LE3 .A278 2006

2006

Whaley, Leigh Anne

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

History

History & Classics

The subject of this thesis is the examination of the role of women during the French Revolution through a detailed analysis of the journalist and political activist, Louise de Keralio. This thesis argues that de Keralio was a pioneering feminist in the sense that she challenged formerly uncontested restrictions on female participation in politics not through street demonstrations and bread riots, but through the medium of the written word. De Keralio utilized the newly declared freedom of the press by the French revolutionaries in 1789 to her advantage demonstrating that the-collapse of the ancien regime was crucial for female involvement in French literary and public spheres. Through a close study of de Keralio's writings, from her translations of works in her father's personal library and pre-revolutionary writings, such as her history of queens, to her political pamphlets and her journals Journal d'Etat et du Citoyen and Mercure National, this thesis scrutinizes her contribution to the promotion of revolutionary ideals. Her involvement, as a woman, in authorship and publishing is unprecedented in French history. Despite the fact that women were denied the political rights their male counterparts received, such as the right to hold office or vote, women were not bystanders to this revolution. De Keralio's life provides a strong example that women were politically active regardless of whether or not they were officially citizens.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3333