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Figure 11: Olympe de Gouges, by Alexandre Kucharski
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Where Loyalties Lie: Examining the Motives of
Olympe de Gouges’ Political Writings
Brandon Kiefer
Brandon Kiefer is a freshman social studies education major in the Honors Program
from Naples, Texas. He wrote this paper for Honors Western Thought and
Expression since the Renaissance in the spring of 2016.
The French Revolution produced some of the most interesting stories and people in
human history. People often recall the Reign of Terror or the storming of the Bastille
when referencing this tumultuous time in French history. However, some of the most
poignant and fascinating stories find themselves interred beneath the tragic and
dramatic events of the French Revolution. The life of Olympe de Gouges, originally
born Marie de Gouze, epitomized the power and importance of the individual amidst
the “major events” of the period. Although most recall the name Olympe de Gouges
in reference to her Declaration of the Rights of Woman, her body of work encompasses so
much more. Throughout the French Revolution, she sought to present opinions on
the proceedings of the Revolution itself. Her political ideas seemed to shift between
absolutist and constitutional royalism, despite her supposed confession of Republican
ideas later on, and she always made them openly to the public. However, the focus
that many place on the Declaration of the Rights of Woman has overshadowed her works
concerning the French government. The writings of Olympe de Gouges emphasized
more her desire to promote the continuance of the monarchy along with the National
Assembly and focused less on the support of women’s rights.
From the year 1788 to 1793, Olympe de Gouges wrote extensively on her
support for the king. In her early pamphlets de Gouges advocated for the king and the
virtue she believed he possessed. She declared, “[T]he one thing that no wise Citizen
can ignore, or doubt, is the goodness and clemency of His Majesty.”1 Her belief in
the “goodness and clemency” of Louis XVI caused her to support both his position as
king and the authority he exercised. Additionally, de Gouges went so far as to create an
1. Olympe de Gouges, “Letter to the People, or the Patriotic Purse Project,” ed.
Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations of the Original French
Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/patriotic_purse.php.
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“Allegorical Dialogue between Truth and France” that articulated her opinions. In this
work, Truth declared to France, “No doubt under another Monarch the French would
be incapable of uniting. Yet nothing can affect the goodness and clemency of a King
who is a man altogether fair, generous and humane.”2 This wholehearted elevation of
the monarch to an almost superhuman character testified to the faith and support that
de Gouges placed in his ability to lead and her confidence in the monarchy. In addition
to the feelings presented in her writings, the substantial volume of writing on her
political beliefs indicated her motives. From the time de Gouges began writing for the
public in 1788 to her death in 1793, she created over a dozen pieces that advocated for
her political beliefs. The deep devotion demonstrated through the amount of writing
on the subject of monarchical authority displays the importance that de Gouges placed
upon it.
De Gouges dedicated the Declaration of the Rights of Woman to Marie Antoinette,
which demonstrated de Gouges’s belief in the monarchy. Although the main purpose
of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman consisted of creating equal rights for women in
the midst of the French Revolution, the dedication cannot be overlooked. Historian
John R. Cole observed, “Beginnings are all-important for any author seeking to engage
an audience, and the equivocal Dedication with which she prefaced her Declaration
obviously requires a hard look at ‘To the Queen.’”3 This Dedication exemplifies one
of the ways that de Gouges sought to insert her beliefs into all forms of her work.
She implanted the idea of the monarchy despite the fact that the monarchy possessed
little to no bearing on the main idea of the work and thereby demonstrated her deep
devotion to the rule of the king. Furthermore, in the “Social Contract between Man
and Woman” de Gouges maintained, “My opinion would be to reconcile the power
of the executive with that of the legislative, because it seems that the one is everything,
the other, nothing. I consider these two powers like a man and wife, who make a good
2. Olympe de Gouges, “Allegorical Dialogue Between France and Truth
Dedicated to the Estates General,” ed. Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges:
English Translations of the Original French Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.
olympedegouges.eu/dialog_allegorique.php.
