulted in only modest success. She was poorly educated, could barely read for a good portion of her life, and her grammar and punctuation were terrible. As a result, her writing tended to be plodding, verbose, and awkward. However, greatly affected by current events, she would soon enter the phase of her career that proved the most productive and thematically significant. She began turning out political works that helped influence the course of human rights, specifically for women. Paris, in the late 1780's, was a political focal point.

France was a country in turmoil and on the verge of an influential and inspiring, though bloody, revolution that would attract the attention of the world. De Gouges was swept up in the fervor of the times. Although most of her fellow citizens were exuberantly political, and even fanatically revolutionary, de Gouges initially took a moderate stance. Reforms she suggested in her political materials were intended to bring about change without sacrificing the social stability. Indeed, de Gouges had friends in the French royalty that was about to be overthrown, but her works often attempted to negatively depict the extremists on both sides of the political spectrum: the royalists, or monarchists, and the revolutionaries. As the storms of revolution swirled, de Gouges still considered herself a royalist. Her 1788 piece Droits de la femme articulated advanced revolutionary ideals while expressing her sympathies for the French monarchy. Also in 1788, she published her Patriotic Remarks, wherein she presented a large program of social reforms and advocated for the dismantling of the monarchial government. The document also outlined the abuses of the elite social class.

One of her works was a political satire, Project of a Patriotic Case By Citoyenne, involving a "voluntary tax." But de Gouges would become disillusioned by the French monarchy's inaction, and she would encourage the French king Louis XVI to abdicate his throne and put in its place a regent government. She felt that this would be a workable solution to an ever-growing crisis. The citizens had armed themselves, the Bastille had been stormed, and blood was literally flowing in the streets. De Gouges would remain a royalist until Louis XVI escaped from the country, a move that further increased the growing chaos. From that point on, her political material become more pointed and she sided more strongly with the revolutionaries. In 1789, after Louis XVI's escape, she produced two more satires, Cry of Wise by a Woman and To Save the Fatherland. Feminist Thought The sociopolitical works that de Gouge produced during this period focused strongly on the issues of civil rights, particularly the rights of women, which she deemed were "natural" and "inalienable." Her dedication to and advocacy for these issues stemmed from her much broader belief in the complete equality of all human beings.

The revolution created the type of environment that fostered innovative ideas such as feminism. One of the feminist organizations created during this period was the Society of Republican and Revolutionary Women. Its members encouraged de Gouges to develop a document that would essentially serve as a declaration of rights for women. She set out to produce the work, which would eventually be published as the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen in 1791. In the meantime, her name was becoming widely known in radical circles, just as it had a few years earlier when she established her standing in the bourgeois. In October 1789, the year the French Revolution came to a boil, she proposed a radical reform platform to the French National Assembly, a governing body comprised of the nation's new leaders. Appearing before this board, she advocated for the complete legal equality of the sexes, more job opportunities for women, a legal alternative to the private dowry system, better education for young girls, and the establishment of a national theater that would show only plays written by women.

Declaration of Women's Rights Finally published in September of 1791, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman (Déclaration of the Droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne) was, in a way, a response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen that was published in 1789 and was to the French Revolution what the Declaration of Independence was the to the American Revolution. De Gouge's declaration called for an extension of the rights demanded in the latter including complete freedom of speech, the right to vote, and the opportunity to seek public office. Lest anyone miss her point, de Gouge employed the same kind of language and rhetoric that characterized the male "Declaration." De Gouge dedicated the work to Queen Marie Antoinette, hoping that the royal would support women's rights. The work consists of a preamble, 17 articles, and an epilogue. Her words were provocative and incited women to action. In the epilogue, de Gouge proclaimed, "Woman, wake up; the tocsin of reason is being heard throughout the whole universe; discover your rights. The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies.

The flame of truth has dispersed all the clouds of folly and usurpation. Enslaved man has multiplied his strength and needs recourse to yours to break his chains. Having become free, he has become unjust to his companion. Oh, women, women! When will you cease to be blind? What advantage have you received from the Revolution?" Essentially, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen stated that women were equal to men in every respect and thus were entitled to the same rights. The work would create enemies for de Gouge; she believed that because many women participated in the French Revolution, they would or should automatically receive the new-found rights extended to the male citizenry. Accused of Sedition De Gouge's outspokenness would eventually lead to her arrest, conviction, and execution. The government that came to power after the overthrow of the monarchy demonstrated no tolerance for perceived subversion or even criticism. In a way, one tyranny replaced another, and de Gouge had placed herself in a rather tenuous situation. She felt she had the right to speak out on the behalf of the citizenry and to assert the rights of women.

