Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations
The Graduate School
2013
Revolutionary Marriage: Family, State, and
Natalism from the Ancien Régime to the
Napoleonic Era
Allyce Smith
Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact lib-ir@fsu.edu
THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
REVOLUTIONARY MARRIAGE: FAMILY, STATE, AND NATALISM FROM THE
ANCIEN RÉGIME TO THE NAPOLEONIC ERA
By
ALLYCE SMITH
A Thesis submitted to the
Department of History
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2013
Allyce Smith defended this Thesis on March 28, 2013.
The members of the supervisory committee were:
Rafe Blaufarb
Professor Directing Thesis
Darrin McMahon
Committee Member
Suzanne Sinke
Committee Member
The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and
certifies that the Thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements.
ii
I dedicate this Thesis to my sister, Madison. Your unwavering support and positivity made this
entire process possible.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my committee members for their superior guidance throughout the writing
process. Dr. Blaufarb, thank you for pushing me to become a better writer. Dr. McMahon thank
you for enlightening me on current historiography. Dr. Sinke, thank you for believing in me as
an undergraduate student in your Senior Seminar class.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii
1.
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................1
2.
MARRIAGE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION ........................................................................3
3.
THE INTERNAL DYNAMICS OF MARRIAGE................................................................13
4.
MARRIAGE DURING THE REVOLUTION ......................................................................23
5.
MARRIAGE DURING THE NAPOLEONIC-ERA.............................................................42
6.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THROUGH ART ..................................................................59
7.
CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................75
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................76
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .........................................................................................................82
v
LIST OF FIGURES
1
Jean-Marc Nattier, Madame Marsollier and her Daughter, 1749 .....................................60
2
Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Village Bride, 1721 .................................................................62
3
Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter Julie, 1786 ..............................64
4
Jan Bernard Duvivier, Portrait of the Villiers Family, 1790 .............................................66
5
Marguerite Gérard, The First Steps, C. 1795-1800 ...........................................................68
6
Jacques-Louis David, The Sabine Women Intervene in the Struggle between the Sabini
and the Romans, 1799 ........................................................................................................70
7
Louis Leopold Boilly, The Reading of the Eleventh Bulletin of the Grade Armée, 1807 .72
vi
ABSTRACT
Marriage and family relations underwent a dynamic change during the French
Revolution. However, seeds of change can be detected in eighteenth century marital trends.
Changing ideals were not only for the elite of French society but permeated through the lower
rungs of the third estate. Although it is debatable as to where these changes began, it is
undeniable that they in fact occurred. Resistance to these changes from family, state, and church
created a power struggle for the control of marriage. In the end, this power struggle reflected the
tumultuous regime changes of the French Revolution. These changing cultural ideals are not
only reflected in legislative changes, but in contemporary conceptions of childhood and
emotional attachment. The very heart of this change lays within a fundamental attitude shift
which can be detected around 1750 and full matured in the early nineteenth century.
Families continued to influence marital choice throughout the French Revolution.
However, an emphasis on personal choice became more common. As families examined couples
of the past they sought to create a new order where companionship between husband and wife
took on a new importance. The State encouraged marriage as a source of stability for France. In
addition, marriage led to the creation of legitimate citizens. Natalism was not only a state
supported policy, but encouraged by philosophers of the day. This growing emphasis on children
further developed the concept of childhood and motherhood. The family unit as a whole took on
unprecedented importance.
vii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The French Revolution represented a shift in values. New definitions of marriage and
family emerged. These changes are found within legislation, literature, and art of the period. The
change was real and evident in all classes. Society felt that the Revolution could not move
forward unless the family evolved as well. As a result, marriage and family came to the forefront
of politics during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Revolutionaries saw marriage and family as the medium through which change could be
perpetuated. As a result, the family became a political instrument of the revolution. Not only was
the family moved to the forefront of political debates and propaganda but it became a secular
institution as well. Chapter two and three explore marriage and family during the ancien régime.
The power struggle of the ancien régime between church and state for control over marriage
shaped legislation and attitudes before the Revolution. Chapter four explains marriage during the
Revolution. Eventually, the revolutionary government asserted its authority by taking marriage
out of the hands of the Catholic Church. This shift in management was never reversed, even after
the Bourbon restoration in the nineteenth century. Once marriage and family was firmly within
the government's grasp, revolutionaries re-imagined marriage as a partnership. Both husband and
wife shared responsibilities. The revolutionary couple was transformed into a strong unit which
would strengthen France. Overall the family became more egalitarian. Siblings would now
partake in equal inheritance from their parents. Distinctions of gender in this case were set aside
giving brothers and sisters equal status. Society began to emphasize marriage as a emotionally
fulfilling. Starting in the mid eighteenth century there was a detectable attitude shift towards and
love and companionship between spouses. The very words society used to characterize marriage
changed. Revolutionaries seized the opportunity to solidify the idea of love. Images and rhetoric
emphasized the importance of emotional fulfillment when choosing a spouse. In the end,
revolutionary society believed that love could be a uniting and strengthening factor in their new
social order. These changes continued into the early nineteenth century.
Chapter five explains how Napoleon continued to shape and support revolutionary
changes in marriage and family. Contrary to popular depictions, he did in fact provide a sense of
continuity from the 1790s. Napoleon and his government saw the value of families as political
1
instruments. He supported the government's continuing legislative changes through the family.
Napoleon ensured that the importance of family life continued to be emphasized to the public. In
addition, he supported the Revolution's egalitarian model of family by deliberately giving all
offspring of a legitimate union the right to equal inheritance. Emotional fulfillment continued to
be encouraged within marriage. Companionship was still an ideal of French society under
Napoleon. Certain types of feeling such as desire and love may have been de-emphasized, but
the emphasis was still a stark contrast with early eighteenth century France. Napoleon also
reinforced marriage as a secular institution. Despite the Concordat with Rome, the government
still held ultimate authority in marital matters. A civil ceremony was the only legitimizing
manner of contracting a marriage for men and women. A religious ceremony was only a matter
of tradition.
Despite some differences in the implementation of change, revolutionary values towards
the family continued to develop well into the nineteenth century. The French Revolution
undoubtedly built upon new attitudes which appeared during the mid eighteenth century.
However it was not until 1789 that these changes could be fully realized. Revolutionary leaders
and citizens recognized that the family unit was a powerful aspect of cultural and legislative
change. Chapter six illustrates how artwork during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
represents the pervasiveness of these changes within all classes.
2
CHAPTER TWO
MARRIAGE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION
Introduction
Marriage during the ancien régime was an important and complex institution. It was still
evolving as the regime came to a close at the end of the eighteenth century. Ideals such as
companionship, motherhood, and affection which were abstract to sixteenth century people, took
on a very real importance to their late seventeenth and eighteenth century descendants. In
addition, the cultural meanings of child-bearing and parenting were also changing. On the eve of
the French Revolution, marriage and family were already undergoing major transformation.
There is an ongoing debate as to where these new ideals of marriage and family
originated. According to the traditional argument laid out by historians such as Margaret
Darrow1 and Jean-Louis Flandrin, 2 noble and wealthy families were inspired by the middle and
lower classes, which supposedly had closer knit families. Because these families did not have the
financial means to hire a governess and nanny, parents raised and educated their children
themselves. In addition, these families did not preoccupy themselves with trends of fashion and
décor. As a result, lower class families were not subject to the vices of the elite and were closer
to Rousseau's ideal of nature without the constraints of haute society. Historians such as Stephen
Wilson3 and Sarah Maza4 challenge this assumption. Both historians assert that this new
parental ideal was only a myth which was actually first created by the elite and not the lower
class.
Wherever change originated, it is clear that marriage was changing at all levels of society.
New concepts of marriage and family were being embraced by all classes from noble socialites
to humble shopkeepers. These changes were not only evident in legislation but in art as well.
1
Margaret Darrow, "French Noblewomen and the New Domesticity, 1750-1850," Feminist Studies Vol. 5 No. 1
(Spring, 1979)
2
Jean-Louis Flandrin, Families in Former times: Kinship, Household, and Sexuality (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1979)
3
Stephen Wilson, "The Myth of Motherhood a Myth: The Historical View of European Child-Rearing," Social
History, Vol. 9 No. 2 (May, 1984)
4
Sara Maza, "Luxury, Morality, and Social Change: Why There Was No Middle-Class Consciousness in
Prerevolutionary France," The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 69. No. 2 (June 1997)
3
However, to first understand these changes it is necessary to explain what marriage and family
traditionally meant for ancien régime society.
Why Did People Marry?
There were four main reasons why people married during the ancien régime. First, the
perpetuation of a family line required that sons and daughters married. Marriage permitted the
transfer of wealth and titles from generation to generation. Second, marriage was a stateapproved method for stabilizing society and increasing the population. Third, marriage was a
sacrament of the church and was therefore encouraged by the Pope and his ecclesiastical
authorities. Fourth, individuals married for love and companionship. These personal desires often
conflicted with the needs of family, state, and church.
For families, marriage provided the means to create legitimate heirs to perpetuate family
lineage, land, and wealth. In addition, noble titles and offices could not be transferred without
legitimate children. The aristocratic elite laid their hopes upon their children for power and
notoriety within the royal court. At the very least, an alliance could mean movement up the
social ladder. At the lower levels of society, children gave added purpose to marriage and acted
as economic insurance for their parents. Children could help perform tasks and aid in the overall
success of a family business or farm. Children provided cheap labor upon which the family's
viability rested.
One of the key ways in which subjects of all classes transferred wealth was through the
dowry system. The dowry system allowed for the transfer of wealth from parent to child during
marriage. Dowries also functioned as bargaining tools with which an alliance could be
contracted. Dowries can be defined as legally-protected wealth which a woman brought with her
into a marriage. Dowries were not required, but were customary among those who had the means
to provide one. Dowries were meant to financially cover the costs of marriage, whether in the
form of property, goods, or money. They made a newlywed couple's future more secure. A
financially successful couple meant a boost in the family's reputation. It could also help other
family members appear more attractive to potential suitors. However, an economically
unsuccessful marriage could reduce a family's reputation and thereby inhibit the ability of
younger siblings to make strong matches. Because the financial and social well-being of a family
rested upon marriage alliances, a child who was unwilling to marry represented a weak link in
the family order. As such, the family's right to choose a marriage partner was not "...an arbitrary
4
privilege; it was a burdensome, but logical responsibility."5 Families were not inclined to allow
their children to choose spouses freely and without advice. Marriage was a grave decision which
affected all family members.
It could also be a matter of state. For the state, marriage provided social stability and
population growth. It is important to note that pro-natalism was officially encouraged by the
crown.6 There was a strong belief among men of science and philosophers such as Montesquieu
and the Comte de Buffon that the population of France was rapidly declining. This was a
problem for the state because, it was thought, only a populous kingdom could be truly powerful.
As a result, literature called for a growth in birth rate and created an aura of nostalgia for the
supposedly larger families of former times.7
Lack of offspring was noted at all levels of society. The decline was real. From a level of
40 births per 1000 persons at the mid eighteenth century, the birth rate dropped continuously and
then more abruptly between 1795-99 to just 33 births per 1000 in 1800-1804.8 Several factors
must be taken into account including warfare and the Revolution. However the major reason was
birth control practices. It was not uncommon for a noble woman to give birth only once or twice
in her lifetime as compared to her noble ancestor of the seventeenth century who gave birth an
average of ten times.9 In addition, peasants and the middle class were drastically cutting the
number of children they had. The government feared that this drop in birthrate would harm the
French economy and weaken its strength in wartime. However, if the government could change
the public’s attitude towards fertility, these issues could be avoided. It was morally important to
the government that a rise in birthrate derived from legitimate marriage. It was only through a
legally sanctioned marriage that a child could be deemed legitimate and carry on a family’s
reputation and wealth. However, it was impossible for the government to ensure that these
legitimate unions were carried out in all regions of France. As a result, it fell to communities to
5
Flandrin, Families in Former Times, 132.
Pro-natalism is an anachronistic term which did not appear until the 19th century however historians of 18th
century France such as Leslie Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime: Pronatalism and the Politics of Reproduction in
Early Modern France (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), and Carol Blum, Strength in Numbers: Population,
Reproduction and Power in Eighteenth Century France, (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002),
regularly use this term to characterize state policy regulating population growth.
7
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime, 163.
8
Etienne Van de Walle, "Motivations and Technology in the Decline of French Fertility," in Family and Sexuality in
French History, ed. André Burguière, Robert Wheaton , and Tamara K. Hareven. (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1980), 135.
9
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime,159.
6
5
make sure that couples and families acted in accordance with moral expectations. A couple who
failed to live by these expectations not only disgraced themselves, but represented a danger to
society.
Within a community, couples who did not follow accepted moral standards faced
repercussions not only from the state but at the grassroots level. A prime example of community
concern to maintain a stable family and society can be observed in the case of couples who
participated in pre-marital relations. If a couple dragged their courtship out for several months,
the village may have begun to suspect them of sexual intercourse before marriage. In an effort to
prevent dishonor to family and community, villagers strove to "prevent sin and restore moral
order to the community by...compelling a guilty couple to marry."10 Couples who bore children
outside of wedlock threatened to disrupt the order of society. Not only was such a couple
sinning, but they were bypassing the legal responsibilities which compelled them to care for their
offspring and provide for an inheritance. Such a lack of stability risked creating a chaotic
community.
An example of the community’s role in enforcing moral standards can be seen in the
enforcement mechanisms of a 1556 royal edict on pregnancy. The edict required all women to
publically announce their pregnancy in order to avoid accusations of infanticide. Once this
knowledge was made public, a charivari or other public shaming mechanism was frequently used
to pressure the unmarried couple to wed. If a public shaming did not force a couple to marry,
then a woman could use other legal means to obtain financial support. A woman could sue for
damages if a man impregnated her and then refused marriage. The financial support she could
win in court would serve as compensation for damage to her reputation and make up for lost
marital prospects. However, women more commonly sued for sufficient coverage of lying in
costs and subsequent child support, to cover the costs of nourishment and education.11
Because there were no scientific tests to support a mother's claim of paternity, several
regions required that a woman name the father of her child during labor pains, for society
thought that a woman in labor could not tell a lie. Yet in regions such as Burgundy, a woman's
word was sufficient to pursue a man for financial support. Jeremy Hayhoe found in his extensive
10
Margaret Darrow, "Popular Concepts of Marital Choice in Eighteenth Century France," Journal of Social History,
Vol. 19 No. 2 (Winter 1985) :264.
11
J.L Flandrin “Repression and Change in the Sexual Life of Young People in Medieval and Early Modern Times,”
in Family and Sexuality in French History, 38.
6
study of illegitimacy that courts typically ruled in favor of women. In addition, Hayhoe found
that there were plenty of village witnesses in each case willing to testify to the fact that the
alleged mother and father were known to be a couple and likely planned on marriage if they had
not already promised an alliance publically. One may speculate that the reason for such faith in
the word of a woman was due to the inherent trouble an unwed mother and her offspring could
bring to a community. As previously mentioned, a community's welfare was inextricably tied up
with the stability of the various families who comprised it. As a result, a woman who was unable
to support herself and feed her child would only burden her relatives and the entire village.
However, Hayhoe points out that once the sentence was passed, it became difficult to determine
whether or not these women ever received their dues.12
It is not always clear why couples did not immediately marry, for marriage was in fact a
sacrament of the Catholic religion. As a result, the Church had just as much of a stake in
marriage as the family, state, and local community. For the Church, marriage was a religious
duty and the only acceptable way in which a couple could consummate their union. By
consummating one's relationship with the blessing of the Church, couples could better resist
temptation. Marriage was indissoluble and therefore a lifetime commitment which could not be
broken before God. Indeed, every aspect of marriage was governed by the Catholic Church, and
a marriage could not be deemed valid unless it complied with the church's teachings. Marriage
law was synonymous with cannon law. These unions represented the strong hold of the Catholic
faith over France. Although the Gallican church did maintain a sense of autonomy from Rome,
it was still subject to the Pope and thus connected to a vast Catholic empire. In the end, marriage
perpetuated this grip by producing children who would in turn marry other Catholics.
Marriage was not always governed by the desires of church. Individuals often married for
personal desires. Much like today, love and companionship were attractive reasons to unite
oneself with a husband or wife. However, the person one wanted to marry did not always match
the desires of family and state. As a result, these couples looked to the Church to sanctify their
union. These unions, which were performed without parental consent, became known as
clandestine marriage. Clandestine marriage represented the Church's unique authority over moral
matters and to define what valid marriage was. These marriages were part of a larger debate
12
Jeremy Hayhoe, "Illegitimacy, Inter-Generational Conflict and Legal Practice in Eighteenth-Century Northern
Burgundy," Journal of Social History, Vol. 38 No. 3 (Spring 2005): 675-678.
7
between church and state which raged throughout the ancien régime. If the Church claimed
ultimate authority in marriage, did this not challenge the state's authority?
Throughout the eighteenth century there was thus a struggle between church and state to
control marriage. Because the church viewed marriage as a holy sacrament, priests were willing
to marry two consenting adults. These marriages, which ignored the prerogative of their family
and state, often resulted in clandestine marriage. Both the Church and State sought to control
how marriages took place. The king wanted ultimate authority over marriage. This control over
unions allowed the king to manage marriage alliances and encourage legitimate offspring for the
good of the nation. The Catholic Church wanted to maintain power within its hands, believing
that marriage was ultimately God's affair.
Although marriage was a source of financial and societal stability, it could also be a
source of instability. To combat that, the State condemned clandestine marriage. Clandestine
marriage as defined by the 1556 royal ordinance would not be recognized.13 By the eighteenth
century, clandestine marriage was most common among the lower classes, but the ordnance also
served to protect noble inheritance from misalliance. A key aspect of the 1556 ordinance stated
that a marriage entered into without the consent of parents was deemed invalid.14 Although
Roman law already enforced this notion, the age of majority was increased to 30 for men and 25
for women. If a son or daughter did not obtain parental consent, the child could be disinherited,
thereby upsetting the plan of succession. Thus, parental consent acted as a legal form of ensuring
stability within a community. A disinherited child would create a community member with no
money, land, or honor to offer his or her surrounding environment. In addition, any offspring a
couple produced from the illegitimate alliance would lack inheritance rights. By requiring
parental consent, the ordinance placed power to regulate social stability in the father's hands. The
patriarch could theoretically ensure that his children were properly matched, thereby creating a
thriving couple who would support the success of their community.
13
Henri II, "Edit du Roi Sur Les Mariages Clandestins Contractez par les enfants de Famille, Sans le Vouloir et
Contentement de leurs Père et Mère"(1556). Henri II decreed this ordinance in response to his failed attempt to
marry one of his nobles to an illegitimate daughter. This alliance would have united two estates and giving his
illegitimate daughter security and an enhanced reputation. However, the King’s plan was thwarted when he found
out that the noble was in love with another woman and had already promised to marry her in secret. At the time such
a betrothal was validated by the Catholic Church and impeded Henri’s plans. As a result, the edict was created to
protect his future plans and those of other patriarchs.
