1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,020 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. This month is the 235th anniversary of Olympe 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: de Gouges' Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: the Female Citizen, published in September of 1791. That is 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: the work she is most known for outside of France today, 5 00:00:19,750 --> 00:00:21,869 Speaker 1: but she had a whole career beyond that as an 6 00:00:21,989 --> 00:00:25,570 Speaker 1: activist and as a playwright. This episode originally came out 7 00:00:25,710 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: on January 18th, 2021. Enjoy! Welcome to Stuff You Missed 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:43,390 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome 9 00:00:43,409 --> 00:00:46,580 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And I'm Holly Frey. 10 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: We have gotten a lot of requests over the years 11 00:00:50,340 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: for an episode on Olympe de Gouges, who's known, at 12 00:00:54,720 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: least outside of France, primarily for a 1791 pamphlet titled 13 00:01:01,450 --> 00:01:05,110 Speaker 1: Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Citizen. And 14 00:01:05,130 --> 00:01:08,930 Speaker 1: this was published as a direct response to the 1789 15 00:01:08,930 --> 00:01:12,970 Speaker 1: Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, with 16 00:01:13,030 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: the Declaration of the Rights of Man using the French 17 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: word citoyen, and de Gouges' response using the more feminine 18 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:28,170 Speaker 1: form of that word, citoyen. They look very different in writing. 19 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: but they're pronounced a little similarly. Olymp de Gouges' writing 20 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,980 Speaker 1: and political activity, though, went way, way beyond that one 21 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,179 Speaker 1: pamphlet that she's famous for now. And also her execution, 22 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,809 Speaker 1: which happened just before the start of the reign of terror, 23 00:01:44,030 --> 00:01:47,069 Speaker 1: was not because of the calls for equal rights for 24 00:01:47,150 --> 00:01:50,350 Speaker 1: women that she's become so associated with. It's a whole 25 00:01:50,390 --> 00:01:53,770 Speaker 1: other thing. So that's who we're going to talk about today. 26 00:01:54,170 --> 00:01:57,730 Speaker 1: And Olympe de Gouges, her upbringing and early life are 27 00:01:57,770 --> 00:02:00,830 Speaker 1: really hazy, and they are full of contradictions, some of 28 00:02:00,870 --> 00:02:04,010 Speaker 1: which are thanks to her own writing. We do know 29 00:02:04,090 --> 00:02:07,870 Speaker 1: that she was born Marie Gouges on May 7, 1748, 30 00:02:07,870 --> 00:02:11,090 Speaker 1: in Montauban, which is north of Toulouse in southern France. 31 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,620 Speaker 1: Her mother was Anne Olympe Moise, a maidservant whose father 32 00:02:15,660 --> 00:02:19,140 Speaker 1: was a draper. And at least legally, Marie's father was 33 00:02:19,180 --> 00:02:22,810 Speaker 1: a butcher named Pierre Gouze. But there were rumors that 34 00:02:22,930 --> 00:02:26,850 Speaker 1: her father was actually Jean-Jacques Lefranc, who would later become 35 00:02:26,930 --> 00:02:30,730 Speaker 1: Marquis de Pompignan. And the Lefrancs and the Moisés had 36 00:02:30,770 --> 00:02:34,230 Speaker 1: been connected for generations. And although Jean-Jacques was only five 37 00:02:34,270 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: years her senior, he was Anne Olympe's godfather. The Tarn River, 38 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,030 Speaker 1: which is prone to really dangerous and dramatic flooding... runs 39 00:02:44,110 --> 00:02:47,890 Speaker 1: through the region where the Guse family lived. And when 40 00:02:47,930 --> 00:02:52,090 Speaker 1: the young Marie Guse was only two, Pierre Guse died 41 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,839 Speaker 1: as a result of one of these floods. Aside from 42 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,620 Speaker 1: the fact that it was connected to the flooding, we 43 00:02:57,740 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: don't really know the details of the cause of death. 44 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,820 Speaker 1: I mean, an obvious one would be that he drowned, but, 45 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: you know, flooding also causes disease and famines and other issues. 46 00:03:08,940 --> 00:03:12,340 Speaker 1: So we don't really know. At some point after that, 47 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,780 Speaker 1: Marie's mother got married again, this time to a police officer. 48 00:03:16,380 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: And beyond that, we don't know much else about Marie 49 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,989 Speaker 1: Guse's early life. She probably got at least some education 50 00:03:23,150 --> 00:03:26,669 Speaker 1: at an Ursuline convent. She could write well enough to 51 00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:29,570 Speaker 1: sign her own marriage documents, and the Ursuline convent would 52 00:03:29,610 --> 00:03:31,670 Speaker 1: have been the most likely place for a girl of 53 00:03:31,710 --> 00:03:35,790 Speaker 1: her station to have become literate. That marriage was to 54 00:03:35,850 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: Louis Aubray, who was a caterer who had been one 55 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: of the late Pierre Guse's associates. And this happened when 56 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,970 Speaker 1: Marie was only 17. Marie and Louis had a son, 57 00:03:46,270 --> 00:03:49,370 Speaker 1: also named Pierre, about two years later. And then a 58 00:03:49,410 --> 00:03:52,930 Speaker 1: few months after that, Louis died. This was also as 59 00:03:52,990 --> 00:03:55,990 Speaker 1: a result of a Tarn River flood. And once again, 60 00:03:56,010 --> 00:04:00,020 Speaker 1: we don't really know much clarity on the details beyond 61 00:04:00,060 --> 00:04:03,220 Speaker 1: it being related to the flooding. Marie's marriage to Louis 62 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,380 Speaker 1: had been against her will. And after his death, she 63 00:04:06,460 --> 00:04:10,690 Speaker 1: refused to marry again. And she also refused to conform 64 00:04:10,770 --> 00:04:14,430 Speaker 1: to what was expected of a widowed mother. Instead, she 65 00:04:14,490 --> 00:04:18,990 Speaker 1: moved to Paris in 1767. It is unclear whether she 66 00:04:19,029 --> 00:04:21,090 Speaker 1: took her son with her or whether she left him 67 00:04:21,130 --> 00:04:24,089 Speaker 1: in someone else's care while he was young. And she 68 00:04:24,150 --> 00:04:27,730 Speaker 1: also changed her name to Olympe de Gouges, drawing from 69 00:04:27,790 --> 00:04:31,490 Speaker 1: parts of Anne Olympe and Pierre Gouges' names, and also 70 00:04:31,610 --> 00:04:35,190 Speaker 1: adding the D.E., which made it sound a little more aristocratic. 