West European Studies

In the book of Dominique Godineau, The Women of Paris and their French Revolution (1998), the author does not discuss any particular woman in French history. The woman depicted in the book is not one specific icon in the chronology of France, of the French Revolution, or of the aristocracy in the country at the time. Rather, the author tackles the subject of the common woman in the time of one of the bloodiest internal conflicts in history, the French Revolution. These women, displayed knitting in one instance, and boasting of brandishing the bronze rifles that were portents of change and reform in the next (Godineau 1998 p. xv).

These women were considered as the common folk, untouched by the embellishments of the rich and powerful during the era, damaged, if the term suits, with the waters of the Seine River splashing on their bodies as they tended to the laundry, either of their families or those that they are under servitude to, or stung in their fingers with the needles of the tailor shop, or the needles of the spinning wheels if they are employed in a mill. Employed in various trades, these women sought to find resources in order that their families may be able to eat. But these women were not confined to the trappings of the home, as they also sought to have a voice in the affairs of the movement of the era. These women, busy as they were with the affairs of the home, were no strangers as they took their places in the National Assembly, when they participated in the crafting of the affairs of the state, knitting most of the time, even before the Assembly or as they waited to be executed (Godineau 1998 p. xvi).

These women, again to state as familiar in the affairs of the movement, were seen to be knitting at their seats at the conclave, as well as raising their fists as they pleaded to be heard in the assembly. Apart from being at the Assembly, these women were also at the front lines, as they worked hard to administer a linen bandage to the wound of a fighter in many a battle. These women, though burdened with the affairs of tending to their homes, supported and acted with the tenets of the movement, creating their own revolutionary unit. These tricoteuses, or knitters , are so termed as they would usually knitted in their seats as they participated in the discussions and the debates that raged on the floor. The image of the knitter evokes two different images of the women in the era of the Revolution (Godineau 1998 p. xviii).

Usually an image of a woman attending to her knitting conjures up pictures of warmth, tenderness, love and working to provide for the needs of the family. But in the image of the tricoteuses, the image is that of hate, death and violence her appearance defines her character and her place in the society, her main weapon her accouterments, the image of a loving mother is morphed into one of evoking aggression and revolution. These women, tricoteuses rather than the furie de guillotine, sought to cross the societal border that hindered them from effectively being heard in public arena. By the close of the 18th century, women had by and large been confined to the stereotypes of being mothers and wives, associated with the affairs of the domestic life. They were not even accorded the title citoyen (citizen), as the prevailing image of the citizen was given only to the masculine, men in the society. Often times, the term citizen was only made to refer to the feminine sector but only in reference as the wife of the man, and not as a separate entity (Godineau 1998 p. xix).

The driving purpose in the participation in the French Revolution borders on this premise. They are not considered as true citizens of the Republic, as the spouse of the woman can only grant them that them a form of political recognition in the society. Thus, women were confined to the role of being non existent entities in the political realm, bearing only the nominal title of resident. But the French Revolution, with its advocacy of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, would allow them to finally assume their place in the society as politically existent entities, that in the prevailing societal norms, women would be recognized, and more significantly, their opinions could be heard in the public arena of the revolution and the future state (Godineau 1998 p. xix).

As in the case of femmes du monde, or the prostitutes that roamed the streets of the French capital, the lack of skills that could have steered them away from a life of selling their bodies was evident. The Societe des Citoyennes Republicaines Revolutionnaires (Society of Revolutionary Republican Women), a Paris based organization, proposed that prostitutes, as they believed are victims of their economic fortunes, be housed in house run by the state in order to rehabilitate them by way of providing them educational benefits and training for possible work. But for other women, the progression from the affairs of the home to that of participating in the affairs of the state took on more overt forms. The forms these expressions of political opinion took on the practice of fashion the women wore to indicate their support for one ideology or another (Godineau 1998 p. 12).

Women in the revolutionary era displayed on their clothing medallions, expressing their support for either Jean Paul Marat or Maximilien Robespierre, worn as necklaces, or even wearing a liberty cap. If the hair of the woman is shorn, then it would be construed that the woman expressing support for the Jacobins. Ribbons adorned with the tri colors would indicate support for the revolution. The dress of the character in the introduction of the book, La Charbonniere,  is typical of the costumes women wore in the era. Preferring pants over heavy skirts for a number of reasons, be it security, convenience or just to serve a whim, these women tried to provide for their families in the era of revolution and political upheaval (Godineau 1998 p. 7).

Apart from the direct contributions of the women in the cause of the Revolution, as stated earlier in the paper, many of the women indirectly furnished reasons for supporting the Revolution. Small booths that were constructed by women to sell wares, often torn down, gave a sense of integration and accommodation in the society. With these booths, women were sure of a place that could allow them to provide for their needs and those of their families, without having to sell their bodies in the process. But was more contributory to stoking the fires of the Revolution were women that sold the daily papers. These women, selling their goods, moved the sentiment of the public, and allowed for the provocation of the frustrations of the public as they gathered people to sell their wares (Godineau 1998 p. 10).

These vendors, with their calls just to sell their wares, contributed to the cause of certain political organizations in the French society. After the demise of Maximilien Robespierre, some newspaper vendors supported the revolution hostile to the Jacobin party by selling literature belligerent to the latter. Many of the vendors were accosted for selling what the government claimed as insurrectionist literature, such as Le Tribune du People. Some vendors, such as Therese Pillet, even added to her selling pitch the lines that he wares were against the preservation of the peace and order of the society (Godineau 1998 p. 10).

Not only were the mature women of the era instructed and familiar to be able to contribute to the Revolution. Teachers impressed on the minds of young girls and boys that the society of France mus be composed of a single family unit, with the cause of defending the people against the actions of tyrants ruling over them. These and many others strove to instill in the minds of the young on the importance of the Revolution, Thus, women were able to contribute, both directly and indirectly, to the furtherance of the cause of the Revolution (Godineau 1998 p. 57).