14
Henri II, "Edit du Roi Sur Les Mariages Clandestins"(1556).
8
Throughout the ancien régime, family, state, community, and church continued to guide
marital alliances in an effort to create a stable and strong society. However, despite the King’s
edict on clandestine marriage, partners still sought love and companionship. These ideals became
more common during the eighteenth century and took on a new level of importance.
Changing Notions of Marriage After 1750
By the mid eighteenth century change was clearly in the air, and one of the most
important manifestations of this was the growing emphasis on companionate marriage. Royal
and familial attempts to control marriage encountered growing resistance as cultural notions of
marriage began to change. Ideals of love and companionship began to take on greater
importance. Emphasis on companionate marriage was not the only concept changing: there was
also a growing need for more offspring according to pro-natalist philosophers such as Rousseau
and Montesquieu.
Throughout the ancien régime, it was generally felt that parties entering into marriage
should have at the very least a sense of inclination towards one another. The eighteenth century
ideal of happiness developed to include a marriage based upon free choice between individuals
who were free to follow their affections.15 These ideals certainly grew out of an Enlightenment
discourse.16 Success and happiness could only occur when a husband and wife respected each
other and performed their assigned gender roles. A husband should have confidence in his wife
to perform her duties and bend to his will; a break in a husband's trust could only result in
disharmony.17 A woman for her part must accept the legitimacy of her husband's power, for the
happiness of their marriage relied upon her ability to obey.18 Dena Goodman argues that married
women were staking their claim in the modern world not through the freedom to follow their
hearts "...but the reasoning they used to sort through the possible paths to happiness through
marriage with which life presented them."19
15
Dena Goodman, Becoming a Woman in the Age of Letters (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009), 275.
For a thorough examination of the history of Happiness, see Darrin McMahon Happiness: A History (New York:
Grove Press, 2006)
17
Clare Crowston, "Family Affairs: Wives, Credit, Consumption, and the Law in Old Regime France" In Family,
Gender, and Law in Early Modern France, ed. Suzanne Desan and Jeffrey Merrick (University Park: Pennsylvania
State University Press, 2009) , 66.
18
Dena Goodman "Marriage Choice and Marital Success: Reasoning about Marriage, Love, and Happiness," in
Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France, 49.
19
Goodman, Becoming a Woman in the Age of Letters, 277.
16
9
There was a large ongoing debate occurring well before the Revolution regarding the
place of love within marriage. Arranged marriages did not necessarily mean an unhappy couple,
and the idea of happiness and conjugal love varied greatly from modern thought.20 Although
daughters and sons may not have been permitted to choose their partner independently, they
rarely married complete strangers. Most people paired with members of their same class and
village, people with whom they were familiar with or at least knew of. For example, Manon
Philipon, the future Madame Roland, had prior connections with her potential marriage partners.
Very few of her suitors were complete strangers, and even then they were friends of relatives. In
addition, her suitors typically came from the mercantile class, colleagues of her father who was a
master engraver in Paris. Interestingly, Manon believed that a husband from the mercantile class
would be someone with “whom I [Manon] cannot converse, and who is not able to think my
thoughts, and share my sentiments."21 Manon wanted an educated gentleman who could assist in
the education of their future children. After several years she succeeded in her goal much to the
chagrin of her father.
Several French observers visiting England in the 1770s noted the higher level of input
allowed daughters in their choice of future husband. Such feminine audacity was noted;
Rochefoucauld remarked that it was unheard of in France. During the 1770s and 1780s a type of
"Anglomania" hit France in which French society became obsessed with all things English.
Flandrin argues that perhaps this participation of English daughters in match making influenced
late eighteenth century practice in France.22
Although the idea of "love" was growing in popularity in the years leading up to the
Revolution, it was still viewed with skepticism by society. There was no doubt that love was a
very real feeling which should be experienced by everyone. However, passionate love towards a
spouse was widely believed to create unhappiness, not only for the couple but for society in
general. For example, it was argued by contemporaries that a wife who passionately loved her
husband would forget her duties as a mother and neglect her children, thus creating hardship for
the community. The same was argued of men who would neglect their jobs and reduce the
chances of economic survival for their dependents. Passionate love also had the added issue of
20
Goodman, "Marriage Choice and Marital Success," 28.
Madame Roland, The Private Memoirs of Madame Roland edited by Edward Gilpin Johnson (Chicago: A.C.
McClurg& Co. 1901) 226.
22
Flandrin, Families in Former Times, 168.
21
10
confusing sexual roles. Sexual relations as ordained by the church should be participated in with
the intent of procreation. Passion led to lust which was a sin of excess and carnal impurity. A
godly sort of love was encouraged between husband and wife, one that did not necessarily ignite
passion but friendship and respect. Such marital love was described as a reflection of the
reciprocal relationship between God and the people, a harmonious alliance.23 In response to
Manon’s adolescent orations about the necessity of romantic love, her mother gently reminded
her “Happiness, my child, is not so often composed of this perfection of relations and
congeniality as you may imagine: if it depended upon nothing else, there would little of it be
found in most of our matches."24
The growing emphasis on love and companionship is illustrated within dispensation
records. When an affianced couple was too closely related by blood, they were forced to ask for
a dispensation from their local Catholic official. As a matter of formality, they were asked why
they could find no other person suitable for marriage. Their recorded answers suggest the
increasing emphasis on love. Margaret Darrow collected these sources from the city of
Montauban located in southwestern France. Although several of the answers provided by the
engaged couples revolved around pre-marital sex and community pressure, the emphasis on
affection is noticeable. Before 1770 only 9% of couples mentioned affection or inclination
towards one another. However, after 1770 41% of couples cited affection or mutual inclination
as a reason why they could not marry anyone else. These statements span the entirety of French
society, from peasants to nobility. Although the word "love" was not used in these dispositions,
the terms “reciprocal inclination" or a "marked attachment" were emotionally charged and
suggest a change in popular thought regarding marriage. This is not to say that couples suddenly
forgot the economic interests which accompanied a suitable marriage choice. Indeed there are
still several mentions of economic considerations to a marriage but their frequent wish to be
heureux/se supports the argument that happiness and companionship were becoming important
factors in marriage choice.25
Overall, the reasons for marriage were undergoing fundamental change at all levels of
society during the eighteenth century. First, marriage provided social and moral stability for
communities. It also created economic stability. Marriage allowed for the lawful transfer of
23
Flandrin, Families in former Times, 161-168.
Roland, The Private Memoirs of Madame Roland, 252-253.
25
Darrow, "Popular Concepts of Marital Choice in Eighteenth Century France," 266-267.
24
11
property and wealth within family lines. Second, marriage could provide a sense of happiness
and companionship which was unavailable to unmarried subjects. Finally, marriage produced
legitimate children who would give a sense of purpose to their parents' lives and increase the
population of France.
Conclusion
Marriage represented a cornerstone of ancien régime society. Through marriage people
could contract alliances, produce legitimate children and find fulfillment. Not only was marriage
a Catholic sacrament but it represented a greater responsibility to the Kingdom of France.
Through marriage, property and alliances would grow thereby economically strengthening the
ancien régime. In addition, children produced from these unions contributed to population
growth. The stability of society rested upon the notion of marriage. Not only would a celibate
lifestyle lead to ostracism, but men and women would be unable to fulfill their biological and
societal roles as wife and husband or mother and father. However several couples were induced
to marry for personal reasons which did not concern family, state, or church. Love and
companionship grew in importance throughout the eighteenth century
12
CHAPTER THREE
THE INTERNAL DYNAMICS OF MARRIAGE
Introduction
Marriage was not simply a union of two individuals but the creation of an entirely new
family within society. The family, state, and church not only influenced one's decisions to marry,
but also influenced the internal dynamics of family relationships. Husbands held ultimate power
over family members while wives provided moral guidance to their offspring. Ultimately, as the
eighteenth century progressed, these dynamics continued to develop with an emphasis on
motherhood, childhood, and patriarchal power.
Motherhood
The pro-natalist policy was reinforced by a growing emphasis on the fulfillment which
childbearing and rearing gave women within marriage.26 However, it was not until the later
decades of the eighteenth century that motherhood was viewed through the lens of the soft
loving images of Marguerite Gérard. Until then, motherhood did not carry the nurturing and
loving connotations which manuals and Rousseau encouraged in the later eighteenth century. For
most of the eighteenth century, motherhood was a duty to one's husband, society, and religion.
Women who did not have children were viewed as unproductive members of society. If a
woman did not show any desire to become a mother, she was believed to be avoiding her main
responsibility within life and even her national duty to bear children.27 Contemporaries believed
that motherhood was essential to female satisfaction and happiness. In addition, pregnancy and
child rearing were seen as necessary to distract women from the temptations of leisurely society
and female vanity. Popular literature of the time such as Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons
Dangereuses, used examples of the elite to illustrate the vices of womanhood which would
prevail should a mother neglect her maternal destiny. Frequently upper class daughters were sent
to convents to complete their education. Contemporaries claimed that "convent education was a
form of conspicuous consumption that served mostly to free elite wives from their domestic
responsibilities to care for and educate their children, activities which were their 'proper' and
26
27
Goodman, Becoming a Woman in the Age of Letters, 275.
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime, 66.
13
'natural concerns."28A woman who did not take an interest in her child's personal and educational
well being was failing her natural duty. Trends in birth rate signify that women responded to
these attacks on motherhood. We can speculate that ancien régime wives were attempting to
exchange their past vices for the motherhood.
One sign that mothers and fathers were taking these attacks to heart is the dropping birth
rate of France. Contemporaries argued that the drop in birth rate was "the result of parents' greed
and ambition, which made them unwilling to sacrifice their own desires for an easy and
comfortable life in order to raise a large family."29However it appears that the opposite is true;
the dropping birth rate represented a desire to improve each child's quality of life. By limiting
the amount of children a family bore, parents could focus their assets and attention on each child.
Dowries and inheritances could be larger giving their children hope for a better marriage. At the
lower rungs of society, less children could simply mean more food and parental supervision for
each son or daughter. Nevertheless, children were becoming the focus of family life as the
eighteenth century progressed.
The Birth of Childhood
Phillippe Ariès asserts that before the seventeenth century children were viewed as
miniature adults who did not contribute to society. However, by the mid eighteenth century
children became the focal point of an ancien règime marriage. Since the publication of L'enfant
et la famille in 1960, there is a consensus among scholars that childhood took on great
importance within the family during the eighteenth century. As a result, a smaller brood meant
that parents could spend more time and effort upon each daughter or son. Each child was being
valued for their individual qualities. Parents recognized that each child was unique and deserving
of attention.
The traditional stance of scholars is that the high mortality rate of infants during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries reduced parent's willingness to attach themselves
emotionally to their offspring. If a child was expected to die at a young age, then there was no
sense in becoming overly fond of one's son or daughter. Ariès's conclusion that parents were
indifferent to a child's death prior to the eighteenth century is challenged by historians such as
28
29
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime, 57.
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime, 162.
14
Robert Woods30 and Adrian Wilson.31 While Ariès's indifference hypothesis has come under
attack, it is obvious that parents did become more concerned with their children as the centuries
passed. A growing interest in children as evidenced by literature, diaries, and correspondence
grew during the eighteenth century. Even the proliferation of images of childhood is noted after
1750.32 Parents were urged to cherish their children and treat them with delicacy and innocence.
The new belief that a child was able to reason and understand better than previously thought
forced parents to re-think their methods of child rearing.33
Rousseau's Émile published in 1762 represented a key break with the past. Rousseau
called for a "natural" education of children in which they would learn from their impulses and
experience.34 Rousseau also asserted that women should breast feed their infants instead of
sending them out to nurse in the country. Children should also wear loose clothing to allow them
to move freely and develop coordination. These new ideas contrasted greatly with beliefs of the
seventeenth and early eighteenth century in which children were portrayed as simpletons.
Previously, doctors advocated that children be tightly swaddled to inhibit movement and ensure a
straight spine. Lacing stays throughout their childhood would ensure good posture. By the 1780s
however, some of Rousseau's changes were adopted. Children were no longer dressed in
replicas of their parents' clothing, but instead adopted loose frocks. This outfit was worn by both
boys and girls until the age of seven. Children's clothing fabric also changed from the fine silks
and damasks of their parents to washable cotton or linen. These changes signified a parent's
interest in even the most minute aspects of childhood.
As parents sought ways to improve the childhood of their offspring, a new interest in the
relationship between siblings emerged. Egalitarian ideals were not an invention of the revolution,
but were in fact discussed prior to 1789.35 For moralists of the eighteenth century, unequal
inheritance represented an unequal distribution of sentiment amongst offspring.36 As adults
30
Robert Woods, "Did Montaigne Love his Children? Demography and the Hypothesis of Parental Indifference,"
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 33 No. 2 (Winter, 2003)
31
Adrian Wilson, "The Infancy of the History of Childhood: An Appraisal of Philippe Ariès," History and Theory,
Vol. 19 No. 2 (February, 1980)
32
Leslie Reinhardt, "Serious Daughters: Dolls, Dress, and Female Virtue in the Eighteenth Century," American Art.
Vol. 20 No. 2 (Summer 2006): 34.
33
Philippe Ariès, Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. (New York: Random House, 1962) 119.
34
Leslie Reinhardt, "Serious Daughters," 41.
35
Flandrin, Families of Former Times, 74.
36
Phillippe Ariès, Centuries of Childhood, 371.
15
began to accept a child's inherent ability to observe and process information around them, it
became evident that a child could be harmed by any obvious favoritism. Favoritism could cause
discord between brothers and sisters which would only serve to destabilize the family. This
change in practice represented the growing sentimentilization of the family.37 The ideal of sibling
harmony continued to develop throughout the eighteenth century. Lynn Hunt believes that it
became particularly important just before the French Revolution in novels and images where
brothers and sisters band together in peace separately from their parents.38At times, the emphasis
on sibling relationships superseded those of children with their parents.
However despite some progress, pre-revolutionary families did not fully embrace the new
ideals. Some simply could not due to work responsibilities, and others chose not to in favor of
cultivating their courtly careers. Nevertheless, parent and child dynamics underwent change
during the eighteenth century. Motherhood was a valued calling which would lead to happiness
for both mother and child. Children now became a source of interest and concern. Both girls and
boys were viewed as important elements in a family and cherished for their own sake. However,
these changing ideals did not reach full maturity until the French Revolution. Influenced by the
Enlightenment, parenthood was not the only relationship to undergo change. Marriage itself was
coming into a new world of its own.
Marital Customs
Upper class women during the ancien régime typically married in their teenage years.39
When choosing a spouse, love was less of a factor than potential financial and social gains for
the nobility. However, personal preference was acknowledged when there were several possible
matches. Typically the eldest male guardian held the responsibility of finding their female family
members a spouse. For Madame de la Tour du Pin it was her uncle, given power by proxy, who
was to help choose her husband.40 Du Pin's uncle consulted her in the matter and advised her to
choose wisely. Although several different suitors vied for the heiresses' hand, she could not
choose without the permission of her uncle. However no swift decision could be made due to the
37
Wheaton, Family and Sexuality in French History, 5.
Lynn Hunt, The Family Romance of the French Revolution (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992)
53.
39
Flandrin, Families in Former Times, 58.
40
Henriette-Lucy Dillon de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs of Madame de La Tour du Pin (New York: The McCall
Publishing Company, 1971) 44.
38
16
gravity of the situation. Even with Du Pin's independent noble identity and wealth, she would
adopt the social status of her husband.41"For women, unlike men, happiness, social status and
economic success and security could be achieved only through marriage..."42 As a result, it was
imperative that the woman's family sought only men of equal or higher birth.43
Marital customs differed between the North and the South of France. Roughly two thirds
(in the north) followed custom law and the other third (in the south) followed Roman law.
Roman law was derived from Justinian law which regulated the ancient Roman Empire. Roman
law placed a heavy emphasis upon written contracts, unlike custom law which placed an
emphasis upon honor and oath. However, notaries retained an important status throughout both
regions of France.44
Within the South, marriage followed the model of Sine Manue in which the father was
an absolute patriarch within his family regardless of marital alliances.45 Despite marriage,
children were still viewed as members of their father's family, not the one in which they married
into. Eventually a son would start his own nuclear family, but a female's identity would always
be associated with that of her father. This patrilineal identity contrasts with northern custom law
where the authority and identity of a married woman would depend upon her husband instead of
her father. Following the patriarchal model of marriage, the father was not obliged to leave
inheritances to all of his offspring, instead he was entitled to choose one sole universal heir. This
ability to have one heir to inherit the bulk of estates and fortune, if there was any to be had,
ensured that the family fortune would remain intact. By not separating a family's wealth, it had
the chance to grow and remain within the patrilineal line. Although it was customary for him to
provide a smaller inheritance to his other offspring, typically a male child would inherit the
majority of family property and money.46 However, this model of inheritance provided for
41
Suzanne Desan "Making and Breaking Marriage: An Overview of Old Regime Marriage as a Social Practice" in
Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France, 4.
42
Dena Goodman "Marriage Choice and Marital Success: Reasoning about Marriage, Love, and Happiness," in
Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France, 28.
43
Jennifer Heuer, The Family and the Nation: Gender and Citizenship in Revolutionary France, 1789-1830 (Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 2005) 26.
44
Julie Hardwick, The Practice of Patriarchy: Gender and the Politics of Household Authority in Early Modern
France, (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998) 5.
45
Jean-Philippe Agresti, Les Régimes matrimoniaux en provence à la fin de l'ancien régime: Contribution à l'étude
du droit et de la pratique notariale en pays de droit écrit, ( Aix-en-Provence: Presses Universitaires d'Aix-Marseille
2009) 57.
46
Barbara Diefendorf "Women and Property in ancien regime France: Theory and Practice in Dauphine and Paris,"
in Early Modern Conceptions of Property , ed. John Brewer and Susan Staves, (London: Routledge 1996) 174.
17
unique circumstances when the sole heir was a female. In such cases, a woman was able to take
on the role of heiress, leader of her stem family, and become an autonomous individual.
A father retained the prerogative to shape the marriage contract for his daughter. He
could stipulate which goods and property remained separate from his son-in-law or which would
be transferred into common goods. There were three types of property and goods recognized by
marriage contracts in the South. First, there was the dowry, defined as immobilized property. It
is important to note that dowries could exist only within marriage contracts. A dowry helped a
husband pay for marital charges and helped provide a stable life for the couple.47 Providing one's
daughter with a dowry was customary and expected. During the earlier centuries of the old
regime it was considered a grave dishonor and shock if a father did not dower his daughter.