71 00:04:36,020 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: She may have also meant her new name as sort 72 00:04:38,940 --> 00:04:42,460 Speaker 1: of a racy joke, because at the time, gouge was 73 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,540 Speaker 1: a slang term for bawdy women. Yeah, I found totally 74 00:04:46,740 --> 00:04:49,990 Speaker 1: opposite accounts of whether she took her son with her 75 00:04:50,130 --> 00:04:54,190 Speaker 1: or left him with someone else. Regardless, though, in Paris, 76 00:04:54,410 --> 00:04:58,290 Speaker 1: Olympe de Gouges was supported by Jacques-Bietre de Rosier, who 77 00:04:58,350 --> 00:05:01,429 Speaker 1: was a wealthy man who owned a military transport company. 78 00:05:02,150 --> 00:05:05,230 Speaker 1: And she spent her first years in Paris really immersed 79 00:05:05,310 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: in self-study, attending and possibly even hosting literary salons, and 80 00:05:10,540 --> 00:05:15,540 Speaker 1: then pouring over the work of Enlightenment thinkers, particularly Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 81 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:19,300 Speaker 1: During these years, she also would have expanded her knowledge 82 00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:22,900 Speaker 1: of French as a language. Her first language was actually 83 00:05:22,940 --> 00:05:26,740 Speaker 1: a regional dialect called Occitan. Because French was her second 84 00:05:26,779 --> 00:05:30,060 Speaker 1: language and her formal education was pretty minimal, she did 85 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:35,339 Speaker 1: most of her writing in French through a secretary. In 1784, 86 00:05:35,339 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: Jean-Jacques Lefranc, Marquis de Pompéien, died, and de Gouges started 87 00:05:40,180 --> 00:05:44,820 Speaker 1: working on an epistolary novel that would be published in 1788. 88 00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: And that was called Madame de Valmont's Memoirs on the 89 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: Ingratitude and Cruelty of the Flaucor Family Toward Her Own, 90 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,340 Speaker 1: which rendered such services to the Sirs Flaucor. So this 91 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,350 Speaker 1: book is one of the reasons why some of the 92 00:05:58,390 --> 00:06:03,010 Speaker 1: biographical accounts of Olympe de Gouges' early life are really contradictory. 93 00:06:03,830 --> 00:06:07,710 Speaker 1: She framed this book as a real correspondence with only 94 00:06:07,770 --> 00:06:12,510 Speaker 1: the names changed to protect the reputations of the people involved. Today, though, 95 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: most sources describe this book as semi-autobiographical. But sometimes they 96 00:06:18,860 --> 00:06:21,140 Speaker 1: also use the letters contained in it to try to 97 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: kind of glean some details about de Gouges' early life. 98 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: On the other hand, the first de Gouges biography, available 99 00:06:29,100 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: in English, is Women's Rights in the French Revolution, a 100 00:06:32,779 --> 00:06:37,390 Speaker 1: Biography of Olympe de Gouges. That's by Sophie Mosé, and 101 00:06:37,450 --> 00:06:41,490 Speaker 1: it was translated from French. This biography was first published 102 00:06:41,529 --> 00:06:46,810 Speaker 1: in 2007, and the author cites these memoirs, which, again, 103 00:06:46,870 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: is an epistolary novel. She cites them repeatedly as fact. Like, 104 00:06:51,130 --> 00:06:53,670 Speaker 1: the footnotes are literally this book. Ha ha ha ha ha. 105 00:06:54,460 --> 00:06:58,390 Speaker 1: And this novel was inspired in part by Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 106 00:06:58,529 --> 00:07:02,290 Speaker 1: which had been published in 1782 and was also written 107 00:07:02,310 --> 00:07:06,349 Speaker 1: in the form of letters exchanged among its characters. In 108 00:07:06,370 --> 00:07:10,030 Speaker 1: the memoir of Madame de Valmont, the main characters are 109 00:07:10,190 --> 00:07:13,570 Speaker 1: Madame de Valmont and her half-brother, son of the Marquis 110 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,739 Speaker 1: de Flaucourt. In addition to their correspondence, the book also 111 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,180 Speaker 1: includes Madame de Valmont's correspondence with other family members. Part 112 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: of this book's framework is an unnamed narrator or editor 113 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,470 Speaker 1: who's brought these letters together to publish and also takes 114 00:07:30,530 --> 00:07:33,590 Speaker 1: a part in some of the correspondence. And this unnamed 115 00:07:33,830 --> 00:07:36,990 Speaker 1: editor maintains that all the facts she's putting forth in 116 00:07:37,030 --> 00:07:41,350 Speaker 1: the letters are, quote, authentic truths. And then what starts 117 00:07:41,490 --> 00:07:45,150 Speaker 1: out as a comic story told through letters gradually shifts 118 00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:49,130 Speaker 1: to document Madame de Valmont's attempts to prove that she 119 00:07:49,250 --> 00:07:53,020 Speaker 1: is really the Marquis' daughter. and to get his recognition 120 00:07:53,060 --> 00:07:57,020 Speaker 1: and support. The letters come together to paint the Flauquer 121 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,500 Speaker 1: family as having been cruel and indifferent to Madame de 122 00:08:00,550 --> 00:08:04,110 Speaker 1: Valmont's mother, with the Marquis trying to distance himself from 123 00:08:04,350 --> 00:08:06,869 Speaker 1: her while never flat-out denying that he is the father 124 00:08:06,910 --> 00:08:10,950 Speaker 1: of her child. The unnamed editor and Madame de Valmont 125 00:08:11,030 --> 00:08:14,930 Speaker 1: are both generally interpreted as stand-ins for de Gouges herself, 126 00:08:15,310 --> 00:08:18,870 Speaker 1: with the Marquis de Flauquer representing the Marquis de Pompignan. 127 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,190 Speaker 1: Biographer Sophie Mousset contends that the Marquis de Pompignan was 128 00:08:24,500 --> 00:08:29,330 Speaker 1: unquestionably Olympe de Gouges' biological father and that everybody in 129 00:08:29,370 --> 00:08:33,830 Speaker 1: the community knew this. Even that the Lefranc family had 130 00:08:33,890 --> 00:08:37,770 Speaker 1: taken pains to send Jean-Jacques away from the area to 131 00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:41,850 Speaker 1: separate him from Anne Olympe when they were young. This 132 00:08:42,030 --> 00:08:44,770 Speaker 1: just isn't something that it's possible to conclusively know at 133 00:08:44,809 --> 00:08:48,750 Speaker 1: this point, though. For Olympe de Gouges' own part, she 134 00:08:48,790 --> 00:08:53,340 Speaker 1: didn't overtly claim that the Marquis de Pompignan was her father, 135 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: but she did sort of seem to stoke the idea 136 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: that he could be. Since he had been dead for 137 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,660 Speaker 1: four years by the time The Memoirs of Madame Belmont 138 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,319 Speaker 1: was published, we really do not have his thoughts on 139 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,630 Speaker 1: this matter at all, unless the letters really are his 140 00:09:08,770 --> 00:09:12,429 Speaker 1: real letters, as the book contends. Which seems like a 141 00:09:12,610 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: very long walk, but... I mean, it... It could be, like, 142 00:09:16,260 --> 00:09:20,300 