3. John R. Cole and Olympe de Gouges, Between the Queen and the Cabby: Olympe de
Gouges’ Rights of Woman (Montréal, QC: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011), 45.
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household when united as equals in strength and in virtue.”4 The first sentence seemed
to disparage the legislative branch completely while arguing for a powerful autocratic
monarchy. However, coupling the first statement with the second sentence allowed
de Gouges to analogize the husband and wife relationship with that of the executive
and legislative. In doing so, de Gouges attempted to quell the revolutionary spirit
with compromise in order to keep the monarchy. Much like necessary change for the
legislative and executive institutions, the equality for women also came as a necessary
part of the change France must undergo while attempting to maintain the monarchy.
She used the Declaration as a vessel by which she forwarded the cause of her support for
the monarchy.
Despite the republican statements in her later works, Olympe de Gouges
remained a royalist for the remainder of her life. Through her publication “Olympe de
Gouges, Louis Capet’s Unofficial Advocate,” she at first glance seems to experience a
massive change of heart as she claimed, “I am a candid and loyal republican, without
stain or fault; no one doubts it, even those who affect to disregard my civic virtues: I
can therefore take charge of this cause.”5 Taking this piece of the text alone, de Gouges
should be interpreted as just that, a fervent republican. However, her letter goes on to
advocate sparing Louis XVI’s life. When looking at this appeal for sparing Louis XVI
in the context of her whole body of work, her statement as a “republican” does not
confirm itself. In other works, such as “Social Contract between Man and Woman,”
“Letter to the People,” and “Patriotic Remarks,” de Gouges stressed the importance
of the king and his rule. In doing so, a holistic look at de Gouges paints the picture
of a vehement royalist rather than that of a republican. Such a radical shift seemed
largely uncharacteristic within the context of all of her work. However, the political
pragmatism of describing herself as a “republican” could have been enough to sway
some members to her cause. As she argued from the position of a “republican,” de
Gouges increased the likelihood of preserving Louis XVI’s life. A republican would be
much more convincing than an ardent royalist to the revolutionary government.
4. Cole and Gouges, 39.
5. Olympe de Gouges, “Olympe de Gouges, Louis Capet’s Unofficial Advocate,” ed.
Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations of the Original French
Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/defenseur_officieux.php.
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Despite this appeal, the National Assembly executed Louis XVI contrary to the
“republican” beliefs that de Gouges presented in her defense of the former king.
Not only did de Gouges support the king through her commentary and
writings; she presented him in an almost fatherly role. As Cole states:
Gouges subscribed to a royalist ideology and extended its patriarchal mythology.
Whatever her own secularism, her politics make sense in terms of traditional
ideals of mutual love that are fundamentally Christian. As the good father-king
loves and protects his people, so those subjects must love and submit to their
ruler. Pride and greed are bad; deference and sacrifice are good.6
When viewing this remark in the context of works by de Gouges the idea becomes
clear. “Oh Sire! You who understands the duty of a King, through your beneficence, be
a model to all Potentates on earth and show them how to relieve their People in these
calamitous moments.”7 This appeal to Louis XVI as a father figure displays the deep
devotion that Olympe de Gouges held toward the monarchy. Not only did she see Louis
XVI as a simple ruler that enforced laws, but she also viewed him as a loving figure
that assisted in calming and comforting his beloved subjects. She continued to make
similar claims as she described a “true French woman who cherishes and respects her
King, and who would sacrifice herself to save her Motherland.”8 Even when concerned
with “saving the Motherland,” de Gouges allowed the statement to pertain to the King.
Equating true French patriotism to a woman loyal to the King again shifts the focus
to her royalist beliefs instead of women’s rights and their place in society. In doing
so, de Gouges furthered her main idea and purpose in writing, which came through
defending the monarchy of Louis XVI through her ideas on equality and femininity.