However, there is evidence that some daughters in fact worked to provide their own dowries.48
They often constituted goods such as linens, animals, or simply money. Second, paraphernalia
were separate goods given to a woman in her own name. Paraphernalia constituted personal
property and were subject to her disposal. The third was separate property, or lineage property,
which came under a woman's temporary custody for the duration of her life, but reverted back to
her father's family upon her death.
If a marriage contract was not created, then there would be by default in the South a
separation of goods.49 A contract, however, allowed a father to stipulate which goods would be
separated, which would come under the control of the husband, and which goods would revert
back to the control of the daughter’s father upon her death. According to Roman law, once a
daughter was married, she still remained under the power and control of her father. In the case of
no heirs, designated goods and wealth would revert back to her father's family. This ensured that
family wealth would not be distributed amongst other families. The case was the same if a wife
died. Upon her death, all wealth and goods bestowed upon the couple would revert back to her
father or his designated heir.
Remarkably, if a woman outlived her father and her husband, she would still retain
control over the goods and money which were dowered to her in the marriage contract. In
addition, she was considered an autonomous individual capable of managing her own affairs.
Unlike Northern practice, this allowed a woman to shed the role of a minor and control her own
47
Agresti, Les régimes matrimoniaux en provence à la fin de l'ancien régime, 63.
Agresti, Les Régimes Matrimoniaux en Provence à la fin de l'ancien régime,62-63.
49
Agresti, Les Régimes Matrimoniaux en Provence à la fin de l'ancien régime, 67.
48
18
destiny. For example, she could manage and invest her own property and increase its wealth,
allowing her to make a more advantageous marriage later on.50 In addition, she could choose
who she wanted to inherit it. Perhaps most importantly, within marriage it allowed a woman to
protect her property and goods from an irresponsible spouse.
Two prime examples can be cited which illustrate the unique independence of women in
the South. The notary records of Pierre-Adrien Acarier contain examples of women taking
control of their goods and handling them autonomously. For example, one of Suzanne Sury's
notarized contracts states " The selling of goods freely given to her from the aforementioned
wine storehouse separate from the marriage contract."51A second example from the same notary
regarding Mademoiselle Anne Robry states the same thing.52 Essentially, these married women
were disposing of goods personally owned by them without permission from a husband or father.
These records support the fact that women in the southern provinces under Roman law often
experienced a degree of autonomy unknown under northern customary laws.
75% of Parisian couples created a marriage contract in pre-revolutionary France, and
marriage negotiations grew more important if significant property and money were at stake.53
Paris, like other northern regions of France followed custom law which was derived from local
practices. Unlike the South of France where married women could be the sole proprietors of their
property and goods, northern marriage contracts stipulated a separation between property and
wealth meant for the common support of the household and lineage properties which would
return to the wife if she were widowed.54 Although this disparity between laws appears to put
women subject to northern customs at a disadvantage, this was not always the case. Widows in
both regions exercised a large amount of influence. Although these women did not receive their
full dowries back, they were entitled to 1/3 to 1/2 of their husbands' wealth upon their death to
augment their personal property and ensure the upkeep of their current lifestyles. In some cases,
widows subject to custom law could also claim a lifetime pension from their husbands' lineage.
The wife could still dispose of her lineage property (property legally owned by her birth family
and given into her temporary custody for the duration of her life) as she saw fit.
50
Diefendorf "Women and Property in ancien regime France," 178.
Archives Départmental, 3 E 3211, Notaire Pierre-Adrien Acarier.
52
Archives Départmental, 3 E 3213, Notaire Pierre-Adrien Acarier.
53
Janine Lanza, From Wives to Widows in Early Modern Paris (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Co.,2007) 44.
54
Diefendorf "Women and Property in ancien régime France," 176.
51
19
Unlike their Roman law counterparts, northern women risked losing the common goods
and wealth they brought to the marriage. If a husband mismanaged the dowry, she stood to lose
any profitable claim she may have upon his death. On the other hand, if her husband wisely
invested the common goods, she could finish off her life more comfortably than before. While
Roman law ensured that a wife's dowry was completely safe, it could hinder the growth of a
fortune.
The majority of custom law required non-noble wealth to be distributed in shares, or
légitimes, to children of all sexes with a larger portion reserved for the eldest male. Women
under Custom law would also receive a portion of the lineage upon the death of her parents.
Most of this lineage property was in addition to a woman's dowry which she received upon
marriage unless the marriage contract stipulated that she would make no further claims upon her
father's acquisitions. This contrasts with the Roman law regions where it was commonly
stipulated that a daughter would renounce any further claims to her parent’s property upon
marriage.55 When one takes into account that women still held control over their dowry and
separate property within Roman law, it is easy to understand why a repudiation of further claim
was no great loss. Because a woman could still retain all her goods and wealth separate from her
husband, there was less fear of spousal tampering. For a woman who did not have this safety net,
the potential for disaster was clear.
A prime example of how northern custom law worked is provided by Madame de la Tour
du Pin's marriage contract. Her marriage contract was created under the custom of Paris. At the
time of her marriage, du Pin was the custodian of her deceased mother's Parisian house and a
recipient of 4,000 pounds a year from her mother's personal wealth.56 Her status as a single
woman of noble blood was augmented by the fact that she was the sole heir of both her mother
and father.57 Upon marriage, she also received the luxurious manor of Hautefontaine, which had
been kept within the female lineage for three generations. However, Hautefontaine entered the
marriage as common goods and thus came under the control of her husband.58 To explain the
point further, when Du Pin and her family emigrated to the New York, it was her husband who
was obliged to return in order to claim the property and save it from government confiscation.
55
Diefendorf, "Women and Property in ancien regime France," 173-178.
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 29.
57
Desan "Making and Breaking Marriage," 5.
58
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 312.
56
20
Following Parisian custom law, her marriage contract legally stated that she would maintain
personal ownership of her Parisian house, as well as the yearly income.59 Such provisions were
normal in custom law.
Paternal Power
Despite du Pin's status as a land-owning aristocratic woman, her marriage contract still
stipulated that she must obey the"high and mighty lord, the future husband."60 Wives were
subordinate to their husbands in all aspects of marital life; du Pin herself stated that her
husband's wishes were "law."61 Because divorce did not exist during the ancien régime, the only
path a woman could take to legally separate herself from her husband was the séparation de
biens or the séparation de corps et d'habitation. A séparation de biens (separation of goods) was
typically used in cases of financial ruin to protect family goods from creditors.62 If a woman's
marriage contract did not stipulate a separation of goods, she could petition the court to grant her
a post-contract separation which would give her control of any land and money within her
dowry.63 A séparation de corps et d'habitation (separation of body and residence) was
essentially a legal separation between a couple which still prevented remarriage for both parties
involved.64 The séparation de biens was far more common than séparation de corps et
d'habitation. The number of petitions for the former outnumber the latter four to one in the
seventeenth century.65
Husbands could also exert their power over wives through lettres de cachet. A lettre de
cachet gave husbands the power to incarcerate their wives within convents or place them under
house arrest.66 These usually involved cases of marital infidelity, insanity, or severe
embarrassment. Du Pin's mother-in-law had been sequestered in a convent for numerous years
due to an unnamed misdemeanor, and was only released upon important occasions such as her
59
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 281.
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 60.
61
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 351.
62
Desan "Making and Breaking Marriage" 15.
63
Suzanne Desan, The Family on Trial in Revolutionary France (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004)
32.
64
Desan, The Family on Trail, 33.
65
Hardwick "Between State and Street," 103.
66
André Burguière, "La Révolution Française et la Famille," Histoire, Sciences Sociales, Vol. 46 No. 1 (Jan-Feb
1991): 155.
60
21
son's marriage.67 This legal form of paternal prerogative was not only used against unruly wives
but children as well. If a child disobeyed his or her father, a lettre de cachet and a short stay
within the Bastille could help the child come his or her senses. The famous author PigaultLebrun was imprisoned under a lettre de cachet when he clandestinely married a girl of whom
his father disapproved.68 The relative accessibility of lettre de cachets and lack of evidence
needed to acquire them gave husbands and fathers of all social standing great authority.69
Conclusion
Overall, marriage in the ancien régime put women at a disadvantage. Unless their
marriage contract stipulated a separation of goods, their property and wealth were held within
their husband's hands. Because divorce did not exist, a woman had no way to escape an unhappy
marriage and in many cases, the husband had more success in ridding himself of his spouse.
Séparation de corps et d'habitation were almost always exclusively granted to the husband, and
only he could invoke a lettre de cachet. However, during the Revolution, marriage took a very
different turn as revolutionaries imagined a partnership in which husbands and wives played
more equal roles.
67
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 63.
Hunt, The Family Romance, 172.
69
Burguière, Le mariage et L'amour, 181.
68
22
CHAPTER FOUR
MARRIAGE DURING THE REVOLUTION
Introduction
During the Revolution, wives no longer acted as representations of their husband's wealth
at masques, balls, dinners, and other social events. Marriage shed its purely dynastic function,
and a new ideology emerged which would eventually grow into the cult of domesticity.
Marriage and motherhood became a woman's ultimate duty to France.70 According to the new
ideal, a celebataire was denounced as a woman who openly denied her feminine fate to be a
mother.71 Women who refused to fulfill their destiny as wives of honest French republicans
acquired a reputation as lazy and openly hostile to revolutionary ideals.72 Both men and women
came under scrutiny if they refused to marry. An outgrowth of the pro-natalist movement of the
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, population expansion was the ultimate goal of
revolutionary families. However, a growth in birth rate was no longer the only goal; it was also
important to create the right kind of citizen. Affluent and monarchist citizens were unwanted in
the new regime and were viewed with negativity. The creation of new citizens hinged on proper
education and political affinity. Citizens who valued monarchy, monetary wealth, and celibacy
could only prove detrimental to France. As a result of this new attitude, legislation towards
marriage changed dramatically.
Religion and Marriage
The revolutionary encouragement of marriage extended to nuns and priests. Antireligious fervor grew to an all-time high during the last decade of the eighteenth century. During
the ancien régime, marriage and religion had been legally inseparable. With the onset of
revolution, a rapid push for secularization of that institution, as well as for the suppression of
those Catholic orders thought to discourage it, took shape. The dismantling of the religious
orders allowed the French government to sell off their lands and force the clergy to enter society,
marry, and increase the population.
70
Roderick Phillips "Women and Family Breakdown in Eighteenth-Century France: Rouen 1780-1800," Social
History Vol. 1 no. 2 (May, 1976): 202.
71
Candice Proctor, Women, Equality, and the French Revolution, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1990) 59.
72
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 47.
23
As discussed in previous chapters, anti-celibate literature grew in popularity during the
1780s, and the number of nuns between 1720 and 1780 dropped by a third.73An attitude shift is
evident during the 1790s and can be detected by an increased amount of literature published
against holy orders. Not only was anti-religious fervor growing, fed by the government's call for
reform, but society associated nuns and monks with the idle rich. Male monks enjoyed much
larger salaries than country priests.74 Lazy ecclesiastics were thought to be spending their time
leisurely in monasteries and were often accused of the same vices as their noble counterparts. In
truth, several men who entered holy order did so because they were younger sons who lacked
inheritance. Madame Roland, who had several uncles within the church recalls one in particular,
"He was a man of excellent judgment, who had no badge of his profession but his gown, by
which too he was sufficiently embarrassed. His family had made him a priest, because, of three
sons, one must of necessity enter the church."75 These priests, who had more career options
outside of religious orders than their female counterparts were criticized for shirking fatherhood
and other patriarchal responsibilities. One pamphlet stated that "if France's forty thousand parish
priests were to marry...the new nation would gain five thousand additional births every year."76
Regarding nuns, stories were circulated that they were being held in convents against
their will by greedy abbesses and abusive parents. As a result, the public felt a great deal of
sympathy towards nuns and viewed them as victims of the ancien régime. The general attitude of
society during the Revolution was that a woman's only fulfillment could be found through
marriage and motherhood. However, despite the various stories which permeated the mind of the
public, most nuns chose convent life freely. The life of a nun gave women the chance to explore
womanhood free from "reproductive servitude."77 They could educate themselves without the
judgment of the outside world and educate novices and aristocratic females who boarded at the
convent.
Madame Roland's memoirs provide a key insight into the mindset of one who recognized
the positive aspects of convent life. Roland herself, after boarding at a convent for a year, felt
welcome in religious life and realized she could cultivate her love of knowledge to an extent
73
Barbara Woshinsky, Imagining Women’s Conventual Spaces: The Cloister Disclosed, (Burlington: Ashgate
Publishing Company, 2010 ) 284.
74
Woshinsky, Imagining Women’s Conventual Spaces, 285.
75
Roland, The Private Memoirs, 167-168.
76
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime, 182.
77
Blum, Strength in Numbers, 24.
24
unheard of in secular society. The nuns' kindness and appreciation for education imbued her with
an impulse to take the veil. Although Roland eventually became an active revolutionary, her
zealous attitude and appreciation for female education can be traced to her convent experience.
Madame Roland stated that the idea of a convent education inspired "grand and romantic" ideas
which were "adapted to the disposition of my inspired mind."78 Roland further describes the nuns
as well versed in knowledge of the world, possessing skills beyond the female pastimes of
embroidery.79
To revolutionary society, female religious establishments removed women from
performing a useful role within society. Priests on the other hand represented a drain on France's
economic resources. Authorities believed that after the suppression of religious orders,
ecclesiastics would take advantage of the gift of freedom and seek marriage in order to further
the development of French society.80 Nuns should be indebted to the Revolution for freeing them
from Catholic slavery and excitedly marry republicans. In essence, monks and nuns could now
perform a utilitarian role in society. They would give up their life in the cloisters for that of a
productive citizen. Women would marry and bear children, men would learn a productive trade
and provide for families. The education and discipline they learned in their past life could
enhance their value to the Revolution. However, the Revolution would not stop at the abolition
of nunneries and abbeys, but would take the concept of marriage one step further by legalizing
divorce. Marriage would be entirely placed under the jurisdiction of the state.
Secularizing Marriage
Divorce was legalized for the first time in French history in 1792. 81 Under previous
rules, a spouse had to cite a specific cause before a séparation de corps et d'habitation or
séparation de biens would be granted. With the creation of new legislation, these ancien régime
alternatives were completely destroyed, leaving divorce as the only legal option to end a
marriage. This groundbreaking change was the legal fruition of society’s desire to free men and
women from unhappy and childless marriages in order to pursue another. Divorce was not to
encourage a celibate lifestyle, but instead to increase the number of happy, productive families.
78
Roland, The Private Memoirs,76.
Roland, The Private Memoirs, 82-86.
80
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 63.
81
Desan, The Family On Trial, 24.
79
25
From 1789, the call for divorce legislation became more militant as authors, laymen, and even
clergy called for its legalization. Contrary to some contemporary criticism, divorce was not the
Revolution's attempt to destroy the bonds of matrimony and splinter families. Divorce instead
represented a very real attempt to strengthen marriage and family. The introduction of JosephAlbert Hennet’s influential book Du Divorce illustrates Revolutionary thought regarding the new
family. Divorce would allow couples, previously cemented into an arranged marriage, to
separate and marry another of their choosing. Hennet argued that couples who contracted
matrimony of their own free will would create happy and well-educated children. These children,
born from happily married parents, would produce new generations of citizens imbued with the
same ideals and sense of duty to the patrie. In contrast, Hennet believed that an unhappy couple,
married for dynastic reasons and locked in an indissoluble union would communicate their
misery to their offspring who would poison France.82 Hennet’s book represents the major
argument for divorce during the French Revolution.
By making marriage a civil affair relationships were distanced from the Church.
Marriage, as well as events such as birth and death were taken out of the hands of priests and
placed under the care of elected officials.83 This secularization of marriage represented the
growing belief that marriage was a civil contract between two individuals. This emphasis on
individualism gave both men and women more liberty to choose a spouse of their own liking and
theoretically reduced the influence of parents (although it is impossible that parental guidance
was completely ignored). In addition, by giving women more of a say in who they could marry,
society was implying a greater confidence in a woman's ability to think rationally. Equality,
albeit imperfect, was to pervade revolutionary marriage customs. In addition, the government
encouraged wealthy women to choose new spouses from among the lower classes.84 The
government, which legally abolished the nobility in 1790, hoped to spread the wealth of divorced
émigrés throughout the nation in order to propagate equality.85 Such was the case for Madame de
Fontenay who sought a divorce and eventually married the less wealthy Monsieur
82
Joseph-Albert Hennet, Du Divorce, (France, 1789) 1-6.
Roderick Phillips, Family Breakdown in Late Eighteenth-Century France: Divorces in Rouen, 1792-1803,
(Gloucestershire: Clarendon Press, 1980) 13.
84
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 47.
85
"Decree Abolishing Hereditary Nobility and Titles, 19 June 1790" in A Documentary Survey of the French
Revolution ed. John Stewart (New York: Macmillan, 1951) 142–43.
83
26
Tallien.86Alimony could now also be demanded from both men and women, forcing husbands
and wives to think twice before filing for divorce. Such cases were not limited to wives; poor
husbands often sought financial support from their wealthy spouses.87 In addition custody could
be sought by the mother as well. A citizen could no longer assume that the court would
automatically rule in favor of the husband.
Both men and women were able to file for divorce equally. As a result, men had to curb
their violence towards their wives. If a man was too violent towards his wife and children, a
woman could file for divorce and receive alimony. Thus, divorce provided some protection for
women and forced men to treat their wives with more respect. Most innovative was a woman’s
ability to file for divorce based upon the infidelity of her husband.88 Before divorce legislation
was enacted, a double standard of sexuality was legally in place. Men could send their wives
away for adultery while they were free to indulge in sexual escapades. Now the tables were
turned.
Cases involving adultery, spousal violence, emigration, and desertion required a family
tribunal to act as a mediator. These tribunals were designed so that family members and friends
could act as witnesses for each marital party. No magistrate was required to be present, and the
members took control of their own records, only turning them in to the government once the
procedure was finished. These tribunals were meant to lessen government intrusion into family
life and allow communities to continue their practice of regulation. However, these tribunals
were much more effective in theory than in practice. Much like modern legal cases where
property and children are at stake, the two parties found plenty of loopholes to exploit. At times,
family members were cited as sick or unable to complete the journey, thereby allowing them to
have “friends” who were also lawyers act as members of the tribunal. Their excellent counsel
and previous experience undoubtedly turned the case in their favor. Interestingly, Roderick
Phillips found in his extensive study of divorce in Rouen that women admitted only family
members in 63% of the cases.89 One may conjecture that men were more successful at appointing
friends familiar with the law.
86
De La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 307.
Desan, The Family on Trial, 98.
88
Desan, The Family On Trial, 115.
89
Phillips, Family Breakdown, 18-26.