Speaker 1: we just don't really know. And this purported connection to 143 00:09:20,340 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: the Marquis de Pompignan may have given Olympe de Gouges 144 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,590 Speaker 1: access to theatrical and literary circles that she might not 145 00:09:27,610 --> 00:09:31,630 Speaker 1: have had otherwise. Apart from his status, the Marquis was 146 00:09:31,670 --> 00:09:35,349 Speaker 1: a poet, playwright, and literary critic, whose biggest claim to 147 00:09:35,390 --> 00:09:38,130 Speaker 1: fame at this point is having become the archenemy of 148 00:09:38,170 --> 00:09:42,460 Speaker 1: the way more famous French writer Voltaire. So the idea 149 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: that she was his unacknowledged daughter may have opened some 150 00:09:45,820 --> 00:09:49,010 Speaker 1: doors for her. And it definitely seems to have led 151 00:09:49,110 --> 00:09:52,930 Speaker 1: to some of her later advocacy on social issues related 152 00:09:52,990 --> 00:09:56,890 Speaker 1: to children born out of wedlock and their mothers. Olympe 153 00:09:56,929 --> 00:09:59,770 Speaker 1: de Gouges wrote one other novel during her lifetime, but 154 00:09:59,809 --> 00:10:01,700 Speaker 1: she was... a lot more prolific when it came to 155 00:10:01,740 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: writing plays, and we will get to more of that 156 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:16,810 Speaker 1: after a sponsor break. So We know that Olympe de 157 00:10:16,850 --> 00:10:20,510 Speaker 1: Gouges had at least one wealthy benefactor who supported her 158 00:10:20,590 --> 00:10:24,270 Speaker 1: life in Paris. That was Jacques-Biètre de Rosier, who we 159 00:10:24,309 --> 00:10:28,420 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier. It's likely that she had other benefactors as well. 160 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: She may have had romantic relationships with some of them, 161 00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:34,940 Speaker 1: but like so many other details about her life, it's 162 00:10:34,980 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: all pretty vague. De Gouges was also friends with Madame 163 00:10:38,330 --> 00:10:43,090 Speaker 1: de Montesson, wife of Louis-Philippe I d'Orléans. That's the Duke 164 00:10:43,110 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: of Orléans. And at one point, she was rumored to 165 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: be having an affair with the Duke's son, who was 166 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:51,660 Speaker 1: later known as Philippe Egalité. And this may have been 167 00:10:51,700 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: a rumor spread to try to tarnish de Gouges' reputation. 168 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,420 Speaker 1: But her son Pierre did wind up getting an appointment 169 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,370 Speaker 1: as an engineer, thanks to the Orléans family. As Olympe 170 00:11:02,410 --> 00:11:04,750 Speaker 1: de Gouges was making connections to some of the really 171 00:11:04,850 --> 00:11:08,670 Speaker 1: wealthy and powerful families of France, she was also writing 172 00:11:08,730 --> 00:11:12,449 Speaker 1: plays that focused in one way or another on injustice 173 00:11:12,530 --> 00:11:16,250 Speaker 1: and social issues. They tackled themes like divorce and women's 174 00:11:16,390 --> 00:11:19,900 Speaker 1: rights during and after a divorce, as well as sexual 175 00:11:19,940 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: double standards and the existence of debtors' prisons, the rights 176 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,339 Speaker 1: of children born out of wedlock, and girls being forced 177 00:11:27,380 --> 00:11:31,020 Speaker 1: to marry or sent to convents against their will. Overall, 178 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: her female characters in these plays had and used their agency, 179 00:11:35,140 --> 00:11:37,700 Speaker 1: and they supported and protected one another rather than being 180 00:11:37,780 --> 00:11:41,910 Speaker 1: rivals or adversaries. And when women in de Gouges' plays 181 00:11:41,950 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: were victimized, it was not something that was played for 182 00:11:44,820 --> 00:11:48,020 Speaker 1: its own sake or for shock value. It was connected 183 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: back to a greater theme of social injustice. At the 184 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: same time, though, de Gouges' plays didn't necessarily dispel negative 185 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,699 Speaker 1: stereotypes of women, such as the idea that women were 186 00:11:59,780 --> 00:12:03,990 Speaker 1: weak or deceitful. Instead, she framed those traits as the 187 00:12:04,130 --> 00:12:08,660 Speaker 1: inevitable consequences of women's place in French society— While there 188 00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: were individual women who held high positions within the monarchy 189 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 1: or the aristocracy, women as a group had very little 190 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:22,890 Speaker 1: overt political power. Educational opportunities for girls were really limited, 191 00:12:23,050 --> 00:12:26,390 Speaker 1: and for most women, their only options for their adult 192 00:12:26,450 --> 00:12:29,230 Speaker 1: lives were to get married or to enter a convent. 193 00:12:29,710 --> 00:12:32,630 Speaker 1: And either way, they had virtually no property rights or 194 00:12:32,690 --> 00:12:36,570 Speaker 1: control over their own lives and bodies. So, for example, 195 00:12:36,590 --> 00:12:40,470 Speaker 1: de Gouges saw women as deceitful because they had to 196 00:12:40,530 --> 00:12:44,250 Speaker 1: be to survive in this environment, and as weak because 197 00:12:44,290 --> 00:12:47,150 Speaker 1: they were given no opportunities to build their own strength. 198 00:12:47,990 --> 00:12:51,740 Speaker 1: Olympe de Gouges established a private amateur theater in Paris. 199 00:12:52,220 --> 00:12:54,500 Speaker 1: But when it came to public theater, there was really 200 00:12:54,580 --> 00:12:59,210 Speaker 1: just one option. the French National Theatre, known as the Comédie-Française, 201 00:12:59,429 --> 00:13:04,569 Speaker 1: which essentially had a monopoly on professional theatre. The Comédie-Française 202 00:13:04,690 --> 00:13:07,930 Speaker 1: accepted new plays and then performed them in the order 203 00:13:07,990 --> 00:13:10,990 Speaker 1: that they were received. So if there was a backlog, 204 00:13:11,150 --> 00:13:13,959 Speaker 1: which there usually was, there could be a really long 205 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:18,559 Speaker 1: delay between a play's acceptance and its actual performance. Accepted 206 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,830 Speaker 1: plays were not published until they had been performed, or... 207 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,260 Speaker 1: until three years after they had been accepted, whichever might 208 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: come first. That gives you an indication of how big 209 00:13:27,850 --> 00:13:32,410 Speaker 1: the backlog was. Playwrights whose plays were accepted were given 210 00:13:32,570 --> 00:13:35,610 Speaker 1: entry privileges at the theater, but when it came to 211 00:13:35,650 --> 00:13:38,530 Speaker 1: the performance of the play itself, that was completely out 212 00:13:38,550 --> 00:13:42,270 Speaker 1: of their control. So especially for new playwrights who were 213 00:13:42,370 --> 00:13:45,270 Speaker 1: first trying to make a name for themselves, their careers 214 00:13:45,370 --> 00:13:49,470 Speaker 1: really rested on the whims and political shifts of the Comédie-Française. 