Olympe de Gouges also sometimes used the idea of femininity in ways contrary
to those of equality. When composing the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, Olympe de
6. Cole and de Gouges, 47.
7. Olympe de Gouges, “Patriotic Observations, by the Citizen, Authoress of the
Letter of the People,” ed. Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations
of the Original French Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/
patriotic_observations.php.
8. Olympe de Gouges, “To save the Motherland and the three Orders must be
respected; it is the only method of conciliation that is left to us,” ed. Clarissa Palmer (2013),
in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations of the Original French Texts, accessed March 21,
2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/save_motherland.php.
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Gouges attempted to create a document that extended the Rights of Man to all people,
specifically women. She envisioned an equal society in which all people share the same
basic rights before the law. However, de Gouges misused her sex at least once in her life.
When faced with death by execution, de Gouges claimed to be pregnant.9 This claim
sought to serve de Gouges’s own self-interest and allow her one last moment with her
son whom she loved. While this appeal to the Assembly may seem like a reasonable
falsehood, doing so went against the equality that de Gouges advocated in her Declaration.
Utilizing the physical attributes of her sex for her own personal gain, regardless of the
circumstances, contradicted the message of equality that she desired for women. This
showed a somewhat hypocritical side of de Gouges, since the appeal that she presented
would not have been available for a member of the opposite sex. While this last ditch
effort to save her own life does not mean that she entirely abandoned feminist beliefs
for her own sake, it demands a look at what truly mattered to de Gouges. Instead of
rescinding her zealous defense of the monarchy, she instead chose to employ her sex to
solve the problem. Contrasting to her intense passions for the monarchy and political
systems, which surged to the forefront in this situation, her feminist beliefs became less
of a concern. Thus de Gouges placed a greater emphasis on her political support for
the monarchy than her ideas of equality and women’s rights.
The lack of a real response from the National Assembly, along with the
writings following the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, displays the lack of emphasis
de Gouges placed on this concern. Prior to the creation of the Rights of Woman, the
National Assembly knew of de Gouges and her work. Throughout her many writings
and speeches, Olympe de Gouges compiled “Design for the Creation of a Supreme
Criminal Tribunal for the People,” a speech that she personally delivered to the National
Assembly.10 The fact that de Gouges presented a political idea before the Assembly
proves that the Assembly not only knew de Gouges, but they also acknowledged and
analyzed her work. The National Assembly was aware that de Gouges created the
Declaration of the Rights of Woman, but the Assembly hardly took notice of her work and
9. Sophie Mousset: Women’s Rights and the French Revolution: A Biography of Olympe de
Gouges (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 2014), 96.
10. Olympe de Gouges, “Design for the Creation of a Supreme Criminal Tribunal
for the People,” ed. Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations
of the Original French Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/
design_creation.php.
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failed to produce a significant reaction. Cole states, “Gouges addressed her Declaration
to the National Assembly, apparently hoping that it could be enacted into constitutional
law without delay… However, I see no evidence that she converted a single deputy
to her causes.”11 The underwhelming response may not determine the intentions de
Gouges possessed, but her complacency about the Declaration falling flat hints at a lack
of devotion to this cause that she advocated. Cole also comments, “Like it or not, this
lack of response must mean that even if we can agree that the pamphlet does matter now,
politicized compatriots agree that it did not matter then.”12 Following the Declaration of the
Rights of Woman, de Gouges did not publish another significant treatise specifically on
the issue of women’s rights. Although de Gouges could not “force the hand” of the
National Assembly, her poorly received Declaration seemed to demand another response.
Had de Gouges pursued her case of female equality farther to the point of insisting
that the Assembly address the issue as a necessity, it would have signaled her main
objective to be feminism. However, the lack of a strong follow-up begging the Assembly
to stand up and take notice of the opinions de Gouges held concerning women’s rights
denoted a lack of dedication to the proposition.