87
27
Interestingly, the law allowed spouses to separate based solely upon reasons of
incompatibility or mutual consent.90 This allowed men and women to bypass the family tribunals
in favor of a quieter divorce proceeding. However, divorce based upon these two reasons was
time consuming and required a small meeting of family members, called assemblies, who did
their best to dissuade the couple from separating. The assembly was forced to come together at
least six times before a divorce could be finalized, and the procedure was twice as long if the
couple had minor children.91 Unlike the tribunals, these meetings were held within official court
houses and served as a form of marriage counseling. The assemblies also allowed debates over
custody, property, etc. 92
With the legalization of divorce came the hope of remarriage.93 Debates before and
during the Revolution supported the notion that a childless marriage whether due to natural
causes or choice was a pointless union. Particularly in relation to the population debates of the
ancien régime, reproduction was of utmost importance. Foremost in the minds of revolutionary
citizens was the fact that more children meant greater human wealth.94 Children brought up in
the wake of Revolution would form the backbone of a growing French republic. More children
also meant a greater number of soldiers to fight for France. Third, unhappy marriages could only
produce unhappy citizens who were unable to find fulfillment within their everyday lives.
However, there were obstacles placed to ensure that divorce could not be used as a tool
for men and women to replace their spouses with younger and more attractive prospects.95 In
cases where a marital offense took place, both a husband and wife were legally required to wait a
year before another marriage could be contracted. This rule did not apply to women applying for
divorce from a husband based upon desertion of five years or more, since the divorcing couple
were presumably not living with each other. Despite the leaps forward taken by revolutionary
leaders, it was only women who were required to wait a year before remarriage in cases of
mutual consent or incompatibility. The limits of equality were stretched to the edge regarding
men and women; society was not ready to give both sexes completely identical rights.
90
Desan, The Family On Trial, 112.
Phillips, Family Breakdown, 35-36
92
Desan, The Family on Trial, 98.
93
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 63.
94
Tuttle, Conceiving the Old Regime, 20.
95
Phillips, Family Breakdown,80.
91
28
For the nobility, divorce took on a grave importance. The "civil death" of émigrés
stripped expatriates of their citizenship, property, and wealth until they were reinstated as
citizens in 1795.96 Such measures were extreme and left the wives remaining in France to face
the threat of the guillotine. One way for wives to preserve their fortune was to divorce their
husbands. This signified their decision to side with the French republic.97 Du Pin recalls running
into Madame de Fontenay in Bordeaux, who had divorced her husband in 1793 in order to save
her fortune from confiscation.98 With her husband supporting royalist causes and living abroad,
the government could have declared her husband legally dead and claimed any property he had
in France. By divorcing her husband, she became an émigré widow and took over their collective
wealth, thereby preserving it.
Divorce was arguably the most important move by the revolutionary government to
secularize marriage. By allowing divorce, French society broke with the sacred tradition of the
Catholic church which did not recognize the dissolubility of marriage. However, legislators were
not content to end legislative changes with divorce. Sibling equality, which was touched upon by
ancien régime literature came to the forefront as society looked to reorganize inheritance laws.
Equality within the Family
Inheritance laws in ancien régime France were different in each region, yet the abolition
of primogeniture in 1790 and the implementation of equal inheritance in 1791 created a new set
of standard rules which would overturn centuries of custom.99 Parents were forced to recognize
their daughters' and younger sons' legitimate claims. In addition, if the father recognized any
illegitimate children, he was forced to provide an inheritance for them as well. The repercussions
of this law not only disrupted traditional family patterns, but were a legal manifestation of
revolutionary values regarding family and women.
By legally forcing parents to give their daughters an inheritance equal to that of their
brothers, the Revolution was making a strong stand in favor of women. Although this action was
arguably an intrusion into private life by usurping parental prerogative, it represented a very real
break with the ancien régime. Women, who were previously viewed as property themselves and
96
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 281.
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 41.
98
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 196.
99
Suzanne Desan, “’War Between Brothers and Sisters:’ Inheritance Law and Gender Politics in Revolutionary
France,” French Historical Studies, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Autumn, 1997): 598.
97
29
pawns in family marriage plots, now legally equaled their brothers. This law symbolized the new
value France placed upon citoyennes. By recognizing the fact that daughters too needed wealth
and property through which they could establish themselves implied that the government
recognized a woman's rights. Although it was not unheard of in some regions of France for a
woman to hold property in her own right, the fact that it was forced upon regions such as
Normandy, where such a practice was foreign, illuminates revolutionary progress towards gender
equality.100 Women did not yet have full rights, but they were legally recognized as functional
members of society.
The most striking aspect of the equal inheritance law is that it was made retroactive to
1789, thereby disrupting contracted marriages which were based upon previous dowry
customs.101 This clause, although meant to undo past injustice, did create strife amongst
husbands, wives, and siblings. For husbands, this meant that property and wealth which they
used to support their wives and children was now reduced, sometimes quite significantly. Not
only did this law have an immediate impact on dependents, but also on the very basis on which
marital alliances had been formed. Although affection was a positive component of marriage, it
was not the main purpose; instead, economic reasons took precedence. A husband who
experienced a rapid and shocking loss in wealth would also lose community status either through
reputation or an inability to support his family's lifestyle. In addition, the woman's status would
now be reduced as well, which would likely impact future marriage prospects for her family
members. Although the Revolution sought to abolish these types of marriages, economy and
reputation could not be swept away overnight.
The retroactive inheritance law also served to create friction between brothers and sisters,
as they took their cases to court seeking equal inheritance from their parents and from their older
brothers. Suzanne Desan studied the court cases between siblings in Normandy in detail and
found that 60% of all court cases from 1791 to 1796 dealt exclusively with inheritance among
family members.102 Notably women nationwide were leading these cases on their own behalf,
calling upon the Republic to undo past wrongs and give them their just desserts. These cases
took women outside of their domestic shell of home and hearth and placed them in the public
eye. Not only were these women stepping into the public sphere, they were doing so with the
100
Desan, “War Between Brothers and Sisters,” 599.
Desan, "War Between Brothers and Sisters,” 598.
102
Desan, “War Between Brothers and Sisters,” 608.
101
30
support of society. Historians such as Joan Landes103 and Madilyn Gutwirth104 who claim that
the Revolution only served to enforce the separation of spheres ignore the evidence which these
cases support. It is true that several women claimed inheritance based upon their successful roles
as mothers and wives, yet they were leading their own cases and taking control of their destinies.
empowered legally and emotional to claim a share of wealth which had previously been denied
to them based upon prejudice against their sex.105 The law recognized the value of women within
society, and wives and mothers were ready to stake their claim.
Legislative changes regarding the family forced contemporaries to contend with notions
of citizenship. Ideas were hotly debated, notably by Mercier and Prudhomme, who sought to
untangle the web of male and female citizenship. Ultimately decisions about marriage and
citizenship affected family life at every level.
Citizenship and the Family
Technically citizenship under the ancien régime did not exist. French men and women
were simply subjects whose lives depended upon the dictates and conscience of the monarch.
Nevertheless, French subjects were burdened with the responsibilities of citizenship. Women
were not excluded from these responsibilities and carried all the negative obligations of tax and
criminal penalties.106 The positive aspects were men's and women's ability to inherit and
bequeath property. However the majority of the population did not have enough inherited land to
warrant notable taxation. For the lower classes which did not own property and held land
communally with others of their village, citizenship was not a preeminent issue. Despite a lack of
land, one was still subject to the King of France and required to pay various taxes. In addition, no
uniform law existed in France before the "Declaration of the Rights of Man." Thus legal
treatment was subject to region, custom, and rank.107 However, with the outbreak of revolution,
the issue of citizenship reached the smallest corners of French society and ignited a sense of
sovereignty and pride within the nation. The replacement of Monsieur and Madame in favor of
103
Joan Landes, Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution (Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 1988)
104
Madelyn Gutwirth, The Twilight of the Goddesses: Women and Representation in the French Revolutionary Era
(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992)
105
Desan, “War Between Brothers and Sisters,” 625.
106
Adrienne Rodgers “Women and the law” in French Women and the Age of Enlightenment , ed. Samia Spencer
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984) 43.
107
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 3.
31
citoyen and citoyenne in 1793 represented an attitude shift within the nation as equality rose and
hierarchy fell.
Contemporaries felt that a wife reflected the political interests of her husband. It was
therefore unnecessary to have female representation within the government. The Estates-General
required that women who held seigniorial fiefs choose male proxies to represent them in the
Electoral College, noble men for lay women, and male clergy for nuns.108 In December 1789 it
was decided that women did not deserve the right to vote. Only men with some property,
therefore a real stake in the economy, were entitled to representation. Of course women at this
time could hold property in their own right, but they were still barred from electoral
representation. André Amar characterized the general view against of women's political
participation. "If we consider that the political education of men is at its beginning...then how
much more reasonable is it for women, whose moral education is almost nil, to be less
enlightened concerning principles? Their presence in popular societies, therefore, would give an
active role in government to people more exposed to error and seduction."109 Essentially, women
did not have the mental capabilities necessary to handle large political issues. However, Amar's
statement is also ambivalent and begs the question: what if women were educated? Female
contemporaries saw this loop-hole and hoped that their rights would be recognized in the next
stage of Revolution.
There were two forms of citizenship, active and passive. Jacques-Guillaume Thouret,
president of the National Constituent Assembly, argued that women were passive.110 In the
words of Abbé Sieyès, everyone had the right to passive citizenship "all have the right to the
protection of their person, of their property, of their liberty, etc. but all do not have the right to
play an active role in the formation of public authorities; all are not active citizens. Women (at
least at the present time), children, foreigners and those others who contribute nothing to
sustaining the public establishment should not be allowed to influence public life
actively."111What did this mean for women and their families? Were they now equal members of
France? Evidence would suggest that the word citoyenne acted simply as a female counterpart to
108
Immanuel Wallerstein, “Citizens all? Citizens Some! The Making of the Citizen,” Comparative Studies in Society
and History, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Oct., 2003) 653.
109
Quoted from Wallerstein, “Citizens all?” 654.
110
Jacques-Guillaume Thouret, "Report on the Basis of Political Eligibility 29 September 1789," Translated by
Lynn Hunt, The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History,(Boston/New York:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996), 82.
111
Wollerstein, “Citizens all?” 651.
32
citoyen, not a true verbal representation of women's rights to citizenship, yet women were
undoubtedly being sent mixed signals regarding their legal status. 112
Again, like the ancien régime, they were subject to the penalties and taxes associated
with citizenship. They were now also called citoyenne and imbued with a sense of responsibility
toward the nation. Their ability to inherit property, now fully realized with the abolition of feudal
practices such as primogeniture, strengthened their position. In addition, women were active
members of the sovereign nation. Although they could not legally vote or represent themselves,
they notoriously participated in political movements. The most famous incident would be the
October days in which lower class Parisian women displayed an uncanny sense of political
awareness regarding their situation. Although the depth of their knowledge is impossible to gage,
it is true that they understood that high taxes and food shortages were a direct result of
legislation, thus influencing their decision to march on Versailles during the October Days.113 It
appears that women were allowed to be politically vocal if their meddling was associated with
family life. These women were rioting for the sake of food which would nourish their spouses
and children, an acceptable female cause.114 Louis-Marie Prudhomme explained that the word
citoyenne did indeed have a political connotation; a female simply had different responsibilities.
Prudhomme stated that a woman should be "focused on her domestic duties, must make order
and cleanliness, ease and peace reign at home...The liberty of a people has for its basis good
morals and education, and you [women] are its guardians and first dispensers."115
The question of citizenship surpassed the issue of representation and became a matter of
life or death for those wives who decided to remain in France apart from their noble husbands. In
cases such as this, wives were required to demonstrate their personal loyalty to the republic
through oaths or even the renunciation of their noble husbands through public displays or
divorce. 116 In such cases, the issue of a wife's personal right as a citoyenne of France became
112
Anne Verjus, Le Bon Mari: Une Histoire Politique des Hommes et des Femmes a l'époque Révolutionnaire,
(Paris: Fayard, 2010), 141-142.
113
David Garrioch, “The Everyday Lives of Parisian Women and the October Days of 1789,” Social History, Vol.
24, No. 3 (Oct., 1999) 232.
114
There is a debate surrounding the October Days and women's political participation in the march on Versailles.
Olwen Hufton, Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the French Revolution, (Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 1989) gives a concise summary of the debates. Hufton and Garrioch both agree that women were allowed to
participate in public activities if they directly affected the domestic sphere.
115
"On the Influence of the Revolution on Women, 12 February 1791,"The French Revolution and Human Rights,
129-131.
116
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 105.
33
problematic. If they had no right to politically assemble or express their political beliefs, then
how could they differentiate themselves from their husbands? How could wives declare
themselves subjects of the Republic by their own accord? By politically separating themselves
from their husbands, the Revolution subtly revealed its belief in a strict, albeit underemphasized
version of female citizenship. A wife's ability to espouse personal political beliefs would not
have been possible during the ancien régime.
As these political and legislative debates continued, another debate was starting on the
role of couples and their relation to children. Chapter 2 described how childhood was coming to
the forefront of French society during the mid eighteenth century. However, the cult of
motherhood did not completely develop until the revolutionary years when mothers represented
the school of the nation for future citizens.
Revolutionary Motherhood
Before the Revolution, a wife's value had been contingent upon her usefulness to her
husband. Selected for the wealth she brought to the family as well as her ability to produce heirs,
women hoped to building an emotional bond with their husband and children, but it was not
always expected. Mothers of the ancien régime quickly sent their newborns off with designated
wet nurses who would raise them for up to seven years.117 Du Pin herself followed this example.
She did not nurse her long-awaited first born son Humbert, but instead immediately sent him off
with a wet nurse.118 Soon after the birth she resumed her court duties, called on Queen Marie
Antoinette, and carried on a relatively separate life from her husband who focused on his own
courtly career. Having produced an heir and fulfilled her first wifely obligation, du Pin felt little
need to have further contact with her son until he was old enough to be educated in court
etiquette. In fact, the description of her son is only seven lines long, and the succeeding pages
contain stories about dinner at Versailles and a leisurely trip to Switzerland. This contrasts
greatly with the birth of her other children during the Revolution, who were described in great
detail throughout her memoirs. Unlike Humbert, born before 1789, descriptions of breast feeding
and upbringing are ever present in minute detail throughout the remainder of her memoirs. Du
Pin is also notably closer to her husband during the revolutionary years, and their relationship
117
118
Darrow, "French Noblewomen and the New Domesticity,”44.
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 140.
34
becomes stronger as they take charge of raising their large brood in a joint partnership. This shift
in Du Pin’s behavior appears rather abrupt; within just a few years her attitude towards
motherhood and marriage changed drastically. Margaret Darrow was the first to argue that
attitude shifts among noble women during the Revolution were conscious choices. These
changes were necessitated by the Revolution which blamed ancien régime excess on noble
women who ignored their marital duties. As a result, in order to appear supportive of the
Revolution, these women took up motherhood with a new sense of fervor which was publically
encouraged.
Regarding Humbert, one must concede that Du Pin's relationship with her firstborn son
was destined to be very different from those of her succeeding children. Humbert was the heir to
the Du Pin name and her immense riches. Before the Revolution it was expected that he would
follow in his parents' footsteps and become a premier courtier at Versailles. As a result his
education was of immense importance, and he was much more his father’s charge than his
mother's. In a way, Humbert could never be her child in the same way as her other children
would be. Du Pin would be given much more control over the upbringing and education of her
other children. One cannot not help but think of Marie Antoinette’s famous quote at the birth of
her first child, a daughter “You are not what was desired, but you are no less dear to me on that
account. A son would have been the property of the State. You shall be mine; you shall have my
undivided care; you will share all my happinesses....”119 It is likely that Du Pin felt the same
sentiments towards her younger children.
In Du Pin’s case, we can also speculate that the environment of danger surrounding her
during the early 1790s gave her a deeper sense of appreciation for her family. At one point, while
pregnant, she and her children were forced into hiding apart from her husband who was supposed
to be guillotined. Fearing for her life, she hid in stores, attics, and country houses, all the while
caring for her children mainly by herself. Seeing her friends guillotined regularly inspired fear
and revealed how precious her family was.
No matter what their class status marriage gave women the resources to raise libertyloving sons who would eventually rise to protect their fatherland. Although new laws gave
illegitimate children some recognition and legal recourse for their inheritance, contemporaries
still encouraged legitimate offspring within marriage in order to secure a successful family
119
Quoted from Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey (New York: Random House, Inc., 2001), 168.
35
unit.120 Numerous healthy marriages with republican wives would ensure the propagation of a
new nation. As a result, breast feeding became an increasingly important aspect of ideal
motherhood. However, it was not until the Revolution that women, both aristocratic and poor,
participated in the practice. Literature and propaganda before the Revolution familiarized women
with the idea of nourishing their own young, but the practice did not fully catch on until the
Revolution. Both circumstances and desire enabled women to participate. Evidence supports
Margaret Darrow's claim that breast feeding was a public relations move made by noble
women.121 As the Revolution sought to remove any sign of aristocratic behavior, women
understood how breast feeding could increase positive public response towards their class.
Memoirs, including Madame de la Tour du Pin's and Madame Roland's, illustrate how they
prominently displayed their decision to join in the new fad. When these women described their
revolutionary experiences, breast feeding was at the forefront as nursing was raised to a "quasimythological level."122According to Flandrin, contemporaries claimed that nearly 50 out of 60
children were breastfed by their own mothers.123 To breast feed one's young was the very essence
of being a good citoyenne in the new regime.
For some women, lack of money forced them to embrace the ideal of breastfeeding. By
participating in this previously scorned activity, women physically pledged themselves to the
spirit of the Revolution. They upheld ideals of true motherhood as they literally nourished future
citizens at their breast.124 Du Pin participated in the breast feeding craze with fervor. She proudly
proclaimed her participation several times in her memoirs and after each newborn child discusses
her ability to feed her own baby.125 In fact, the ritual became so important to du Pin that when
her milk dried up after she fell ill aboard a ship to New York, her first concern was the life of her
daughter Séraphine.126 During her stay in Bordeaux, du Pin publically acknowledged her role as
wet nurse to her own child while waiting in line for rations. Overcome by pride at the tender
Republican mother, the authorities gave du Pin an extra portion of bread.127 Before the
Revolution, breast feeding her own children would have never crossed her mind.
120
Desan, The Family On Trial, 16.
Darrow, "French Noblewomen and the New Domesticity," 42.
122
Marilyn Yalom, A History of the Breast (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998), 116.
123
Flandrin, Families in Former Times, 23.
124
Proctor, Women, Equality, and the French Revolution, 59.
125
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 303.
126
de la Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 224.
127
de la Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 206.
121
36
Lower class women too were urged by necessity to breast feed their own children. In
1793 the Convention decreed that a mother must publically proclaim her intention to breast feed
her own child. If she failed to do so, then she and her family would not be eligible for state
support offered to poor French families.128 Such legal coercion did not leave room for debate. As
the male-dominated government continued to regulate the private world of the maternal breast
and child, women were forced to make a decision. Should they physically embrace revolutionary
ideals or continue with the ancien régime practice of wet nursing? Unfortunately for some
women of the peasant class, breast feeding a child represented a loss of time and effort which
would have been more lucrative if used in the fields.