215 00:13:50,620 --> 00:13:54,420 Speaker 1: This was true for Olympe de Gouges. In 1784, she 216 00:13:54,460 --> 00:13:57,990 Speaker 1: wrote Zamora and Mirza, or The Happy Shipwreck. Sometimes that's 217 00:13:58,070 --> 00:14:02,610 Speaker 1: translated as The Fortunate Shipwreck. This was a melodrama that 218 00:14:02,670 --> 00:14:07,340 Speaker 1: takes place in the East Indies, involving the shipwrecked, aristocratic 219 00:14:07,429 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: San Fremont family, as well as an enslaved Asian couple. 220 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,820 Speaker 1: The shipwreck is described as happy because it leads to 221 00:14:14,860 --> 00:14:19,190 Speaker 1: the enslaved couple being freed. Degouge submitted this play to 222 00:14:19,210 --> 00:14:24,370 Speaker 1: the Comédie-Française anonymously when it was accepted in 1785. As 223 00:14:24,450 --> 00:14:28,150 Speaker 1: time passed after her play was accepted, Degouge started writing 224 00:14:28,190 --> 00:14:30,450 Speaker 1: to the theater and its actors about when it would 225 00:14:30,470 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: be performed. She became so insistent that in September of 1785, 226 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: the troop leader wrote back to her and told her 227 00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: that they were pulling that play from the repertoire and 228 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,260 Speaker 1: striking her name from the list of people who had 229 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: entry privileges at the theater. The theater also petitioned to 230 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:51,700 Speaker 1: have her arrested. That might sound a little extreme. This 231 00:14:51,740 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: was not really a unique situation at all. It was 232 00:14:55,140 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: common for playwrights to become really frustrated with the Comédie-Française 233 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,140 Speaker 1: to the point of being combative with their correspondents. It 234 00:15:02,780 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 1: was also pretty common for the company to then reverse 235 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: their acceptance of the play. But what was really unusual 236 00:15:09,780 --> 00:15:12,590 Speaker 1: was for a playwright who was treated this way to 237 00:15:12,610 --> 00:15:18,170 Speaker 1: be a woman. Between 1761 and 1789, the Comédie-Française accepted 238 00:15:18,310 --> 00:15:22,590 Speaker 1: only nine plays written by women. To put that in context, 239 00:15:23,070 --> 00:15:27,210 Speaker 1: the royal regulations required the company to produce between 25 240 00:15:27,210 --> 00:15:31,030 Speaker 1: and 40 new plays a year. It was not doing that. 241 00:15:31,050 --> 00:15:33,730 Speaker 1: It was really performing more like 10 or 12, which 242 00:15:33,790 --> 00:15:37,460 Speaker 1: honestly still sounds like a large number of plays. It 243 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: was accepting more work than it was performing, though, so... 244 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,540 Speaker 1: Plays by women just made up a really tiny portion 245 00:15:45,860 --> 00:15:49,580 Speaker 1: of the theater's repertoire. I feel like this is the 246 00:15:49,620 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: story of so many companies who set really big goals 247 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,870 Speaker 1: at the beginning of every year. Yeah. There's no way 248 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,750 Speaker 1: you're going to meet them. Aside from de Gouges, only 249 00:15:59,930 --> 00:16:02,890 Speaker 1: two of those women corresponded with the company about their work. 250 00:16:03,270 --> 00:16:06,110 Speaker 1: That was the Delorme sisters, who had written a one-act 251 00:16:06,170 --> 00:16:11,420 Speaker 1: comedy together. The Comédie-Française performed that comedy only once, and 252 00:16:11,460 --> 00:16:13,780 Speaker 1: the Delorme sisters felt that it had been dropped in 253 00:16:13,860 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: favor of work by better-known playwrights. They revised the play 254 00:16:17,700 --> 00:16:20,860 Speaker 1: and resubmitted it, and the company rejected that revision six 255 00:16:20,900 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: months later. So while the company had taken the step 256 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: of penalizing other playwrights who pushed too hard with their correspondence, 257 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,590 Speaker 1: Olympe de Gouges was really the only woman to face 258 00:16:33,790 --> 00:16:38,550 Speaker 1: such a treatment. The Delorme sisters had not had their revision... but, like, 259 00:16:38,570 --> 00:16:42,050 Speaker 1: they had also not been stripped from the roles. There 260 00:16:42,070 --> 00:16:45,570 Speaker 1: was no warrant out for their arrest. Or threatened with arrest. 261 00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: So she wrote to the Duc de Richelieu, who was 262 00:16:48,900 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: one of the first gentlemen of the king's bedchamber, noting 263 00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: that while the Comédie-Française had treated other playwrights this way, 264 00:16:56,500 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: the theater's conduct was, quote, extraordinary toward a woman. The 265 00:17:01,940 --> 00:17:05,750 Speaker 1: duke got her status with the company restored... And although 266 00:17:05,790 --> 00:17:10,450 Speaker 1: the Comédie-Française still did not perform that play, her correspondence 267 00:17:10,550 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 1: on the subject became a little more conciliatory after this. 268 00:17:14,340 --> 00:17:17,360 Speaker 1: Four years passed between the time when The Happy Shipwreck 269 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,139 Speaker 1: was accepted and when it was finally performed. And in 270 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: that time, de Gouges had revised it repeatedly. And in 271 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,050 Speaker 1: August of 1788, she had printed an unbound version of 272 00:17:28,090 --> 00:17:31,550 Speaker 1: the play, which was technically allowed under the policies of 273 00:17:31,590 --> 00:17:35,070 Speaker 1: the Comédie-Française. but it was also considered kind of a 274 00:17:35,190 --> 00:17:38,390 Speaker 1: rude move on her part. Yeah, she had not quite 275 00:17:38,430 --> 00:17:41,109 Speaker 1: gotten to that three-year mark yet. She kind of did 276 00:17:41,130 --> 00:17:45,990 Speaker 1: an end run around the letter of the law. By 277 00:17:46,030 --> 00:17:49,710 Speaker 1: the time the company did perform the play in 1789, 278 00:17:49,710 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: it was shorter. The story took place in the Caribbean, 279 00:17:53,150 --> 00:17:56,180 Speaker 1: and the characters of Zamora and Mirza had become African 280 00:17:56,220 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: rather than Asian. The play had been retitled The Slavery 281 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: of Negroes or The Happy Shipwreck. It's often been described 282 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,300 Speaker 1: as