De Gouges’s opinions of the National Assembly’s leader, along with the time
and reaction of the National Assembly to “The Three Urns,” demonstrated the
feelings the National Assembly and de Gouges held toward one another and provides
insight into her royalism. Olympe de Gouges held ill will toward the leader of the
National Assembly, along with the Jacobians as a whole. In “Prognostic of Maximilien
Robespierre, by an Amphibious Animal,” de Gouges provides her interpretation of
Robespierre telling Robespierre that “your vacillating eyelid expresses, despite yourself,
all the ignominy of your soul and each hair on your head carries a crime.”13 This
negative portrayal of Robespierre no doubt caused dissension between the two and
contributed to the deadly outcome de Gouges eventually faced at her trial. The negative
outlook on Robespierre also indicates her lack of Republican feelings, as the man who
11. Cole and de Gouges, 202-203.
12. Ibid, 203.
13. Olympe de Gouges, “Prognostic of Maximilien Robespierre, by an Amphibious
Animal,” ed. Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations of the
Original French Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/pronostic_
max.php.
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led and epitomized the Republican cause disgusted her. When de Gouges presented
“The Three Urns,” the reaction by the Assembly came both quickly and forcefully.
“The Three Urns” contains a similar message to the early publications of Olympe
de Gouges. In the pamphlet de Gouges pleaded, “All the départements [sic] must be
enjoined to convoke primary assemblies: three urns must be placed on the President of
the assembly’s table, each one labelled with one of the following inscriptions: republican
Government, one and indivisible; federal Government; monarchic Government.”14
De Gouges stressed a belief in choice by the people for the future of France. Had
de Gouges been satisfied with the republican government as she previously claimed,
this presentation of choice would have seemed pointless. Following the creation and
presentation of “The Three Urns,” the National Assembly brought de Gouges to
trial, “charged with having composed a work contrary to the expressed desire of the
entire nation, and directed against whoever might propose a form of government other
than that of a republic, one and indivisible.”15 The National Assembly took notice
of the extensive writings de Gouges penned in favor of the monarchy and reacted
swiftly to “The Three Urns.” Shortly after this, de Gouges faced the guillotine for her
political views in favor of the monarchy. The National Assembly executed de Gouges
not for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman but for the ideas contained within “The
Three Urns” and similar sentiments throughout her writing. Her willingness to face
the consequences of her support for the royalist cause highlights the main point in
her writing: advocating for the monarchy. Although de Gouges presented three forms
of government, the monarchy makes the most sense in the context of the rest of her
writings. The dissension that emanated from her works leaned toward a different power,
specifically the monarchy, when viewed in the context of the rest of her writings. She
passionately defended her lack of faith in the National Assembly and her belief in the
monarchy until her execution in 1793.
Overall, the writings of Olympe de Gouges display the wealth of ideas that
permeated French society during the years of the French Revolution. The focus on
14. Olympe de Gouges, “The Three Urns or the Welfare of the Motherland,” ed.
Clarissa Palmer (2013), in Olympe de Gouges: English Translations of the Original French
Texts, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.olympedegouges.eu/three_urns.php.
15. “Trial of Olympe de Gouges,” in Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity: Exploring the French
Revolution, accessed January 30, 2016, https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/488/.
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Olympe de Gouges as an important figure in the history of feminism and women’s
rights justifies itself when viewing the bold claims that de Gouges uttered. However, the
intent of Olympe de Gouges through her entire collection of works presents a lack of
focus and emphasis on the issue of women’s rights. Rather, Olympe de Gouges boldly
took up the banner of the monarchy and hoped to defend the royalist cause, as shown
by the lack of extensive writing on women’s rights and the relatively large amount of
writing on political issues. These two facts, combined with the time and circumstances
surrounding the death of Olympe de Gouges, reflect her main concern to write about
defending the monarchy and her royalist belief system.
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