As evidenced by Du Pin's experience with male authorities, men too took an acute
interest in breastfeeding. Husbands were called upon to support their wives' endeavors and
encouraged their wives to breast feed their own children.129 By regulating women, the
government was essentially able to reform men. Through breastfeeding propaganda and an
evident attitude change in the revolutionary population, men took a keen interest in the
upbringing of their children. It is possible to state that men more than ever felt a true connection
and sense of purpose within the home. Through the belief that men themselves were responsible
for offspring in joint partnership with their wives, they were participating in a very private
domestic sphere. This domestic movement among men represents a key change in revolutionary
thinking and a large step forward in equal parenting practices.
In addition, parents became personally responsible for the education of their children
"The nation must provide education in order to transform the individual into a citizen, but for the
majority of students, it is the family, the first instructor, who performs the primordial role and
responsibility of forming the child's morality."130This concept of familial responsibility for the
education of offspring now encompassed all classes and derived in large part from Rousseau's
Emile. It meant that parents should make the moral and academic education of their children a
priority for the good of the nation. The loss of property and wealth which accompanied the
Revolution meant few families could afford governesses and private boarding. The skill of
multitasking within the domestic sphere provided new opportunities for several aristocratic
women. For example, several of the émigrés' wives hid from the authorities, moving from house
128
Yalom, A History of the Breast, 115.
Gutwirth, Twilight of the Goddesses, 61.
130
André Burguière, Le Mariage et L'Amour en France: De la Renaissance à la Révolution (Paris: Seuil, 2001), 198.
129
37
to house in the space of a few months. Such secrecy did not permit a tutor and sending children
away during such a time of upheaval was more than most women were willing to risk. Du Pin
recalled feeling overwhelmed by the education of her children. After moving to rural New York
in 1793, du Pin had difficulty managing a farm, maintaining a household, and raising her two
small children at the same time.131 She acknowledged that her lack of attention to her son's
education resulted in his illiteracy until she enlisted the help of a childless neighbor. 132
Contemporaries expected wives to play a less public role during the Revolution. In the
past, women such as Madame de Stael hosted lavish salons and appeared "brazenly in public."133
As noted above, noble women served as public representations of their husbands' families. Du
Pin remembered being formally introduced as a new member of her husband's family to Queen
Marie Antoinette within a week of her marriage. As she embraced her new dynastic duties and
did her best to manage court gossip, intrigue, and stay in favor with the King and Queen, she
transformed herself into a du Pin, leaving behind her Dillon identity. The French Revolution not
only discouraged such displays, but it also brought much attention to a wife's sincerity in her
support of the nation. The ideal woman no longer exhibited beauty, wit, and lineage. By staking
a claim in the private sphere, women ensured the well-being of their husbands and children. A
good Republican wife extolled the virtues of compassion, self-sacrifice, and patriotic devotion.134
Women were no longer to place superficial aspirations above their husbands' and children. To
question the changes jeopardized one's life, although some women, such as du Pin, truly
embraced the new perspective. Women such as Olympe de Gouges and Madame Roland, who
sought to espouse political views and make themselves visible to the public, paid with their lives
for the transgression.135 In addition, noble women understood their precarious position within the
new republic. Although titles of nobility had been abolished in 1790, surnames often gave away
ancestry, and the upper class hoped to repair the damage done by their past actions by adopting
131
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 263.
de la Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 263.
133
Proctor, Women, Equality, and the French Revolution, 55.
134
This rhetoric is familiar within the debates of the National Assembly, most notably by Louis-Marie Prudhomme
and Louis-Sébastien Mercier. Charlotte Corday is often used as a foil to the ideal republican woman. For further
information see: Elizabeth R. Kindleberger, "Charlotte Corday in Text and Image: A Case Study in the French
Revolution and Women's History," French Historical Studies Vol. 18 No. 4 (Autumn, 1994) 978.
135
There is a large historiographical debate about women and the public sphere during the French Revolution. Joan
Landes in Women and the Public Sphere and Madelyn Guitwirth in Twilight of the Goddesses take a conservative
stance and argue that the Revolution forced women to retreat into the private sphere of the home.
132
38
the new ideals of domestic happiness.136 Wealthy wives hoped to soften criticisms of the elite
through a less ostentatious living style.137
Whether or not all women truly felt a need to answer the call of motherhood, new
sentimental notions were at play. This sentimentalization of the family represented a greater
concern with the emotional well-being of citizens. This appreciation for human sentiment found
an outlet for discussion and growth within marriage.
Love and Revolution
The Revolution lowered the age of majority to 21 for both men and women; during the
ancien régime the age of majority had been set at 30 for men and 25 for women. Women and
men were now believed to become mature rational adults at the same stage in life. This same age
of majority represented a more equal attitude towards the rational abilities of both sexes. This
change in age reflected society's desire to give more autonomy to individuals, particularly when
choosing a potential spouse. With a lowered age of majority, men and women could marry
earlier without the consent of their parents.
William Reddy argues that emotion is a cultural concept which people are taught to
want.138 The very notion of love has a different connotation depending on historical
circumstance and geography.139 Love in ancien régime France had a very different meaning than
during the Revolutionary period. Love was viewed as dangerous, passionate, and detrimental to
society. Revolutionaries themselves criticized the aristocracy of the ancien régime for being
subject to their uncontrollable passion which led to debauchery and declining moral character. It
was now time for the middle and lower classes to reclaim the concept of love and apply it to their
own personal lives. The definition underwent a transformation as propaganda, images and novels
of the time imbued the public with a desire for this emotion. Love was not to be found in the
arms of an illicit mistress but became a practical necessity for a successful couple.
Romantic love was viewed as a sentiment which was felt by the entire human race and
enabled partners to overlook material needs.140 An emotion which was so readily found among
136
Heuer, The Family and the Nation, 11.
Darrow, "French Noblewomen and the New Domesticity,"42-43.
138
William Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework for the History of Emotions (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001) 7-9.
139
Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling, xi.
140
Gutwirth, The Twilight of the Goddesses, 26.
137
39
both genders and all classes signified an emotion which was natural. Revolutionaries believed
that a return to man’s natural state could result in an honest and true republic, something that
could never be achieved under the artificial court of a King. Love was placed on par with human
reason and should guide the decisions of France’s population.141 As a result, young French men
and women were called upon to follow their hearts and choose a partner of their own inclination,
free from the constraints of parental and class rules. Love was understood to be class blind, a fact
which suited the goals of revolutionaries well. If love was an equalizing factor, then ancien
régime class hierarchy could be broken down to reflect a more egalitarian society. In addition,
well off women who brought large dowries to a marriage would ensure that their wealth would
be shared with all citizens of the republic.
In a partial rejection of Rousseau's ideals, passion was now seen as a useful component of
love.142 Passion was no longer the hammer which would break a marriage asunder, but instead
reinforce the commitment through desire. As marital values became increasingly secularized
throughout the early 1790s, desire was no longer equated with sinful lust, but a natural emotion
found within all people. The only way to control passion for good was to marry one who inspired
desire and respect within oneself. By desiring your husband or wife, you would not forget the
duties required of you, but instead be inspired to perform the most sacred duty of all, the
propagation of children. This passion would allow women to fulfill their duties as mothers to a
republic and give men a sense of stability and purpose as they served their country. Children
acted as a propertied stake in the Revolution, and love was the tool through which it could be
achieved.
These sentimental emotions are evident in the letters, memoirs, and novels of the period
which showcase a wider use of emotional language and familiarity than was previously found in
mid to early eighteenth century examples.143 Given an understanding of the tumultuous times in
which revolutionary men and women lived, it is not a stretch to argue that emotions were high
strung and evident in both men and women. The stress and anxiety provoked by the regime
changes and terror undoubtedly made citizens feel more in touch with their strong emotions.
When death and famine threaten to take one’s life at any moment, emotions are heightened and
societal restrictions forgotten. This same pattern is not only found within the French Revolution
141
Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling, 143.
Hardwick, The Practice of Patriarchy, 62.
143
Reddy, The Navigation of Feeling, 145.
142
40
but also in tumultuous times in all of history. Many people can recall hasty marriages made by
their grandparents during World War II in case death and disruption should take their new love
away.
Conclusion
French society underwent numerous changes during the Revolution which greatly
changed marriage and family life. Although several of these changes, such as romantic love and
breastfeeding, were catching on before 1789, the abruptness with which society embraced them
is startling. However, the pressures of war and threat of death gave these cultural and legislative
adjustments a sense of urgency which was absent during the ancien régime. In addition, the fact
that the Revolution permeated all levels of society accelerated the pace of change. The success of
revolutionary attitudes can be traced to the literary and legislative reorganization of marriage and
family life. These core staples were the foundations through which other new ideas regarding
gender and class could evolve. Cissie Fairchild's classic assertion that the heart of the revolution
was the creation of a"modern, affectionate nuclear family, in which the spouses married for love,
treated each other with dignity and respect, and worked together to raise their children in an
atmosphere of security and indulgence," characterizes how this final decade of the eighteenth
century would shape future French attitudes regarding society.144 In the end, revolutionaries
understood that the entirety of their legislative changes could only live in perpetuity through
children born and raised in the newly transformed French family.
144
Cissie Fairchild, "Women and Family" in French Women in the Age of Enlightenment, 97.
41
CHAPTER FIVE
MARRIAGE DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA
Introduction
The Napoleonic era furthered public and private interest within the family. Several ideas
and debates which began during the Revolution developed into legislation. Although Napoleon is
often viewed as a misogynistic patriarch, historians are doing a disservice to his legacy. If one
looks behind his judgments of women, it is possible to understand that he was simply a product
of his time. Historians often argue that Napoleon wished to return France to ancien régime
familial values but that is not the entire truth. Society was undergoing a shift as the nineteenth
century began. Ready to put the tumultuous past of the Revolution behind them, citizens looked
towards creating a stable future for their families.
Much like their revolutionary forbearers, Napoleon and his government understood that
by governing the family they could govern the nation. At the heart of the matter were women;
the very backbone of society and the moral compass for the family as a whole. Napoleon and
fellow Civil Code creators such Cambacérès, Faure, and Portalis answered society's need for
further development of legislation regarding the family. Although there was much debate by
contemporaries of both sexes, the Code established decisive legislation which contrasted sharply
with the societies ephemeral changes of the 1790s.
This chapter will not only explore the legislative changes brought upon society by the
code, but also the government's efforts to stabilize the nation of France. The chapter will
elaborate on the education of women as future wives and mothers, attempts to save the lives of
both mothers and infants, as well as general societal attitudes regarding marriage and family.
The Civil Code: An Analysis Regarding the Family
The Civil Code is perhaps one of Napoleon's most enduring legacies. The Code
successfully balanced both Custom and Roman law traditions. At the heart of the Civil Code was
a patriarchal bias in which the masculine guardian of a family would control most decisions.
Although the wording of the Code may be abrasive to feminist ears, it is not meant insult
women, but to provide a sense of stability within marriage and family. In principle, if both man
and wife are given the same responsibilities then tension would likely ensue, leaving families,
42
and thus society, in flux. The creators of the Code greatly admired some of the Revolutionary
legislative and cultural changes but they sought to create laws which would equip society to
withstand unforeseen challenges.
Articles defining a valid marriage take up a large part of the Civil Code. First, article 148
defined the ages of majority. For men the age of majority was raised to 25 years, while women
retained the age of majority at 21. A son or daughter could not contract a marriage before this
age without their parent's or guardian's consent. However, once a son or daughter reached the age
of majority, they were not at complete liberty to marry whomever they chose. For example
article 151 states "Where the children of a family have attained the majority fixed by article 148,
they are required, previously to contracting marriage, to demand, by a respectful and formal act,
the advice of their father and mother..." It appears that despite their majority, potential spouses
were still subject to the direction of their parents. Further explained in articles 151 through 152,
if a parent or guardian objects to the marriage, the potential spouses must continue to petition
their parents for approval two times each month for three months. If upon this third attempt, the
parents still disapprove, the marriage can continue. In theory, marriage was subject to freedom of
choice; however children had to pay deference to their elders not only as a formality but also as a
matter of legal validation for their marriage. The Code attempted to prevent any disharmony
between family members by reducing animosity between a father and his potential heir. By
forcing adult citizens to seek consent from their parents family paternal power was reinforced.
A legally binding marriage as defined by the Civil Code contained explicit instructions
which left no chance of misinterpretation. According to Article 212 "Married persons owe to
each other fidelity, succour, assistance." Article 213 states "The husband owes protection to his
wife, the wife obedience to her husband." It was remarked upon by Pothier that marriage was in
essence a feudal contract.145 The Code essentially defines the husband as the protector of the
wife, and the wife as his vassal. A husband must ensure the wellbeing of his wife who in return
will support him in his endeavors. The wife is an extension of her husband, with the male
identity taking precedence over the wife's. This assertion is further supported by article 19 which
states that "A French woman, who shall espouse a foreigner, shall follow the condition of her
husband." However, the same is not true in the reverse situation where a man marries a foreign
woman. By laying out the responsibilities of marriage, the Code ensured that both men and
145
Desan, The Family on Trial, 298.
43
woman were fully aware of what marriage entailed and could not claim confusion or
misinterpretation. As a result, Napoleonic-era citizens understood that marriage was not a light
matter. This need for clear definitions from the Code was even more important since it now
became much more difficult than in the past to obtain a divorce.
The slew of divorces during the 1790s left a bitter taste in the mouths of French citizens.
Although most of these divorces were not made in haste,146 Napoleon and his colleagues began
to worry about the effects divorce could have upon the stability of the family and the nation. As a
result, the Civil Code implemented several regulations severely limiting the availability of
divorce to both men and women. In addition, the process to obtain a divorce now took a year,
six months longer than the previous law. This alone deterred couples from beginning divorce
proceedings. The cost of divorce also went up, which ruled out the procedure for many families.
Due in part to the lobbying of Catholic officials who did not agree with the divorce law at all,
Separation de Corps was re-established in articles 306-311 as an alternative for unhappy
couples.147
For those couples who were able to afford the time and money it took to obtain a divorce
in Napoleonic France, the grounds upon which they could file were severely restricted. Unlike
the original seven divorce reasons of the 1790s, couples were now limited to four (articles 229233): adultery, cruelty, condemnation, and mutual consent. A significant change from previous
divorce law was that now there was an assumed guilty party involved in three out of the four
grounds.148 To obtain a divorce in the early nineteenth century required a severe transgression on
the part of either husband or wife, thereby running the risk of bringing shame and dishonor upon
the individual and their family should divorce be filed. For adultery, an old double standard
emerged. A husband could file for divorce if his wife committed adultery. A wife, however,
could only file divorce if her husband committed adultery within the family household. In Article
324, which may shock modern senses, the husband could not be condemned if he murdered his
wife and her lover if he caught them in the act of adultery within the home. Such a provision of
course did not extend to women.
146
Philips, Family Breakdown 44-46.
Jean-Paul Sardon, "L'evolution du divorce en France," Population, Vol. 51 No. 3 (May-June 1996) pp 717-749:
718.
148
Theresa McBride, "Public Authority and Private Lives: Divorce after the French Revolution," French Historical
Studies, Vol. 17 No. 3 (Spring 1992) pp 747-768: 750.
147
44
The following two grounds for divorce, condemnation and cruelty, were similar to those
of the 1790s provisions. A wife could file for divorce if she could prove brutality against herself
in which she feared for the life of herself and her children. In addition, one could file if either the
wife or husband was convicted of a serious crime (condemned by law) and forced to serve hard
labor or deportation. These grounds were still just as costly and time consuming as other filing
procedures, yet their judicial outcome was relatively unchanged.
Mutual consent however, changed drastically from its predecessor. The legal obstacles to
filing on such grounds made such divorces very rare. The odd requirements are worth quoting in
their entirety;
Article 275: The mutual consent of married persons shall not be admitted, if the husband
have not reached twenty-five years, or if the wife be under twenty-one.
Article 276: The mutual consent shall not be received until two years from the marriage.
Article 277: It shall no longer be admissible after twenty years of marriage, nor where
the wife shall have attained the age of forty-five years.
It is interesting to note that several historians such as James Traer and Suzanne Desan
astutely point out that the provisions for divorce on these grounds are reminiscent of the exact
requirements Napoleon would need to meet in order to divorce his first wife, Josephine de
Beauharnais. Perhaps the Emperor was preparing for that divorce years in advance.
Understandably, the divorce rates under Napoleon were much lower than during the 1790s.149
The large number of witnesses required was not conducive to a quiet and quick divorce process.
The division of property which was required by article 279 made the process even more
laborious and messy than was desired by most couples. As a result one can speculate that many
couples sought to work their marriage out or simply live with each other to avoid the high cost,
embarrassment, and long procedure. Perhaps it even made couples think twice about potential
mates before marriage took place.
Napoleon and the Civil Code creators decided to approach paternity from a new
standpoint. Building upon Revolutionary legislature which banned paternity suits, article 340 of
the Code explicitly stated that scrutiny as to paternity was completely abolished. Although the
law of 2 November 1793 theoretically banned paternity suits, the 19 sections of the 1793 law are
ambiguous and the majority of articles focus on how a legitimate child could claim inheritance
149
McBride, "Public Authority and Private Lives," 750.
45
from his or her natural father. The most important article, article 8, does not explicitly ban
paternity suits and instead states that paternity of a child can only be established through written
acknowledgment from the father or signs of continuous care.150 As a result, women continued to
press suits. As Suzanne Desan states, local courts were reluctant to block cases which allowed a
woman to at least sue the purported father for child support.151 What constituted continuous
care? What if it was common knowledge who the father was? As a result, paternity suits
continued throughout the 1790s despite attempts to clarify article 8.
However, the explicit and concise wording of article 340 in the Code effectively
cancelled paternity suits. An important purpose of this article was to prevent women from
creating discord between a man and his legitimate family. If a woman sought support from her
lover, married or not, shame would be brought upon his family. If the man was not already
married, such a legal allowance of support could be viewed as a moral acceptance of pre-marital
relations, an attitude which was believed to cause disruption and misery for both the man and
woman. If a woman sought to establish paternity with her married lover, anger and divorce could
erupt between the man and his lawful wife, further disrupting society and threatening his family
and legal heirs. Third, if a woman bore a child who was not her husband's, such a flagrant
display of immorality would upset her own marriage as well as cast doubt upon any prior
children she may have had by her husband. The creators of the Civil Code felt that it would be
best for mother, child, and man to accept the secrecy of paternity and carry on with their lives. If
a woman was in need of support, she could seek it from the state or her own family.