the first explicitly abolitionist play in French, and the 283 00:18:08,340 --> 00:18:10,740 Speaker 1: first French play told from the point of view of 284 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:15,710 Speaker 1: enslaved people. Even though the Comédie-Française did finally perform this work, 285 00:18:15,950 --> 00:18:20,250 Speaker 1: the performances themselves did not go smoothly. Because of its 286 00:18:20,350 --> 00:18:24,370 Speaker 1: abolitionist focus, it drew heavy criticism from wealthy people who 287 00:18:24,410 --> 00:18:27,980 Speaker 1: had connections to French colonies in the Caribbean that relied 288 00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:33,429 Speaker 1: on enslaved labor. Abolitionists praised the play, while landowners hired 289 00:18:33,490 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: hecklers to disrupt the performances. Yeah, some of the people 290 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,060 Speaker 1: paying people to disrupt the performances would have been just, like, 291 00:18:40,100 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: people who had investments, as well as, like, people who 292 00:18:42,820 --> 00:18:48,050 Speaker 1: directly owned these plantations and the enslaved workers who were there. 293 00:18:49,290 --> 00:18:52,830 Speaker 1: Degouge also claimed that there was sabotage on the part 294 00:18:52,910 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: of the actors involved. The ones who had been cast 295 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,020 Speaker 1: in the roles of Africans did refuse to darken their 296 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: skin for the roles. So the idea of white actors 297 00:19:02,740 --> 00:19:06,980 Speaker 1: and blackface was still absolutely rooted in racism, but it 298 00:19:07,340 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: didn't have quite the same connotations in the late 1700s 299 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,899 Speaker 1: as it would develop during and after the era of 300 00:19:14,090 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: menstrual shows that started to develop in the early 1800s. 301 00:19:18,650 --> 00:19:21,570 Speaker 1: France's movement for the abolition of slavery was still in 302 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:25,630 Speaker 1: its infancy when Olympe de Gouges first wrote Zemmour and Mirza. 303 00:19:26,270 --> 00:19:29,150 Speaker 1: The Society of the Friends of Blacks was established in 1788, 304 00:19:29,150 --> 00:19:34,070 Speaker 1: and de Gouges became a member. Slavery was abolished in 305 00:19:34,150 --> 00:19:39,450 Speaker 1: France in 1794, although Napoleon restored it in 1802. By 306 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: her count, Olympe de Gouges wrote more than 40 plays, 307 00:19:43,020 --> 00:19:45,820 Speaker 1: although only 12 of them survive, and only four of 308 00:19:45,859 --> 00:19:49,310 Speaker 1: them were actually staged during her lifetime. And aside from 309 00:19:49,390 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: her novels and plays, she also wrote more than 60 310 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,959 Speaker 1: political pamphlets during the French Revolution, and we will get 311 00:19:56,030 --> 00:20:03,950 Speaker 1: to that after another quick sponsor break. Olympe de Gouges 312 00:20:07,310 --> 00:20:10,990 Speaker 1: The Carrelle des Femmes, or the Woman Question, was a 313 00:20:11,090 --> 00:20:14,409 Speaker 1: literary and philosophical debate that had been going on in 314 00:20:14,530 --> 00:20:17,530 Speaker 1: France and other parts of Europe for hundreds of years 315 00:20:17,670 --> 00:20:21,570 Speaker 1: prior to the French Revolution, starting in the Renaissance. It 316 00:20:21,609 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: involved questions about the nature of women and about women's 317 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,139 Speaker 1: rights and status within the society. And a lot of 318 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,260 Speaker 1: these same questions were argued again during the French Revolution. 319 00:20:33,980 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: Although men were doing a lot of this arguing, women 320 00:20:36,859 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: were also politically active during the French Revolution, particularly when 321 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: it came to subjects that were considered part of women's sphere. 322 00:20:45,100 --> 00:20:49,090 Speaker 1: A big one was food and access to food. In 2017, 323 00:20:49,090 --> 00:20:51,710 Speaker 1: we did an episode on the Women's March on Versailles, 324 00:20:51,750 --> 00:20:55,230 Speaker 1: which started on March 5th, 1789. And this was a 325 00:20:55,250 --> 00:20:58,130 Speaker 1: march from Paris to Versailles with the goal of getting 326 00:20:58,170 --> 00:21:01,730 Speaker 1: the monarchy to address a serious food shortage and return 327 00:21:01,770 --> 00:21:05,980 Speaker 1: to Paris. Women, many of whom were anonymous, published work 328 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: on subjects like education and poverty, as well as criticizing 329 00:21:10,180 --> 00:21:14,889 Speaker 1: divorce and inheritance laws that favored men. The various factions 330 00:21:14,950 --> 00:21:18,169 Speaker 1: that arose during the revolution varied a little bit in 331 00:21:18,290 --> 00:21:21,930 Speaker 1: how welcoming they were of women. I say a little bit. 332 00:21:21,990 --> 00:21:24,570 Speaker 1: It was broader than that. There were some factions that 333 00:21:24,590 --> 00:21:27,210 Speaker 1: were like, nah, we only have men in our leadership 334 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,580 Speaker 1: and others who did allow women at least some participation. 335 00:21:31,430 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: So women also formed their own political clubs during the 336 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,640 Speaker 1: French Revolution. Many of those clubs were still focused on 337 00:21:38,940 --> 00:21:42,899 Speaker 1: the subjects that were considered appropriate for women, like food 338 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,890 Speaker 1: and education. Olympe de Gouges had some overlap with these 339 00:21:47,010 --> 00:21:50,270 Speaker 1: other often anonymous women. She wrote on some of the 340 00:21:50,290 --> 00:21:55,790 Speaker 1: same subjects, including divorce, inheritance, and education, particularly education for girls. 341 00:21:56,570 --> 00:21:59,270 Speaker 1: She called for women to be able to publicly name 342 00:21:59,310 --> 00:22:02,149 Speaker 1: the fathers of their children born out of wedlock and 343 00:22:02,170 --> 00:22:06,020 Speaker 1: for those children to be legitimized. She also advocated an 344 00:22:06,130 --> 00:22:09,220 Speaker 1: end to the dowry system and the creation of services 345 00:22:09,300 --> 00:22:13,460 Speaker 1: for widows, mothers, and children living in poverty. But unlike 346 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: many other women writers who were often anonymous, she also 347 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,490 Speaker 1: wrote under her own name, and she wrote more broadly 348 00:22:20,630 --> 00:22:24,389 Speaker 1: on other political issues and on women's political and social 349 00:22:24,450 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: rights in general. She advocated for professions to be open 350 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,930 Speaker 1: to anyone, regardless of their sex, their color, or their 351 00:22:31,990 --> 00:22:36,209 Speaker 1: social status. She believed that celibacy