But in doing so, she violated traditional social boundaries that even the revolutionaries held inviolable, thus invoking the ire of the ruling body. Also, she harshly criticized Maximilien Robespierre, the recognized leader of the new government. Her advocacy of women's rights combined with this criticism, which she published as Pronostic de Monsieur Robespierre pour an animal amphibie, as well as her previous support of King Louis XVI, led to accusations of sedition. In retrospect, and given the tenor of the times, de Gouge's publications of the criticism and "Declaration" were highly impetuous and imprudent actions. Sent to Trial At the time of her arrest, she was known publicly as Marie Olympe de Gouges, femme of letters. She was 38 years old and lived in the Pont-Neuf section of Paris, on rue du Harlay. A review of her trial proves enlightening, as it provides a typical example of the persecution that befell the revolutionaries who criticized the new government that arose in the wake of the monarchy's downfall.

As this new government, the so-called National Convention, grew stronger, it took on the force of a "Reign of Terror." De Gouges was charged on July 25, 1793, with having written works contrary to the wants and needs of the entire nation and directed against those in power. She was imprisoned and her writings were reviewed by a public prosecutor the next day. Her interrogation began on August 6, 1793. Following the review and her interrogation, it was determined that she had produced writings that were considered an attack on the sovereignty of the people and that she had questioned and openly provoked civil war and sought to arm citizens against one another. The public prosecutor assigned to her case expressed great indignation for de Gouges and her writings, claiming that she stated "perfidious intentions," as it is written in the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website. Describing de Gouges as "criminal," the prosecutor ascribed to her "hidden motives" against the sovereignty of the citizens of France and accused her of seeking to reestablish the monarchial government.

He also criticized her for alleged inappropriate behavior during her public hearing, accusing her of smirking during her hearing, shrugging her shoulders at the accusations, raising her eyebrows at various statements, and smiling at spectators. The prosecutor drew up formal accusations and de Gouge was held for trial. She was found guilty and condemned to death according to article one of the new constitution, quoted by the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website, "Whoever is convicted of having composed or printed works or writings which provoke the dissolution of the national representation, the reestablishment of royalty, or of any other power attacking the sovereignty of the people, will be brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal and punished by death." In an attempt to escape the guillotine blade, de Gouges claimed she was pregnant. She was examined by doctors and midwives, who determined that her claim was false.

Executed by Guillotine De Gouge was executed in Paris on November 3, 1793, put to death by guillotine, the instrument that had taken the lives of so many royals and members of the bourgeoisie during the revolution, as well as the lives of many staunch and true revolutionaries who dared defy or criticize the implacable government that rose to power. According to reports in the Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution website, de Gouge ascended the scaffold at 4 p.m., looked into the assembled crowd, and said, "Children of the Fatherland, you will avenge my death." Following the execution, a published report, quoted in an article by Jone Johnnson Lewis, stated that "Olympe de Gouges, born with an exalted imagination, mistook her delirium for an inspiration of nature. She wanted to be a man of state. She took up the projects of the perfidious people who want to divide France.

It seems the law has punished this conspirator for having forgotten the virtues that belong to her sex." Before her death, she wrote to her son, as seen on the Bibliotheca Augustana website, "Good-bye, my son, I will not live any more when you receive this letter. You will repair the injustice which one makes to your mother." In a public statement, she wrote, "Think of me and remember the action that I carried out in favour of the women! I am certain that we will triumph one day!" Books Darline Gav Levy, H. Applewhite, and M. Johnson, eds., Women in Revolutionary Paris, University of Illinois Press, 1979. Online Johnson Lewis, Jone, "Olympe de Gouges and the Rights of Women," About.com : Women's History, (March 15, 2003). "Marie Gouze, known as Olympe de Gouges," History on Line, (March 15, 2003).

"Marie Olympe Aubry de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Women (1791)," The University of Adelaide Department of History, (March 15, 2003). "Olympe de Gouges," Women of the French Revolution,~pecoy/projects/gouges/ (March 15, 2003). "Olympe de Gouges 1748-1793," Bibliotheca Augustana, ~harsch/gallica/Chronologie/18siecle/DeGouges/gou_fils.html&=/search%3Fq%3Ddegouges%2Bidol%25C3%25A2trie%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG (May 21, 2003). "The Trial of Olympe de Gouges," Life, Liberty, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, (March 15, 2003).

□ Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA 1000+ images about The French Revolution on Pinterest | The republican, Louis xvi and Estates general Forward Tricoteuse (French pronunciation: ​[tʁikɔtøz]) is French for a knitting woman. The term is most often used in its historical sense as a nickname for the women who sat beside the guillotine during public executions in Paris in the French Revolution, supposedly continuing to knit in between executions. See More

Question: Olympe de Gouges, a French playwright and political activist , is today best known as an early feminist who demanded that French women be given the same rights as French men. How did she die?
Answer: Guillotined