However, I believe this law was one of the most detrimental provisions of the Civil Code.
Not only did it remove a woman's ability to share her infamy with another guilty party, but it put
the financial well being of herself and her child at risk. Dating back to the ancien régime, a
woman, despite her unmarried status, could sue for paternity from her lover and potentially
recover the costs of lying in and receive some form of child support. Granted, her name would be
blemished as she struggled to prove paternity within the courts, but the physical nourishment of
her child could be assured. Now the blame was placed solely on the woman whose sexual nature
was viewed as flighty and lacking self constraint compared to her masculine counterpart. She
could only blame her shame upon her own bad judgment.
150
Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglements, et avis du conseil d'etat de puis 1788 jusques et y
compris 1824.Tome Sixième (Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale Par Baudouin, 1825) 332.
151
Desan, The Family on Trial, 227.
46
In addition, despite the state's belief that its welfare system could provide the support
needed to keep the child in good health, the laws and programs were too undeveloped to fulfill
this goal. Napoleon's creation of maternity hospitals in major cities did represent a landmark
effort to reduce infant mortality, but it was far from sufficient.152 The illegitimacy rate was on the
rise in the early eighteenth century, and the number of hospitals was too small to accommodate
the large rates of infant abandonment.153 Without the promise of financial support, women were
forced to abandon these children within the hospitals or accept the small amounts of welfare they
could get from charities until their needs outweighed this limited government and religious
support. As Suzanne Desan points out, there were ways in which women could circumvent
article 340 by suing the purported father for damages.154 In addition, some fathers, despite their
inability to legally recognize their offspring could still financially support their children if they
so chose. However, evidence for this is scant. This article intended to stabilize society, may have
actually had the opposite effect.
The Civil Code retained the revolution's law giving inheritance rights to all legitimate
children. As defined by article 745 "Children or their descendants succeed to their father and
mother, grandfathers, grandmothers, or other ancestors, without distinction of sex or
primogeniture, and although they be the issue of different marriages. They succeed by equal
portions and by heads when they are all in the first degree and called in their own right..." This
article gave female and male siblings equal footing and would abolish the inter-family conflict
which characterized 1790s family tribunals. In addition article 762 banned an illegitimate child
from partaking in any inheritance, further preventing tension between offspring. The point of the
Civil Code was to ensure a seamless inheritance model which could not be unhinged by greedy
claimants. It is important to note that a succession falling to a married woman could not be
accepted without the approval of her husband. As explained by article 818, whether or not these
inherited goods fell under community property, he still as the patriarch, had a right to enjoy and
control a portion of the goods. These articles therefore supported the patriarchs prerogative
regarding property.
152
Jane Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question: Discourses of the Other Sex in French Education, Medicine,
and Medical Law 1799-1815 ( Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2007), 167.
153
Desan, The Family on Trial, 228.
154
Desan, The Family on Trial, 228-229
47
However, a minor could not completely expect to be protected by article 745. "The part
of the code relating to wills was the main basis of the authority of fathers and mothers over their
children and that it gave the father the chief means of having his authority respected.'"155 Fathers
were allowed to dispose an additional 3/5 of their wealth to whomever they pleased. Although
inheritance for each child was enshrined within the civil code, patriarchs retained the prerogative
to make "donations" to a person or child before death. These donations could be property,
wealth, or goods. Donations were not uncommon, but they were revocable. If a child paid no
heed to his father's advice, acted against the patriarchs wishes, and disrespected his father, a
"donation" could be revoked. As a result, a child's age of majority was null in the face of
paternal power. A son or daughter was forever under the control of his or her father if he kept
threatening to revoke any gifts or donations which could in turn be given to another sibling.156
The basis for revocation are somewhat ambiguous and leave room for ample interpretation.
Article 955 states that donations can be revoked for 1) an attempt on the life of the donor 2)
guilty of cruelty, crime or heinous injury toward the done or 3) if the recipient refuses
subsistence to the donor. This provision ensured a perpetual state of deference towards the
patriarch within families.
Paternal power was enshrined within the Civil Code and defined the prerogative of an
era. For example, title IX of book I is aptly titled "Of Paternal Power." However, this emphasis
on male authority was not meant to injure women, but rather as a means of distributing power
within the family. By giving a father ultimate control, the risk of a power struggle between
husband and wife was reduced. In several cases the Code actually designated the mother as
guardian and decision-maker upon the decease of the father. Society wanted a designated leader
to stabilize and thus strengthen the influence of the family.
Once legislation regarding the family was completed and presented to society in 1804,
Napoleon and the government then attempted to ensure that future citizens were being brought
up correctly. Children, particularly females, should be instilled with qualities necessary to
maintain a peaceful shift from one generation to the next. In addition, to ensure that there was
another generation to follow the previous one, it was of the utmost importance to combat the
dropping French population by saving the lives of mothers and their offspring.
155
Xavier Martin "The Paternal Role and the Napoleonic Code" in Paternity and Fatherhood: Myths and Realities,
ed. Lieve Spaas (London: Palgrave MacMillion Publishers, 1998), 32
156
Martin, "The Paternal Role and the Napoleonic Code," 31
48
Raising and Saving Children for the Nation
As the nineteenth century dawned, several goals of the Revolution had not yet been
achieved. Napoleon and his government recognized the toll successive regime and legislative
changes wrought upon families of the 1790s. The family was the answer to reform; only when
ideals regarding the family were fully realized could the Revolution truly end. Importantly,
society recognized the important role women played in solidifying families. Napoleon responded
by embarking upon an educational endeavor to instruct the women of France.
Contemporaries ultimately hoped that mothers and religious personnel would take charge
of female education. Jane Burton cites the numerous textbooks which were published at this
time to guide mothers through the homeschooling process. These texts supported society's and
Napoleon’s belief that education should take place mainly within the home. 157 For most girls,
boarding school was not even a possibility. The schools, much like their pre-revolutionary
forbearers, were reserved for the elite or upper middle class. Religious schools run by reestablished convents could provide accessible schooling to girls of all classes, but it would be
some time before they were running at full capacity. Schooling for women should not involve
mathematics, Latin, or other traditionally masculine subjects. Education for women should
emphasize domestic ideology, principles which every proper revolutionary woman was expected
to know.
However, Napoleon was aware that homeschooling could not successfully be achieved in
all families, particularly for his newly ennobled class. The revolution which had ultimately shut
down several girls' schools and canceled convent education, left young women growing up in the
1790s without a strong sense of regulated learning. Although their parents attempted to homeschool their children, much like middle and lower class families, yet the disruption could inhibit
the education of future offspring for the Empire. One must recall from the previous chapter du
Pin's sense of bewilderment towards the education and upbringing of her children. How could
the family continue to function as the school of the nation when parents themselves were
uneducated? The solution was to build schools and ensure that women could provide education
for the future mothers of France.
In 1807, five years after establishing the lycée and university system for males, Napoleon
announced his intention to create a state funded school for daughters of his military officers and
157
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 26
49
soldiers. It is true that these specific schools would only be available to small numbers. However,
their emphasis on domesticity represents a greater trend and warrants examination. Girls would
be imbued with a sense of pride in their Patrie and Emperor which would eventually be taught to
future generations.158
Napoleon’s goals for these boarding schools differed from their ancien régime
predecessors. He did not wish to create salon women who pursued leisurely activities; he wanted
industrious members of society who would pull their weight morally and physically within his
new society.159 In his discourse, he discussed the need for lessons in sewing, history and
geography, dance lessons for its physical benefits, and botany so that women could grow
medicinal herbs for nursing activities within the home.160 Napoleon further explained "If these
young people, once returned to their provinces, enjoy there the reputation of good women, I will
have attained my objective completely...I am not raising vendors of style nor housemaids nor
housekeepers, but wives for modest and poor households."161 Napoleon only needed to find a
suitable directice to implement his plans and ensure the development of his school; Madame
Campan was an obvious choice. Campan, a former courtier and reader for Louis XV and XVI,
lobbied for the position. With the help of her former student, Hortense de Beauharnais, Campan
was named directrice of the first girls' Legion of Honor School at Écouen in 1807.
Campan understood Napoleon's goal. In 1809 she wrote “The object of [women's
education] must be directed 1) toward domestic virtues; 2) toward French language, math,
history, writing and geography so that all students can have the pleasure of educating their
daughters themselves. Public education will thus serve maternal education.”162 Initially, there
would be five Legion of Honor schools in total. They attracted daughters from the military elite
who scrambled to send their daughters to the newly approved boarding school. As Legion of
Honor schools grew in size and geographical reach, their curriculum began to expand, sometimes
against the wishes of the Emperor. Campan, who recognized the positive aspects of some ancien
158
Rebecca Rogers, Les demoiselles de la légion d'honneur: Les Maisons d’éducation de la légion d’honneur au
XIX siècle (Paris : 1992) 22.
159
Rebecca Rogers, “Competing Visions of Girls Secondary Education in Post-Revolutionary France” History of
Education Quarterly Vol. 34 No. 2 (Summer 1994): 150
160
Napoleon Bonaparte, "Notes sur l'établissement d'Écouen," addressed to the comte de Lacépède, grand chancellor
of the Legion of Honor, 15 May 1807 in Women, the Family, and Freedom: The Debate in Documents, Vol. 1, 17501880. Ed. Susan Groag Bell & Karen M. Offen (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983), 95.
161
Napoleon, "Notes sur l'établissement d'Écouen," 96
162
Quoted from Rebecca Rogers “Competing Visions of Girls Secondary Education” 157
50
régime practices, introduced foreign language study, music and art to her pupils. Rebecca
Roger's numerous articles argue that Campan's goal was to give women a larger pool of
intellectual knowledge to draw upon should the need arise. While it is impossible to fully support
Roger’s claim, it is much more likely that Campan stuck with what she knew, the pursuits of
ancien régime elite women. Campan sought to fuse the educational needs of the Napoleonic state
with those of her mixed clientele. Eventually the majority of her students came from modest
backgrounds and would never preside over Napoleon’s court or a rich salon. Girls were also
taught cooking skills and volunteered in soup kitchens thereby imbuing them with a sense of
charity.163 Students also attended mass every day which created a sense of discipline and
reconstituted female religious identity.
The Maison des Orphelines, a sort of sub-school of the Legion of Honor schools,
furthered Napoleon’s educational goals. These schools, which were more commonly full of
daughters of lower-ranking soldiers, served the dual purpose of educating future mothers and
relieving the burden from overwhelmed parents. Although the requirement for admission was
specifically the death of one’s father while serving under Napoleon, several of these girls had no
parents at all. In war torn France, the death of one or both parents was not uncommon and for
some these schools served as a saving grace for girls who would otherwise be turned out and
forced into ill-repute within society. Due in part to lack of funding from the state and the
precarious financial situation of Napoleon's exhausted budget, the Orpheline School was run by
Nuns from the Congregation de la Mère de Dieu.164 In comparison to the Legion of Honor
school, the Orpheline School was far more austere, perhaps preparing their lower class pupils for
the harsh realities of running a meager household. The girls were not permitted nearly as many
outings as their Legion counterparts, rose earlier, and attended mass twice a day.165 Their
curriculum also emphasized utilitarian skills over the fine arts. Cooking, sewing, religious
readings, and household management were the key subjects of an Orpheline student.166 Not
surprisingly, these schools remained relatively marginal to Napoleonic society and inspired less
interest at the time than they do now.167 This school, much more so than the Écouen example,
163
Rogers, Les demoiselles de la Légion d'honneur, 56
Rebecca Rogers, From the Salon to the Schoolroom: Educating Bourgeois Girls in Nineteenth-Century France,
(University Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 2005), 55.
165
Rogers, Les demoiselles de la légion d’honneur, 52
166
Rogers, Les Demoiselles, 47.
167
Rogers, Les Demoiselles, 65.
164
51
represents the type of education girls would have received at home or from other religious
establishments.
Overall, despite their differences in curriculum, both focused on domestic ideology. Even
the Legion of Honor girls were prepared for modest futures through sewing and cooking. It is
simply because a few elite families sent their daughters to these schools that historians such as
Jane Burton fail to take Napoleon’s foray into female education seriously.168 How the girls used
this opportunity was up to them and their families. One can speculate that a daughter from an
elite family would find more pleasure and diligence in her music and art studies, while a student
of more modest background would take her sewing and cooking classes more seriously.
However, despite their background, all girls were placed within the same classes and were forced
to pass rigorous examinations or else be held back. Class and status distinctions did not procure
special treatment. By creating a regulated school of education for military daughters, Napoleon
ensured that his treasured military subjects could be assured of a well rounded and useful
education for future citizens of his empire.
Not only was society concerned with the education of future citizens, but it was also
concerned with ensuring that newborns, infants, and children reached adulthood. Childbirth was
dangerous for both mother and baby in the early nineteenth century and often resulted in the
death of both. Every mother who died in childbirth represented the loss of a valuable member of
society who would have educated her children, supported her husband, and acted as a moral
compass within the domestic sphere. In addition, every infant lost represented the death of a
future mother, father, or potential soldier for the Empire. Napoleon recognized the need for
better-trained midwives and sought to remedy the problem.
In June of 1802, Napoleon authorized the creation of the École de la Maternité. This
school would provide detailed instruction for women interested in practicing up-to-date
midwifery. The first class of students consisted of 54 women from all provinces of France who
eventually returned and ran the various midwifery hospitals opened in each major city.169
Midwives within this school were taught by one male obstetrician and several seasoned
midwives who practiced rigorous hygienic and scientific procedures. Teachers emphasized
hygiene to their students. For example, Metal forceps were first replaced with the older wooden
168
169
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 86.
52
and leather models which held large amounts of bacteria. Cleanliness was maintained to an
almost obsessive degree, with even the sidewalks outside the school being cleaned every day.170
Several of the midwives, such as Lachapelle, had practiced their trade for decades and gained
notoriety well before the opening of the school. The students learned how to perform the delicate
procedures such as episiotomies and cesarean sections upon pregnant women. Once enough
classes were completed, the trainee midwives would perform the procedures on her own under
the watchful eye of her teacher.
Contemporary literature expounded upon the benefits of having a midwife deliver one's
child. Not only would using a midwife protect the modesty of the mother, but the practice also
emphasized female superiority over male authority in the domestic domain. This École de la
Maternité enhanced the idolization of motherhood and sanctified the domestic superiority of
women over men. At the very heart of the matter, mothers and children were saved from possible
death, which would preserve the stability and population of the nation.
Continuing the Revolution's desire to mold the character of society, education was
emphasized for both men and women. Domestic ideology was the most important aspect of a
female's education. This emphasis on traditional female tasks such as sewing, cooking, and
nursing was evident in education for women of all social classes. In addition, the very lives of
children were saved by the creation of midwifery schools. Pro-natalism was still an official
policy and supported by Napoleonic doctors such as Pierre Boyveau-Laffecteur and Jacques
Millot. Educational endeavors allowed the French government to improve upon the Revolution's
desire to shape the qualities of the population as well as increase it.
The Napoleonic concern for children was not the only aspect of family life to change.
Human emotion which played such a significant role during the previous century further
developed to reflect the ideals of the nineteenth century. Love and companionship were still
sought within marriage, but their importance was de-emphasized compared to the previous
decade. However, motherhood continued to be of the utmost importance.
Changing Values
The concepts of love and companionate marriage underwent several changes beginning
with the ancien régime to the early nineteenth century. The ups and downs of human emotion
170
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 107.
53
were not viewed as trivial matters, but instead as powerful influences which shaped society.
Passion, which rose to triumph during the Revolution, represented the power of human emotion
and became a negative aspect of French life. Witnessing the fear and death which pervaded
revolutionary French society, men and women alike began to question the worth and reliability
of emotions.171 Passion could not only be channeled into a successful marriage and sexual
attraction but it could also inspire vengeance, hatred, and even death, as the Terror illustrated. As
a result, society sought a happy medium between passion and companionship which would
characterize marriage and family relationships during the Napoleonic era.
An example of passion leading to a dubious marriage can be found in Napoleon himself
who fell deeply in love with his first wife Josephine de Beauharnais. Despite her doubtful
reputation as a beautiful courtesan to the leaders of her day, Napoleon, blinded by love and
physical attraction, married the older woman. Revolutionary society glorified such passionate
matches. However, their marriage was not meant to last. By the early nineteenth century, society
began to favor restrained emotions and marriages between two class equals. Eventually
Napoleon tired of Josephine's lackluster affections and the detrimental effect her morals had
upon his future career. His letters provide ample evidence of his disillusionment as he realized
the mistake he had made in marrying the former aristocrat. Eventually Napoleon divorced
Josephine in 1810 and married Marie Louise, a sixteen-year-old Habsburg princess who suited
his goals and tastes much better.
Seeing the growth in divorce rates during the 1790s, society began to question the power
of love as a binding factor within a marriage. In order to further reduce the possibility of divorce,
along with the more stringent divorce laws, couples again began to adopt pre-revolutionary
ideals of marriage. The ideal of love was not completely quashed as a goal, but it assumed a
more companionate tone resembling that found in the literature of the mid eighteenth century.
Passion could only lead to ruin, but respect and friendship would be everlasting. In addition, love
was becoming more and more associated with the weaker sex, a representation of mans lack of
self control. To give in to love was essentially an effeminate expression of weakness.172
171
William Reddy has written about the transformation of love throughout the French Revolution into the 19th
century in his books, The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework for the History of Emotions (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001) and The Invisible Code: Honor and Sentiment in Post revolutionary France, 1814-1848
(Berkeley: University of California Press,1997)
172
William Reddy, Sentimentalism and its Erasure: The Role of Emotions in the Era of the French Revolution, The
Journal of Modern History, Vol. 72, No. 1 (March 2000):145.
54
There were even scientific debates regarding the suitability of marriage between women
and men of different temperament and class. G.L. Leclerc de Buffon's argument that such
marriages could only create unhealthy children who would in turn weaken society was
revived.173 In addition, the discrepancy between class status would cause resentment among elite
families who were forced to allow men and women of an inferior class to dilute their blood.174
Marriage was not only a matter of love, but also a matter of maintaining the status quo and
creating physically and mentally strong citizens. This attitude is reminiscent of ancien régime
ideals, but contrasts sharply with revolutionary plans to marry elite men or women to sansculottes in order to distribute wealth and status equally in the nation.