requirements for monks and 352 00:22:36,310 --> 00:22:38,750 Speaker 1: nuns set the stage for abuse and called for them 353 00:22:38,770 --> 00:22:43,139 Speaker 1: to have marriage rights. She proposed a voluntary tax to 354 00:22:43,180 --> 00:22:46,100 Speaker 1: try to address wealth inequality and to save the French 355 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,340 Speaker 1: Republic from bankruptcy. She also advocated a luxury tax that 356 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: would pay for services for the poor. She called for 357 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,609 Speaker 1: an end to the death penalty, and she advocated the 358 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,990 Speaker 1: establishment of a national theater that would focus on publishing 359 00:23:01,010 --> 00:23:04,389 Speaker 1: and staging the work of women playwrights. Some of the 360 00:23:04,430 --> 00:23:08,790 Speaker 1: reforms that she advocated were ultimately adopted, including protections for 361 00:23:08,850 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: children who were born out of wedlock and divorce rights 362 00:23:11,619 --> 00:23:14,620 Speaker 1: for women. These were passed into law by the National 363 00:23:14,660 --> 00:23:21,100 Speaker 1: Assembly in 1792. On August 26, 1789, the French National 364 00:23:21,140 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 1: Constituent Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man 365 00:23:24,820 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: and the Citizen, written by the Marquis de Lafayette and 366 00:23:27,940 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 1: the Abbé Sieyès, along with Thomas Jefferson. That includes 17 367 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:38,730 Speaker 1: articles outlining the fundamental rights of male citizens. And in 1791, 368 00:23:38,730 --> 00:23:42,830 Speaker 1: the National Assembly adopted a new constitution, one that gave 369 00:23:42,869 --> 00:23:48,130 Speaker 1: the right to vote only to male taxpaying citizens. To 370 00:23:48,170 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: a lot of people, this was a little at odds 371 00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:57,640 Speaker 1: with the French Revolution's professed values, including liberty and equality. 372 00:23:58,850 --> 00:24:01,510 Speaker 1: De Gouges' response to all of this was the Declaration 373 00:24:01,550 --> 00:24:05,590 Speaker 1: of the Rights of Woman and the Citizen, sometimes translated 374 00:24:05,770 --> 00:24:07,850 Speaker 1: as the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the 375 00:24:07,990 --> 00:24:11,340 Speaker 1: Female Citizen, thanks to her use of the word citoyenne. 376 00:24:12,260 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: It followed the same basic format as the Declaration of 377 00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 1: the Rights of Man, including a preamble, 17 articles, and 378 00:24:18,940 --> 00:24:23,199 Speaker 1: an epilogue. It was also dedicated to Marie Antoinette, encouraging 379 00:24:23,260 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: her to take up the cause of the revolution and 380 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,180 Speaker 1: to use her position to advance the cause of women's rights. 381 00:24:29,980 --> 00:24:35,540 Speaker 1: De Gouges published this on September 14th, 1791, to coincide 382 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 1: with Louis XVI's ratification of the new constitution that excluded 383 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,470 Speaker 1: women from full citizenship rights. And the prologue to this 384 00:24:43,530 --> 00:24:47,540 Speaker 1: piece began, quote,' Man, are you capable of being fair?' 385 00:24:48,140 --> 00:24:50,909 Speaker 1: A woman is asking, at least you will allow her 386 00:24:50,990 --> 00:24:54,530 Speaker 1: that right. Tell me, what gave you the sovereign right 387 00:24:54,590 --> 00:24:59,570 Speaker 1: to oppress my sex? The 17 articles follow the Declaration 388 00:24:59,609 --> 00:25:02,250 Speaker 1: of the Rights of Man point by point. And in 389 00:25:02,290 --> 00:25:05,150 Speaker 1: some cases, they simply use the word woman or women 390 00:25:05,369 --> 00:25:09,199 Speaker 1: in place of man or men, or they specifically include 391 00:25:09,260 --> 00:25:13,940 Speaker 1: women in addition to men where they're referenced. So Article 392 00:25:13,940 --> 00:25:17,330 Speaker 1: 1 of the Declaration of the Rights of Women, for example, is, quote, 393 00:25:17,510 --> 00:25:21,050 Speaker 1: woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. 394 00:25:21,650 --> 00:25:24,990 Speaker 1: Social distinctions may be founded only on the common good. 395 00:25:25,550 --> 00:25:29,669 Speaker 1: Other articles add additional nuance. For example, Article 10 in 396 00:25:29,710 --> 00:25:32,530 Speaker 1: the Declaration of the Rights of Man is, quote, no 397 00:25:32,650 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including 398 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the 399 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,930 Speaker 1: public order established by law. In the rights of women, 400 00:25:44,369 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: that is written as, quote, Article 11 is about free expression. 401 00:25:47,820 --> 00:25:50,640 Speaker 1: And in de Gouges' writing, she specifically cites the rights 402 00:25:50,700 --> 00:26:11,270 Speaker 1: of mothers to name their children's fathers. Quote, The free 403 00:26:11,310 --> 00:26:14,010 Speaker 1: expression of thoughts and opinions is one of the most 404 00:26:14,150 --> 00:26:18,070 Speaker 1: precious rights of woman, given that this liberty ensures the 405 00:26:18,130 --> 00:26:23,350 Speaker 1: legitimacy of fathers and their children. Any female citizen can 406 00:26:23,430 --> 00:26:27,050 Speaker 1: therefore freely declare, I am the mother of your child, 407 00:26:27,130 --> 00:26:30,170 Speaker 1: without a barbarous prejudice forcing them to hide the truth, 408 00:26:30,630 --> 00:26:32,990 Speaker 1: unless in response to the abuse of this freedom in 409 00:26:33,070 --> 00:26:37,310 Speaker 1: cases determined by the law. In a postscript that's longer 410 00:26:37,350 --> 00:26:40,450 Speaker 1: than the rest of the document, Degouge calls for women 411 00:26:40,530 --> 00:26:44,130 Speaker 1: to wake up and acknowledge their rights. She contends, quote, 412 00:26:44,390 --> 00:26:48,790 Speaker 1: women have done more harm than good. Constraint and dissimulation 413 00:26:48,850 --> 00:26:53,189 Speaker 1: have been their lot. What force stole from them, ruse returned. 414 00:26:53,750 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 1: They had to resort to the power of their charms 415 00:26:56,359 --> 00:27:00,080 Speaker 1: and the most irreproachable man could not resist. She then 416 00:27:00,100 --> 00:27:04,420 Speaker 1: draws parallels between marriage and slavery, ending on the idea that, quote, 417 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,580 Speaker 1: marriage is the tomb of trust and love. She also 418 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,500 Speaker 1: prints a template for what she describes as a social 419 00:27:11,580 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: contract between a man and a woman, a union that, 420 00:27:14,859 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: unlike marriage, involves a man and a woman coming together 421 00:27:18,180 --> 00:27:21,980 Speaker 1: in equality and of their own volition. In the postscript, 422 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,500 Speaker 1: she also recounts an argument with a coachman who tried 423 00:27:25,540 --> 00:27:28,300 Speaker 1: to overcharge her, and this is something that she includes 424 00:27:28,460 --> 00:27:32,500 Speaker 1: as an example of the everyday injustices and indignities that 425 00:27:32,540 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: women face in But it also seems enough like a 426 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,379 Speaker 1: digression that a lot of time it is left out 427 00:27:37,420 --> 00:27:41,940 Speaker 1: of English translations. Olympe de Gouges had always faced criticism 428 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,880 Speaker 1: and derision for her writing and her political activism. There 429 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: were allegations of affairs that were meant to discredit her, 430 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: along with claims that she was illiterate or a fraud. 