Despite this change in attitude, men and women still hoped for companionship and
perhaps an eventual feeling of love among members of all classes. Courtship and marriage
practices did not revert completely to those of the ancien régime. For example, du Pin's own
daughter Charlotte was of marrying age in the early nineteenth century and her choice of spouse
reflected the change in ideals. Du Pin did not parade a list of eligible bachelors before her
daughter like her guardians had done for her during the 1780s. Instead, du Pin left the decision
up to her daughter and awaited Charlotte's feedback. Charlotte eventually chose de Liedekerke, a
friend she knew from various social gatherings. He was a Belgian Noble. De Liedekerke
actually publically acknowledged to his family that he would marry no other than Charlotte de la
Tour du Pin before asking consent from her father.175 The match continued without question
from either side, although du Pin was nervous at leaving her daughter in a foreign country away
from her immediate family. Additionally, neither family tried to stop the couple's repeated
meetings, even though they occurred in public. Charlotte's experience contrasts greatly with that
of her mother, who had been prohibited from having contact with her fiancé until the marriage
contract had been signed.176 Charlotte likely received little complaint from either parent because
she was marrying an elite man who shared of her social type. However, it is important to note
that the decision was entirely her own, and de Liedekerke and she were very young at the time,
representing the lowered ages of consent. As long as a woman or man found a suitable partner
from their class, there was very little complaint which could be lodged against them.
173
Sean Quinlan, "Physical and Moral Regeneration after the Terror: Medical Culture, Sensibility and Family
Politics in France, 1794-1804, Social History Vol. 29 No. 2 (May 2004): 157.
174
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 66-68
175
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 399.
176
de La Tour du Pin, Memoirs, 406.
55
Love was not the only sentiment to undergo a transformation during the Napoleonic era.
Previous Revolutionary ideals associated with parenthood were cemented into the nineteenth
century psyche through charitable foundations. This changing concept of values represents the
government's plan to stabilize the nation and create reasonable citizens. An ideal example of this
desire is reflected in the Société Maternelle.
In May of 1811 Napoleon, thankful for the birth of an heir, opened the Société Maternelle
and made his new wife, Empress Marie-Louise its titular head. This society, which was a rebirth
of a prerevolutionary charity headed by Queen Marie-Antoinette, distributed charity to mothers
in need within Paris.177 The charity, which was financially run by the Minister of the Interior,
relied upon elite volunteers to manage the distribution of charity and advice. At first glance, the
society appears to have been simple foundation aimed at relieving the distress of poor families.
However, Napoleon had a greater plan in mind.
The society was purposefully run by elite women in order to remind them about the
importance of charity. As the imperial court grew to resemble that of Louis XIV, Napoleon
hoped that performing volunteer charity would give elite women, many of whom were newly
ennobled, a sense of humility.178 Napoleon detested the women of previous regimes who passed
their time painting, holding salons, and meddling in male affairs. He wanted his female
countrymen to be useful to their country and families. Of course Napoleon realized that such an
idea was uninspiring to some women. To counter this, he emphasized his wife's role within the
charity and lured these nobles in with the promise of interaction with the Empress herself.179 For
a society woman of the Napoleonic era such a prospect was enticing.
Another motive the Emperor had for enticing elite volunteers was education about
breastfeeding and childcare. Wet nursing dropped in favor again with the downfall of the
Revolution and the creation of an Imperial court. Despite protestations from medical literature,
upper class women preferred to send their children out to nurse; childrearing was out of fashion.
By having these upper class women educate the poor about the positive aspects of breastfeeding
and motherhood, he hoped they would impress these values upon themselves. Thanks to
scientific advances of the early nineteenth century, doctors understood the importance of
177
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 126.
Christine Adams, "Constructing Mothers and Families: The Society for Maternal Charity of Bordeaux, 18051860," French Historical Studies, Vol. 22 No. 1 (Winter 1999): 72.
179
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 126.
178
56
breastfeeding in providing nourishment and protection for newborns. Up until 1810, the
government had even gone so far as to provide a stipend for destitute mothers who nursed their
own children instead of abandoning them. Now Napoleon hoped that through education women
of all classes would be persuaded to participate in this natural activity.180
Attitudes regarding human emotions and mothering practices underwent a major shift
during the early nineteenth century. Napoleonic citizens sought to find a balance between the
extremes of the ancien règime and the Revolution. Passion was downplayed in favor of a more
rational sense of companionship. However, love was not entirely abandoned and remained a
major goal of marriage. Motherhood, which always proved to be a highly debated topic during
the eighteenth century came to the forefront. The Société Maternelle exemplifies society's wish
to revive the civic and familial virtues of the revolution.
Conclusion
Napoleonic society experienced a conservative shift away from the revolutionary tumult
of the 1790s. The result however was not a return to ancien régime values, but instead an effort
to stabilize a society gone awry. Gender roles were reinforced not to insult either man or woman,
but to ensure a successful home life. Creators of the Civil Code understood that a stable family
with one patriarch would enrich France through its sense of harmony. This strict regulation of
citizens would serve as an example and inspiration for newly conquered territories.
The checks and balances of private and public life gave men and women some sense of
fluidity between the spheres, yet it did not lead them astray from their expected roles. Women
were allowed to seek a career as a midwife or instructor because their talent would increase the
productivity of families. Men and women were limited in divorce to force them to think more
carefully about potential matches and practice virtues necessary to a successful marriage,
including fidelity. In addition, it was essential to save the lives of future citizens and provide
them with natural sustenance in order to create a stronger population which would then continue
on to a proper education.
Despite Napoleon's eventual downfall, several of his legislative changes remained
throughout the restoration period and well into the 20th century. The attitude changes which
180
Burton, Napoleon and the Woman Question, 66, 126,169.
57
were born as a reaction against the Revolution undoubtedly changed the character of France
forever.
58
CHAPTER SIX
MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY THROUGH ART
Introduction
Art is a reflection of society’s important values. Artists try to portray a reality which men
and women value and aspire to. As a result, art can provide clues into what aspects of society
people believed to be important. This last chapter will analyze images from the ancien régime,
the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic-era. Changes in emotional attachment, physical
demeanor, and ideals can be detected in the evolution of the artwork. Overall, these works
support the argument that family and marital values changed from the mid eighteenth to the early
nineteenth century.
The Ancien Régime
The evolution of marriage during the ancien régime is clearly illustrated when viewed
through the artistic lens of time. Portraiture and art in general became more accessible outside of
noble circles during mid eighteenth century. Individuals from the lower classes began to enjoy
more leisure time which allowed them to visit salons, purchase art for their home, and participate
in discussions within coffee houses.181 In addition, portraiture was being commissioned by
people outside of the royal court, and genre art was starting to adorn the walls of middle class
families. It is evident that portraiture began to reflect specific gender roles such as maternal love
or fatherly devotion. Images by Fragonard and Greuze portrayed middle class and peasant
families participating in everyday activities. These genre scenes were a response to spectator's
desire for "...subjects that expressed their own experience and values, particularly with respect to
the new ideals being promoted regarding the family and motherhood."182
181
182
Robert Neumon, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2013), 335.
Neumon, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture, 185.
59
(Figure 1: Jean-Maarc Nattier, Madame Marsollier and her Daughter, 174
749)
60
Family relations were portrayed in Nattier's Madame Marsollier and her Daughter from
1749. As a wealthy member of the middle class, one can deduce that Madame Marsollier
commissioned this portrait. By having Nattier portray her as an involved mother, Marsollier was
keeping up with philosophical trends which emphasized nurturing mothers.183 In addition,
Madame Marsollier, or the Duchesse de Velours (Velvet) as she was known by contemporaries
due to her husband's cloth business, was a non-noble woman who aspired to be associated with
the nobility.184 Eventually her husband bought the title "Secretary to the King" which was a very
expensive, albeit empty title, typically purchased by those who sought entrance into noble
circles. Although this painting is a prime example of how upper class women were attempting to
incorporate popular ideals into their everyday lives, the mother and daughter still seem somewhat
aloof from one another. It is as if the "sitters are connected physically but not
psychologically."185 The mother is not taking time to educate or care for the vital needs of her
child, she is instead acting as a guide into toilette rituals. These early morning rituals of the
toilette signified a life of leisure and supported the economy of display which characterized the
upper classes.186In addition, Marsollier understands the strict separation of spheres between
husband and wife. Her husband is not included within the feminine painting. Despite Marsollier's
attempt to portray herself as a caring mother and wife, she is still portrayed in fashionable
déshibillé, a state of undress which is characteristic in other portraiture depicting wealthy
women. Her luxurious life is not forgotten but instead displayed prominently to remind the
viewer that although she plays at the dutiful mother, she is still a wealthy member of society.
This image contrasts greatly with other portraiture of the late eighteenth century. Nattier's
image hints at changing dynamics within the family, but it is still reminiscent of court portraiture
of the past. However, it is notable that the mother is taking an interest in her daughter although
only for superficial reasons.
183
Donald Posner, "The 'Duchesse de Velours' and her Daughter: A Masterpiece by Nattier and its Historical
Context," Metropolitan Museum Journal Vol. 31 (1996): 137.
184
Neumon, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture, 338.
185
Reinhardt, "Serious Daughters," 34.
186
Posner, "The 'Duchesse de Velours' and her Daughter" 135.
61
(Figure 2: Jean-Baptise Greuze, The Village Bride, 1761)
In contrast, nearly 30 years before the Revolution and only 11 after Madame Marsollier,
Jean-Baptiste Greuze's painting of a young couple being married caused a sensation within the
salons of Paris. He was praised for his poignant display of a simple village marriage being
performed in the provinces. Greuze was a leader of the sentimental genre painting, a style which
was maturing during the mid eighteenth century. First, his image of the marriage contains
"emotionally stirring content and moralizing subjects."187 The amount of emotion being
displayed upon the faces of the characters contrasted with the aloof portraiture of the wealthy.
The rustic farmhouse setting of the marriage is uncommon in other images of the time.188 The
187
188
Neumon, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture, 343.
Neumon, Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture, 344.
62
subjects are not dressed in the latest fashions, but wear simple attire suitable to their station. The
colors themselves are muted and earthy. These colors contrast with the light playful tones of
rococo images which were so popular at the time.
This image is a moral allegory emphasizing virtue, patriarchal authority, and kinship. The
serious emotional tone of the image was a rebuke to the elite for their frivolous lifestyle and lack
of morals. The image is meant to remind the viewers of how family life under the ancien régime
should be. First, the interaction between the father and fiancé as he hands over the dowry to his
future son-in-law is the most prominent aspect of the painting. In this most important moment of
her life, the young bride-to-be is a passive character striving to accept her role as the obedient
daughter, much like Rousseau's Julie in La Nouvelle Héloïse.189 Greuze portrayed a woman with
the submissive qualities society advocated. A role which Greuze was urging his viewers to
emulate.
The painting gives symbolic clues to the role of the new bride. In the foreground is a hen
with her chicks. This animal symbolism represents the future bride's role as a mother and implies
her fertility.190 Her youthful appearance and shy demeanor represent the ideals of an ancien
régime woman. She is not too forward and accepts her fate on behalf of her family. An elderly
woman, perhaps a mother or grandmother, represents her break with adolescence as she begins
her journey into motherhood and marital life.
Overall, this image would have struck viewers for its poignant display of emotion and
moralizing tone. Contemporaries would have recognized that this image was meant to remind
society of how men and women should act instead of mimicking selfish pursuits of the elite.
Virtue, submission, and fertility were all being ignored in favor of leisure and vice. Greuze's
attempt to create an image which reflected the emotions and reality of marriage separates this
painting from many others of its time. In addition, the image foretold the importance of emotion
and marital values within the French Revolution.
189
Kathleen Russo, "A Comparison of Rousseau's 'Julie' with the Heroines of Greuze and Fuseli," Woman's Art
Journal, Vol.8 No.1 (Spring-Summer, 1987): 3.
190
"Love, Domesticity, and the Evolution of Genre Painting in Eighteenth-Century France" by Richard Rand in
Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in Eighteenth-Century France (Princeton: Princeton University Press:
1997) 1.
63
(Figure 3: Elizabeth Vigée Lebrun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter Julie, 1786)
64
Lebrun is perhaps best known as a court painter for Queen Marie-Antoinette. Her talent
for conveying the sitters personality through facial expression and setting built upon Greuze’s
early development of sentimental genre painting. One of her later works, finished only a few
years before 1789 epitomizes the development of family dynamics.
Lebrun painted one of several portraits of herself and her daughter Julie on the eve of the
Revolution. The viewer is automatically drawn to the gazes of both mother and daughter as they
recline amidst a muted background. The quiet background allows the viewer to focus on the
subjects and analyze the relationship between the two females. Unlike the portrait of Madame
Marsollier, there is a sense of close emotional attachment. This sense of emotion is emphasized
by the closeness of the two bodies as the child and mother envelope each other in a warm
embrace. Lebrun gazes out of the portrait with a contented smile, hinting at her emotional
fulfillment as a mother. She does not seem distracted or aloof, but completely free in the
moment. Her daughter leans towards her mother as if she is unsure about the viewer’s gaze and
needs reassurance. This is not a mother and daughter who are strangers to each other, but instead
seek each other for comfort. The child needs her mother for emotional nurturing and safety. The
mother is proud of her daughter and finds happiness by providing care.
In addition, the two females are not dressed in fine silks or damasks, but instead simple
clothing which hangs loose from their bodies. The muted colors represent their closeness with
nature as they remove any sign of the frivolous French court. The child is not dressed in a
miniature version of adult clothing, but instead wears a simple white dress representing her
childish innocence. Noticeably, Lebrun wears her natural hair in a turban, mimicking France’s
fascination with eastern culture.
When compared to the portrait of Madame Marsollier from 1749, one is struck with the
development of familial values which are clearly illustrated in the image. This portrait is not
about wealth or ceremony but attempts to capture a real relationship between two people. The
image conveys the emotions which they feel at the time of the painting. The tender hug from the
mother represents the close relationship between mother and daughter. Essentially, mother and
daughter are representing the growing ideals of family and marriage which influence the French
Revolution.
65
The French Revolution
As art progressed into the 1790s, familial ideals underwent a rapid development. This
increase on the emphasis of family was escalated due in part to the government's official
attempts to glorify motherhood, childhood, and marriage. The images from this decade depict
families of all classes acting in a more loving manner. It is notable that several upper class
families chose to be portrayed in activities which were traditionally left to servants or associated
with the lower classes. These include the parent's education of children, tender embraces, and
even a mother teaching her child how to walk. Further illustrating France's obsession with a
dropping birth-rate, several of these images contain numerous children with women relishing
their maternal role.
(Figure 4: Jan Bernard Duvivier, Portrait of the Villiers Family, 1790)
66
This image of the Villiers family represents a wealthy household during the early years of
the French Revolution. This image is reminiscent of ancien régime art in which the subject's
social status is on prominent display through their manner of dress and environment. The women
are dressed as women befitting a noble rank or upper middle class. They even wear the powdered
wigs which are associated with the ancien régime. However, the portrait has a more modern tone
which separates it from earlier portraiture. The daughter in pink gives the viewer a steady stare
which does not denote a sense of subordination. She appears to be confident in herself and her
position in life. Although the daughters are surrounded by traditional female accomplishments
such as the harp and harpsichord, they dominate the picture. The viewer is drawn to them instead
of the male figures. It is as if they are the focal point of the family instead of the son or father.
It is interesting to note that the mother and father are sitting in an intimate manner. The
father does not regard his offspring but instead settles his gaze upon his wife. One can speculate
that he looks to his wife as the backbone of domestic life. His manner appears affectionate
towards the woman who bore him his three heirs. The wife on the other hand is motioning the
viewer towards her progeny. Her sense of pride and fulfillment can be traced from her husband
to her numerous offspring.
This image illustrates the growing emphasis placed on family relationships. The siblings
and their parents do not seem aloof from one another, but instead comfortable in each other's
presence. The son even seems as if he is impishly about to play a trick on his older sisters. This
familiarity emphasizes sibling relationships. The mother and father are proud of their offspring
and seem to enjoy performing their parental duty to France. Images such as the Villiers Family
became much more common as the century came to an end. The parents and children are in
harmony and are happy to be in each other's presence.
67
(Figure 5:: M
Marguerite Gerard, The First Steps, C. 1795-1800)
First Steps is a prime example of how French art came to
Marguerite Gérard's Thee F
represent the ideals of the Revolu
olution. At first glance this image appears to be another
an
genre
painting depicting a garden scene
ne with cupid like babies and neo-classical female
ales. However,
Gérard's image represents a truee sshift in the ideals of motherhood, family, and femininity.
fem
Unlike
most genre paintings since the 17
1750s, Gérard depicts upper class women particip
ipating in a scene
traditionally associated with thee llower classes. Her well-dressed subjects are eag
agerly
participating in their children's up
upbringing as they delight in their children's first
st steps. Her
message of familial values crosse
sses class lines and invites women of all backgroun
ounds to fulfill the
revolutionary roles which their ex
exceptional times call for.191 The expressions on
n the
t women's
faces emphasize the joy and fulfil
lfillment that awaits them if they raise their progen
geny themselves.
191
"Marguerite Gérard" by Richard Ran
and in Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in Eight
hteenth-Century
France (Princeton: Princeton University
sity Press: 1997) 188.
68
A contemporary viewing this photo would have understood the significance of such a
large group of children. These toddlers, perhaps one belonging to each lady, were meant to
inspire women to maximize their fertility. The younger girl in the background means that one of
these young women is likely already upon her second child. But the image is not simply a
representation of women's biological functions. These women are not giving their babies to wet
nurses to be raised in the country, but instead fully embracing the ideal's of Emile and
participating in their upbringing. The need to increase population was not only about numbers
but about shaping the character of the nation.
A third examination of this image is warranted for the women's manner of dress. They
are clothed à la Grècque, a style which reached its zenith during the Directoire period. The
subjects of the painting wholeheartedly embrace this style with their loosely draped dresses,
Grecian hair styles, and white sheer fabric. Gérard depicts these women not only as fashion
followers, but as women asserting their support of revolutionary ideals through dress. Women
during the Revolution used fashion as "an expression of the individual's inner self rather than of
mere aristocratic luxury, dictated by an ideology of taste instead of hierarchies of rank and
privilege."192 These styles visually represented a woman's support for the virtues of antiquity by
dressing as a Grecian mother. The whiteness of their clothing represents femininity and purity,
characteristics associated with the feminine ideal of the time. Their dresses also illustrate the
raised waists of the time which placed an emphasis on the breasts. Men and women alike
believed that the Grecian manner of dress allowed women to perform their natural duties, "The
breast, free from all entrapment, exempt from any defaults, is free to swell to the necessary
perfection so it can be used for its natural destiny."193 Gérard is making a statement within her
painting which characterizes the ideals of the Revolution in their entirety. Through their dress
and activity, these women are the painted ideals espoused by the government and population at
the time and make a strong statement for the continuation of familial and motherly roles within
society.
Within the decade, images portray the swift developments of family and marital ideals.
Not only are women becoming more involved in their children's lives, but their very manner of
192
Claire Cage, "The Sartorial Self: Neoclassical Fashion and Gender Identity in France, 1797-1804" EighteenthCentury Studies Vol. 42 No. 2 ( Winter 2009): 204.
193
L'Arlequin, ou Tableau des modes et des gouts, Premier Trimestre (Paris: Alexandre Deferriere, an VII [179899]), 42.
69
dress depicts an attachment to classical ideals. These depictions will be taken to a higher level
during the early nineteenth century.
The Napoleonic Era
Genre painting continued to grow in popularity as the nineteenth century dawned. Several
shrewd artists were able to seize upon this trend and portray ideal families of the time. As
mentioned before, middle class families were beginning to adorn their homes with such scenes.
This trend continued to grow during the Napoleonic era. In some cases, the images were
allegorical statements representing the tumultuous times in which people lived. The paintings
also helped perpetuate morals and instruct men and women in their appropriate behavior.
(Figure 6: Jacques-Louis David, The Sabine Women Intervene in the Struggle Between the Sabini and the
Romans, 1799)
70
David's work caused a stir when it was exhibited at a Salon in 1799. The public
immediately recognized the work at as a "monumental tribute to the ideal of Roman civic virtue
which was to form the central plank of the revolutionary ethic."194 The classic story of this image
is a tale of women who, after being abducted from their tribe, married and conceived children
with their Roman captors. In an attempt to retrieve their women, the Sabine men attacked the
Romans and caused a fierce battle. However Hersilia, the daughter of the Sabine leader, places
herself and her children between her father and her husband, Romulus of Rome. The two men
pause in their battle for fear of harming the woman they both love and their children. For France,
the image represents the factionalism of French politics of the period and the need to make
peace. The women and children directly represented the women of France who in turn represent
the future of the nation.195 This image is a classic example of the tension between duty to the
fatherland or to the home. However, according to the image, by securing the safety and future of
your home (in this case your family) then one could secure the safety and future of the nation
itself. Differing political goals and warring factions destabilized society and created an uncertain
future for one's children. The image asks the French people to abandon "the pursuit of the lofty,
puritanical ideals of the revolution for the more humble concerns of safety and happiness."196
The Roman setting of the image also recalls virtues traditionally associated with the
Roman Empire. David was sending a message to the public that if they only looked to the
classics, most of which educated men were already familiar with, the key to a peaceful future for
France could be found. Citizens should learn from the Roman past and apply the lessons to their
own personal lives. This historical style of painting which featured Roman myths and history had
already presented itself during the 1780s, but would continue to grow in popularity well into the
nineteenth century.
194
Walter Markov, Grand Empire: Virtue and Vice in the Napoleonic Era (New York: Hippocrene Books 1990),
137.
195
Petra Ten-Doesschate Chu, Nineteenth-Century European Art (Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2003)
112.
196
Chu, Nineteenth-Century European Art, 112.
71
Figure 7: Louis Leopold Boilly, The Reading of the Eleventh Bulletin of the Grande Armée (1807)
Louis Leopold Boilly's 1807 painting, The Reading of the Eleventh Bulletin of the
Grande Armée is a perfect example of how Napoleonic culture is represented through art. In
addition, his audience was not only limited to the elite; as the middle classes began to grow,
genre paintings such as these could be found at various levels of society. This example is
particularly poignant because it represents how the Napoleonic wars affected families inside the
home, a trait which is characteristic of Boilly's earlier nineteenth century works.197
Judging by appearances, the family is a moderately successful middle class group one,
well fed and comfortable. As evidenced by the men in uniform, their sons are in Napoleon's
army. The mother in the background carefully nurses her own child below a bust of the Emperor.
Not only is she living up to the Napoleonic ideal of motherhood, but she is stoically sacrificing
197
Susan Siegried, The Art of Louis-Léopold Boilly: Modern Life in Napoleonic France (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1995) 53.
72
her elder sons to the Empire.198 She appears the very model of emotional constraint. She
dutifully performs her responsibilities and does not seem visually disturbed by news from the
Prussian front.
In the forefront we have the younger children playing at a game with cards. It appears
that the young girl is upset because her stack of cards, which possibly represents a regiment, has
been knocked down by an angry dog. The little girl, who has yet to learn the importance of
stoicism, acts out her emotions. This contrasts sharply with her brother who carefully analyzes
the situation while dressed up as a little soldier. Even at such a young age, the children are
preparing for the respective gender roles. The boy will be a masculine patriarch whose gift of
reasoning will serve him well in family and battle. The girl however is upset by more trivial
things and is unable to calm down at the sight of violence. Perhaps she is even worried for the cat
like a mother for her child.
At the center of the image we have the grandfather, the supposed patriarch of all the
family. He represents the apex of Napoleonic society and is leering at his grand-daughter or
daughter-in- law who allows a soldier to gently caress her hand. Judging by his angry look, it is
possible that he disapproves of the action going on between the woman and man. The patriarch is
pointing to a section on the map which the woman eagerly looks at, likely representing a spot
where her husband or loved one is fighting. With so many men gone, it was worried that the
forced celibacy of woman would cause them to go astray. However the woman appears
concerned as she stares at the map while her knitting absently falls from her hand.
This image represents a reality for families during the Napoleonic era who felt the effects
of war and changing expectations for family life. The work covers several different ideals from
the early nineteenth century in a remarkably fluid motion. By observing the characters and their
reactions to events, it is possible to discern a message which contemporaries would have been all
too familiar with. Napoleon, the father of the people comes first and the nation is your family to
whom you owe fidelity and sacrifice. The father within the home is the patriarch who guides the
family to their responsibilities, while the mother acts as a virtuous model whom men and women
198
Albert Boime, "Louis Boilly's Reading of the 11th and 12th Bulletins of the Grand Armée," Zeitschrift fur
Kustgeschichte, Vol. 54 No. 3 (1991) pp. 374-387: 379.
73
should respect and follow. The family is united in war and stabilized by the watchful eye of
father and mother.199
Images from the Napoleonic era are characterized by distinct gender roles which are
influenced by Roman and Greek culture. The tumultuous Napoleonic wars made citizens yearn
for a sense of stability. This stability was found within the family and solidified by paternal
power.
Conclusion
The changes in art from the mid eighteenth century are startling. Within a relatively short
period, men and women were imbued with a new sense of duty to the country. At the forefront of
this sentiment was the family. As the Revolution raged on, parents often sought to set aside their
selfish needs in favor of their offspring. Society believed that a new and stronger future could be
possible if children were properly educated and nurtured by their parents. These changes are
visually illustrated through artwork of the time and leave no doubt to the diffusion of new family
ideals at all levels of society.
199
Boime, "Louis Boilly's Reading of the 11th and 12th Bulletins," 374-383.
74
CHAPTER SEVEN
CONCLUSION
The last decade of the eighteenth century represents a unique time period. French society
took hold of their future. New legislation and attitudes confirmed their steps towards the
nineteenth century. The family became more egalitarian, marriage secularized, emotions
emphasized and the family became a key political instrument. Napoleon responded to society's
wishes and provided a sense of continuity from the French Revolution. Instead of becoming the
assassin of the French Revolution, Napoleon became its new director. Mediating between the
extreme left and right. He directed the Revolution towards a middle road which continued to
emphasize major revolutionary concepts such as equality and secular marriage. The
revolutionary and Napoleonic periods represent a society searching for a new identity. Once
which contrasted greatly with their early eighteenth century ancestors.
It is obvious that the Revolution changed society's perceptions of marriage and family.
Once questions that arises is what stayed the same? There is a sense of continuity from the
ancien régime to the Napoleonic era. Marriage remained at the forefront of debates. From
sixteenth century legislation to that of the nineteenth century, marriage was an important aspect
of society. Marriage was always the only means through which legitimate children would be
produced. In addition, the birth rate was inextricably tied with marriage. As a result, children
were a concern well before the French Revolution. Overall, despite the changes in legislation and
attitude, marriage and family remain a key indicator of cultural change. The shift towards new
concepts of marriage and family are clearly illustrated as French society fought to create the
modern world.
75
REFERENCES
PRIMARY SOURCES:
Archives Départmental, 3 E 3211, Notaire Pierre-Adrien Acarier.
Archives Départmental 3 E 3213, Notaire Pierre-Adrien Acarier.
Bonaparte, Napoléon. "Notes sur l'établissement d'Écouen." addressed to the Comte de
Lacépède, Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, 15 May 1807. In Women, the
Family, and Freedom: The Debate in Documents: Vol. 1. Edited by Susan Groag Bell
and Karen M. Offen. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983.
Collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, réglements, et avis du conseil d'etat de puis
1788 jusques et y comprise 1824: Tome Sixième. Paris: L'imprimerie nationale par
Baudouin, 1825.
"Decree Abolishing Hereditary Nobility and Titles, 19 June 1790." In A Documentary Survey of
the French Revolution. Edited by John Stewart. New York: Macmillan, 1951.
De La Tour du Pin, Henriette-Lucy Dillon. Memoirs of Madame de La Tour du Pin. New York:
The McCall Publishing Company, 1971.
Hennet, Joseph-Albert. Du Divorce. France, 1789.
Henri II. Edit du Roi sur les mariages clandestins. 1556.
L'arlequin, ou tableau des modes et des gouts: Premier Trimestre. Paris: Alexandre Deferriere
an VII (1798-1799).
Prudhomme, Louis-Marie. "On the Influence of the Revolution on Women, 12 February 1791."
In The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History. Translated
by Lynn Hunt. Boston/NewYork: Bedford/St. Martins, 1996.
Roland, Manon. The Private Memoirs of Madame Roland. Edited by Edward Gilpin Johnson.
Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1901.
SECONDARY SOURCES:
Adams, Christine. "Constructing Mothers and Families: The Society for Maternal charity of
Bordeaux, 1805-1860." French Historical Studies Vol. 22 No. 1 (Winter, 1999): 65-86.
76
Agresti, Jean-Philippe. Les régimes matrimoniaux en Provence à la fin de l'ancien régime:
Contribution à l'étude du droit et de la pratique notariale en pays de droit écrit. Aix-enProvence. Presses Universitaires d'Aix-Marseille, 2009.
Ariès, Philippe. Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. Translated by Robert
Baldick. New York: Random House, 1962
Boime, Albert. "Louis Boilly's Reading of the 11th and 12th Bulletins of the Grand Armée."
Zeitschrift fur Kustegschichte Vol. 54 No. 3 (1991): 374-387.
Blum, Carol. Strength in Numbers: Population, Reproduction and Power in Eighteenth Century
France. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
Burguière, André. "La révolution française et la famille." Histoire, Sciences Sociales Vol. 46 No.
1 (Janvier-Février 1991): 151-168.
Burguière, André. Le mariage et l'amour en France: De la Renaissance à la Révolution. Paris:
Seuil, 2011.
Burguière, André, Robert Wheaton, and Tamara K. Hareven. Editors. Family and Sexuality in
French History. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980.
Burton, Jane. Napoleon and the Woman Question: Discourses of the Other Sex in French
Education, Medicine, and Medical Law 1799-1815. Lubbock: Texas Tech University
Press, 2007.
Cage, Claire. "The Sartorial Self: Neoclassical Fashion and Gender Identity in France, 17971804." Eighteenth-Century Studies Vol. 42 No. 2 (Winter, 2009): 193-215.
Chu, Petra Ten-Doesschate. Nineteenth-Century European Art. Upper Saddle River: Pearson
Prentice Hall, 2003.
Darrow, Margaret. "French Noblewomen and the New Domesticity, 1750-1850." Feminist
Studies Vol. 5 No. 1 (Spring 1979): 41-65.
Darrow, Margaret. "Popular Concepts of Marital Choice in Eighteenth Century France." Journal
of Social History Vol. 19 No. 2 (Winter, 1985): 261-272.
Diefendorf, Barbara. "Women and Property in ancien régime France: Theory and Practice in
Dauphine and Paris." in Early Modern Conceptions of Property, edited by John Brewer
and Susan Staves. London: Routledge, 1996.
Desan, Suzanne. The Family on Trial in Revolutionary France. Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 2004.
77
Desan, Suzanne and Jeffrey Merrick. Editors. Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern
France. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009.
Desan, Suzanne. "War Between Brothers and Sisters: Inheritance Law and Gender Politics in
Revolutionary France." French Historical Studies Vol. 20 No. 4 (Autumn, 1997): 597634.
Flandrin, Jean-Louis. Families in Former Times: Kinship, Household, and Sexuality. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Fraser, Antonia. Marie Antoinette: The Journey. New York: Random House, Inc., 2001.
Garrioch, David. "The Everyday Lives of Parisian Women and the October Days of 1789."
Social History Vol. 24 No. 3 (October 1999): 231-249.
Goodman, Dena. Becoming a Woman in the Age of Letters. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
2009.
Gutwirth, Madelyn. The Twilight of the goddesses: Women and Representation in the French
Revolutionary Era. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992.
Hardwick, Julie. The Practice of Patriarchy: Gender and the Politics of Household Authority in
Early Modern France. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
Hayhoe, Jeremy. "Illegitimacy, Inter-Generational Conflict and Legal Practice in EighteenthCentury Northern Burgundy." Journal of Social History Vol. 38 No. 3 (Spring, 2005):
673-684
Heuer, Jennifer. The Family and the Nation: Gender and Citizenship in Revolutionary France,
1789-1830. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005.
Hufton, Olwen. Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the French Revolution. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1989.
Hunt, Lynn. The Family Romance of the French Revolution. Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1992.
Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in Eighteenth-Century France. Edited by Richard
Rand. Princeton: Princeton University Press: 1997)
Kindleberger, Elizabeth R. "Charlotte Corday in Text and Image: A Case Study in the French
Revolution and Women's History." French Historical Studies, Vol. 18 No. 4. (Autumn,
1994): 969-999
Landes, Joan. Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press. 1988.
78
Lanza, Janine. From Wives to Widows in Early Modern Paris. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing
Company, 2007.
Markov, Walter. Grand Empire: Virtue and Vice in the Napoleonic Era. New York: Hippocerne
Books, 1990.
Martin, Xavier. "The Paternal Role and the Napoleonic Code." In Paternity and Fatherhood:
Myths and Realities. Edited by Lieve Spaas. London: Palgrave Macmillion Publishers,
1998.
Maza, Sara. "Luxury, Morality, and Social Change: Why There Was No Middle-Class
Consciousness in Prerevolutionary France." The Journal of Modern History Vol. 69 No.
2 (June, 1997): 199-229.
McBride, Theresa. "Public Authority and Private Lives: Divorce after the French Revolution."
French Historical Studies Vol. 17 No. 3 (Spring, 1992): 747-768.
McMahon, Darrin. Happiness: A History. New York: Grove Press, 2006.
Neumon, Robert. Baroque and rococo Art and Architecture. London: Laurence King Publishing,
2013.
Phillips, Roderick. Family Breakdown in Late Eighteenth-Century France: Divorces in Rouen,
1792-1803. Gloustershire: Clarendon Press, 1980.
Phillips, Roderick. "Women and Family Breakdown in Eighteenth-Century France: Rouen 17801800." Social History Vol. 1 No. 2 (May, 1976): 197-218.
Posner, Donald. "The Duchesse de Velours' and her Daughter: A Masterpiece by Nattier and its
Historical Context." Metropolitan Museum Journal Vol. 31 (1996): 131-141.
Proctor, Candice. Women, Equality, and the French Revolution. Westport: Greenwood Press,
1990.
Quinlan, Sean. "Physical and Moral Regeneration after the Terror: Medical Culture, Sensibility,
and Family Politics in France, 1794-1804." Social History Vol. 29 No. 2 (May 2004):
139-164.
Reddy, William. "Sentimentalism and its Erasure: The Role of Emotions in the Era of the French
Revolution." The Journal of Modern History Vol. 72 No. 1 (March, 2000): 109-152.
Reddy, William. The Invisible code: Honor Sentiment in Post revolutionary France, 1814-1848.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
79
Reddy, William. The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework for the History of Emotions.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Reinhardt, Leslie. "Serious Daughters: Dolls, Dress, and Female Virtue in the Eighteenth
Century." American Art. Vol. 20 No. 2 (Summer, 2006): 32-55.
Rogers, Rebecca. "Competing Visions of Girls Secondary Education in Post-Revolutionary
France." History of Education Quarterly Vol. 34 No. 2 (Summer 1994): 147-170.
Rogers, Rebecca. From the Salon to the Schoolroom: Education Bourgeois Girls in NineteenthCentury France. University Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 2005.
Rogers, Rebecca. Les demoiselles de la légion d'honneur: Les Maisons d'éducation de la légion
d'honneur au XIX siècle. Paris, 1992.
Russo, Kathleen. "A Comparison of Rousseau's 'Julie' with the Heroines of Greuze and Fuseli."
Woman's Art Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 (Spring-Summer, 1987): 3-7.
Sardon, Jean-Paul. "L'évolution du divorce en France." Population Vol. 51 No. 3 (Mai-Juin
1996): 717-749.
Siegried, Susan. The Art of Louis-Léopold Boilly: Modern Life in Napoleonic France. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
Spencer, Samia. Editor. French Women and the Age of Enlightenment. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1984.
Thouret, Jacques-Guillaume. "Report on the Basis of Political Eligibility 29 September 1789." In
The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History. Translated by
Lynn Hunt. Boston/NewYork: Bedford/St. Martins, 1996.
Tuttle, Leslie. Conceiving the Old Regime: Pronatalism and the Politics of Reproduction in
Early Modern France. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Verjus, Anne. Le bon mari: Une histoire politique des hommes et des femmes à l'époque
révolutionnaire. Paris: Fayard, 2010.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. "Citizens all? Citizens some! The Making of the Citizen." Comparative
Studies in Society and History Vol. 45 No. 4 (October, 2003): 650-679.
Wilson, Adrian. "The Infancy of the History of Childhood: An Appraisal of Philippe Ariès."
History and Theory Vol. 19 No. 2 (February, 1980): 132-153.
Wilson, Stephen. "The Myth of Motherhood a Myth: The Historical View of European ChildRearing." Social History Vol. 9 No. 2 (May, 1984): 181-198.
80
Woods, Robert. "Did Montaigne Love his Children? Demography and the Hypothesis of Parental
Indifference." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 33 No. 2 (Winter, 2003):
421-442.
Woshinsky, Barbara. Imagining Women's Conventual Spaces: the Cloister Disclosed.
Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2010.
Yalom, Marilyn. A History of the Breast. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998.
81
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Allyce was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia to a naval officer stationed in Norfolk. Growing up
in a military family, her travels and moves to different states and countries encouraged her
interests in History. Her experience living in Cairo, Egypt as a young teenager increased her
independent spirit while giving her a greater understanding of world events. Since moving back
to the United States, Allyce has continued to travel. Continuing on with her love of French, she
double majored in History and French at Florida State University. while pursuing B.A., Allyce
studied abroad at the Institut Catholique in Paris, France during the Sumer of 2010. The
experience confirmed her love of French history and the French language. In fall of 2011 she
continued her education at Florida State University pursuing a M.A. in the Institute on Napoleon
and the French Revolution. She graduated in Spring 2013 and is currently looking forward to
further travels, developing her career, and pursuing her dreams.
82