431 00:27:52,980 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: But when it came to the Declaration of the Rights 432 00:27:55,020 --> 00:27:59,050 Speaker 1: of Woman, what really drew suspicion was her dedication to 433 00:27:59,109 --> 00:28:02,990 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette, which reinforced suspicions that that she was in 434 00:28:03,050 --> 00:28:06,710 Speaker 1: fact a monarchist. And unlike a lot of the other 435 00:28:06,750 --> 00:28:11,580 Speaker 1: suspicions that swirled around her, this one was actually pretty accurate. 436 00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:15,380 Speaker 1: In spite of her revolutionary writings and her general support 437 00:28:15,460 --> 00:28:19,110 Speaker 1: of the French Revolution, Olympe de Gouges thought a constitutional 438 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:22,169 Speaker 1: monarchy was the system of government that was most suited 439 00:28:22,230 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: to the national character of France. But she also thought 440 00:28:25,740 --> 00:28:29,090 Speaker 1: that the monarch should be a symbolic emblem for France 441 00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:31,409 Speaker 1: as a nation and should work for the good of 442 00:28:31,470 --> 00:28:35,709 Speaker 1: its most vulnerable people, not a symbol of power and 443 00:28:35,750 --> 00:28:38,390 Speaker 1: a tool to carry out the wishes of the aristocracy. 444 00:28:39,210 --> 00:28:42,970 Speaker 1: When King Louis XVI was tried for treason in 1792, 445 00:28:42,950 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: Olympe de Gouges offered to defend him. Her argument was 446 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: that he unquestionably had done wrong, but that he had 447 00:28:50,740 --> 00:28:54,770 Speaker 1: done wrong when he was king. By her argument, since 448 00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:57,790 Speaker 1: France had abolished the monarchy and become a republic in 449 00:28:57,850 --> 00:29:02,310 Speaker 1: September of 1792, the former king was no longer guilty 450 00:29:02,410 --> 00:29:05,410 Speaker 1: in the eyes of the republic. The republic could not 451 00:29:05,490 --> 00:29:08,540 Speaker 1: prosecute someone who was no longer the monarch for something 452 00:29:08,580 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: the monarch had done. Her offer to defend the king, 453 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: by the way, was not accepted, and he was, of course, 454 00:29:14,500 --> 00:29:19,530 Speaker 1: executed on January 21, 1793. Yeah, we're not suggesting that 455 00:29:19,570 --> 00:29:22,630 Speaker 1: defense would have worked, but. It's kind of a weird 456 00:29:22,970 --> 00:29:27,140 Speaker 1: pretzel logic. It's a little, yeah. It's like, no, he 457 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: stopped being the person that you hate when he stopped 458 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:36,340 Speaker 1: being king. Like, that's not quite right. So by the 459 00:29:36,340 --> 00:29:40,870 Speaker 1: time Louis the 16th was executed tensions had been growing 460 00:29:41,050 --> 00:29:46,970 Speaker 1: between revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries and also among different factions within 461 00:29:46,990 --> 00:29:51,670 Speaker 1: the revolution for years the french revolutionary wars had also 462 00:29:51,710 --> 00:29:55,230 Speaker 1: started in 1792 and that had put even more strain 463 00:29:55,310 --> 00:30:00,220 Speaker 1: on this young republic The revolution had become increasingly radical 464 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:05,960 Speaker 1: and increasingly intolerant of suspected monarchists and counter-revolutionaries. Olymp de 465 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,530 Speaker 1: Gouges had been mostly aligned with the revolutionary faction known 466 00:30:09,710 --> 00:30:13,410 Speaker 1: as the Girondins. 29 of them had been expelled from 467 00:30:13,430 --> 00:30:16,950 Speaker 1: the national convention and arrested and then would be executed 468 00:30:16,970 --> 00:30:20,130 Speaker 1: a few months later. In the face of all of 469 00:30:20,180 --> 00:30:24,850 Speaker 1: this tension, in July of 1793, de Gouges proposed that 470 00:30:24,990 --> 00:30:28,590 Speaker 1: each department of France be allowed to govern itself, rather 471 00:30:28,650 --> 00:30:31,540 Speaker 1: than the one unified nation of France that was required 472 00:30:31,580 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: by law. And this idea seems to be what finally 473 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,870 Speaker 1: led to her arrest on July 20th, 1793, not long 474 00:30:40,010 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: after the mass arrest of the Girondins. She seems to 475 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: have genuinely believed that if she cooperated, that her writings 476 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,300 Speaker 1: would demonstrate that she was loyal to France and the revolution, 477 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,660 Speaker 1: and that she would be cleared of all suspicion. She 478 00:30:53,790 --> 00:30:57,070 Speaker 1: even took investigators to her office and storage space when 479 00:30:57,090 --> 00:31:00,970 Speaker 1: they couldn't find any incriminating writing in her home. The 480 00:31:01,030 --> 00:31:05,790 Speaker 1: materials that they wound up confiscating included an unfinished five-act 481 00:31:05,870 --> 00:31:11,420 Speaker 1: play called France Saved or the Tyrant Dethroned. As its 482 00:31:11,530 --> 00:31:15,490 Speaker 1: title suggests, the monarch is dethroned in this play, but 483 00:31:15,650 --> 00:31:19,230 Speaker 1: its sympathetic portrayal of Marie Antoinette was used as evidence 484 00:31:19,310 --> 00:31:22,730 Speaker 1: in Marie de Gouges' trial. So was a pamphlet she 485 00:31:22,770 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: had written called Three Governments Battle to the Death, which 486 00:31:26,140 --> 00:31:28,340 Speaker 1: called for the nation of France to make an ultimate 487 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:33,790 Speaker 1: choice among monarchy, federalism, or republicanism. She had also been 488 00:31:33,990 --> 00:31:38,710 Speaker 1: highly critical of Maximilien Robespierre and of the increasing violence 489 00:31:38,830 --> 00:31:44,270 Speaker 1: associated with the revolution and the war. On July 25th, 1793, 490 00:31:44,270 --> 00:31:47,300 Speaker 1: de Gouges was charged with, quote, having composed a work 491 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,959 Speaker 1: contrary to the expressed desire of the entire nation and 492 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 1: directed against whoever might propose a form of government other 493 00:31:55,780 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: than that of a republic, one and indivisible. She was incarcerated, 494 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,820 Speaker 1: and she continued writing, smuggling pamphlets detailing the conditions there 495 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:09,710 Speaker 1: out of her prison. At trial, the judge denied Degouge 496 00:32:09,770 --> 00:32:14,010 Speaker 1: legal representation, so she had to represent herself. And different 497 00:32:14,090 --> 00:32:19,130 Speaker 1: accounts interpret her behavior at court very differently. She claimed 498 00:32:19,170 --> 00:32:22,730 Speaker 1: to be 38, but she was really 45. She's also 499 00:32:22,750 --> 00:32:27,190 Speaker 1: described as sighing, smirking, or rolling her eyes as the 500 00:32:27,270 --> 00:32:31,780 Speaker 1: charges were read. either, depending on who you're reading, clearly 501 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,500 Speaker 1: not taking the proceeding seriously, or trying to kind of 502 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:40,380 Speaker 1: performatively embody the idea of innocence, almost like a character 503 00:32:40,420 --> 00:32:43,510 Speaker 1: from one of her plays. She was ultimately found in 504 00:32:43,550 --> 00:32:46,650 Speaker 1: violation of a law that banned the composition or printing 505 00:32:46,690 --> 00:32:50,710 Speaker 1: of works that advocated the reestablishment of royalty or the 506 00:32:50,750 --> 00:32:55,240 Speaker 1: dissolution of the Republic, which was punishable by death. She 507 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: tried to avoid execution by claiming to be pregnant, but 508 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: a doctor examined her and said that she was not. 509 00:33:01,820 --> 00:33:04,700 Speaker 1: As is the case with any historical examination of this 510 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: kind that we talk about on the show, we really 511 00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:10,500 Speaker 1: don't know what was done, what this doctor did as 512 00:33:10,540 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: a test, or whether it would have been able to 513 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,770 Speaker 1: even detect a pregnancy. Yeah, I mean, eventually it becomes 514 00:33:17,850 --> 00:33:22,590 Speaker 1: relatively obvious, but in the early stages, who knows? In 515 00:33:22,610 --> 00:33:28,229 Speaker 1: the early stages in the 1790s. Yes. Anyway, Olympe de 516 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: Gouges was executed in Paris on November 3rd, 1793. And 517 00:33:33,460 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: her last words were, children of the homeland, you will 518 00:33:36,100 --> 00:33:40,580 Speaker 1: avenge my death. The word homeland, as she said it 519 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,500 Speaker 1: in French, is la patrie. And that's also translated as 520 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:49,830 Speaker 1: both motherland and fatherland, depending on who you're looking at. 521 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: because the patrie part comes from the word for father, 522 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,620 Speaker 1: but la is also a feminine article, so it kind 523 00:33:56,660 --> 00:34:00,990 Speaker 1: of meshes both of that. Olympe de Gouges' son, Pierre, 524 00:34:01,170 --> 00:34:03,730 Speaker 1: denounced her during all of this, and while she did 525 00:34:03,790 --> 00:34:07,010 Speaker 1: write several letters to him during her imprisonment and her trial, 526 00:34:07,410 --> 00:34:11,330 Speaker 1: those were all confiscated. She was buried at Madeleine Cemetery 527 00:34:11,410 --> 00:34:14,640 Speaker 1: in Paris, which was later closed and cleared with the 528 00:34:14,739 --> 00:34:19,810 Speaker 1: skeletal remains being moved to the Paris catacombs. Although... In 529 00:34:19,969 --> 00:34:23,469 Speaker 1: Unearthed in July 2020, we talked about the discovery of 530 00:34:23,610 --> 00:34:28,270 Speaker 1: skeletal remains in the Chapelle Expatoire, which is a memorial 531 00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:31,430 Speaker 1: chapel that was built on the site of the former cemetery. 532 00:34:32,090 --> 00:34:36,010 Speaker 1: So it's possible that the remains of Olympe de Gouges 533 00:34:36,070 --> 00:34:39,069 Speaker 1: are in the Paris catacombs. Also possible that they could 534 00:34:39,090 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 1: be in these relatively newly unearthed skeletal remains in this chapel. 535 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: De Gouges continued to be criticized and vilified after her death. 536 00:34:48,170 --> 00:34:52,009 Speaker 1: in ways that questioned her politics, her character, and her womanhood. 537 00:34:52,910 --> 00:34:58,280 Speaker 1: In 1793, French politician Pierre-Gaspard Chaumet wrote, quote, Never forget 538 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,420 Speaker 1: that Virago, the woman-man, the impudent Olympe de Gouges, who 539 00:35:02,500 --> 00:35:05,160 Speaker 1: abandoned the cares of her household to get involved in 540 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 1: politics and commit crimes. She died on the guillotine for 541 00:35:09,180 --> 00:35:13,219 Speaker 1: having forgotten the virtues that suit her sex. It really 542 00:35:13,260 --> 00:35:17,190 Speaker 1: took decades. I mean, even into like the 1990s, before 543 00:35:17,230 --> 00:35:21,009 Speaker 1: people started really viewing Olympe de Gouges as a forerunner 544 00:35:21,090 --> 00:35:24,650 Speaker 1: of the feminist movement and to really seriously study her work. 545 00:35:25,270 --> 00:35:28,250 Speaker 1: There were calls to have her commemorated at the Pantheon 546 00:35:28,290 --> 00:35:33,180 Speaker 1: in Paris in 1993 and then again in 2013. The 547 00:35:33,219 --> 00:35:36,760 Speaker 1: first woman to be interred at the Pantheon was Sophie Berthelot, 548 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 1: whose husband, chemist and politician Marcelin Berthelot, had died within 549 00:35:41,580 --> 00:35:45,340 Speaker 1: hours of her passing. The first woman to be interred 550 00:35:45,380 --> 00:35:49,040 Speaker 1: at the Pantheon based on her own accomplishments was Marie Curie, 551 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:53,240 Speaker 1: when that didn't happen until 1995. Although Alain de Gouges 552 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,650 Speaker 1: has not been Pantheonized, a bust of her was installed 553 00:35:58,090 --> 00:36:01,330 Speaker 1: at the National Assembly in 2016. That is Alain de Gouges. 554 00:36:01,989 --> 00:36:04,790 Speaker 1: As I said just a second ago, there was not 555 00:36:04,830 --> 00:36:06,810 Speaker 1: a lot of serious look at her work and her 556 00:36:06,870 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 1: life until roughly the 90s, really, and I would like 557 00:36:10,620 --> 00:36:15,469 Speaker 1: to say I still find... the available research lacking. There 558 00:36:15,510 --> 00:36:18,290 Speaker 1: was just not as much of it as I would 559 00:36:18,350 --> 00:36:21,339 Speaker 1: have liked and not as robust as I would have 560 00:36:21,380 --> 00:36:28,700 Speaker 1: liked it to be. Thanks so much for joining us 561 00:36:28,940 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 562 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:36,779 Speaker 1: our email address is historypodcast at iheartradio.com. And you can 563 00:36:36,820 --> 00:36:40,210 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 564 00:36:40,410 --> 00:36:42,370 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.