The French Revolution created an era of enlightenment values that rose in France. These values brought an end to the ancien régime and lead to a more universal system being adopted, Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen de 1789 which is still used today. Despite only addressing the rights of men, Olympe de Gouges, predominantly one of the earliest French feminists produced a separate document designated for women. She also raised awareness against slavery, which Enlightenment thinkers would believe was a ridicule of Enlightenment values because French colonies were hierarchies of race with France at the top.
Before the Revolution, societies were perceived as corrupt with a system that only benefitted the aristocracy. At the top of the image, an eye is in the center of the light beams. This represents an all-knowing supreme being therefore the Declaration of Human Rights is universal and can be applied to everyone including the lower class. The light beams shining out illustrate the ultimate and faultless declaration that provides citizens with fundamental principles such as ‘men are born and remain free and equal in rights’. Enlighteners wanted to deconstruct the feudal system, so it was fairer towards everyone including peasants. They rejected society’s unjust laws leading to an equitable declaration.
On the left, a woman is wearing the same colors as the tricolor demonstrating that these ideas and values came from France which can be enforced throughout Europe and the world. During the 1780s, Enlightenment principles were traveling from France and revolutionizing European politics. Eventually, these ideologies of universal enlightenment traveled beyond Europe and settled in North America.
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The woman on the right has wings suggesting that the declaration is a massive upheaval to flying towards new heights in life. This also relates to the liberté of the French motto established under the Third Republic. Therefore, the declaration is necessary for man to move forward gain knowledge, and become educated in the social and political aspects. The woman is also wearing pink. This color symbolizes universal harmony and peace which can be achieved by the declaration shown below her. The déclaration formed the foundation for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signifying the global, universal element of it. However, this is an exclusive form of universalism as it does not address women. Two years after the Declaration was published de Gouges created Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne.
De Gouges not only wanted women to have rights and an education but also for them to recognize their worth. During the reign of King Louis XIV, only ten percent of women living in the provinces knew how to write their signature. This highlights the scale of how many were given the right to an education. Madame Roland, a French writer supported de Gouges but for the wrong reasons, suggesting women should have an education in order to make men happy. In this sense, women were not free as they were still being seen to serve the superior sex. During the year when Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen was published, Roland wrote in a letter ‘they (women) shall only be able to act freely when the French will have earned the right to be called free men’. Thus, the declaration is not seen as universal, applying to men only. In de Gouges’ déclaration (left) it states that ‘woman is born free and is equal to man in her rights’. As this takes into account both men and women it can be argued this declaration is more universal. De Gouges also considered the place of illegitimate children within society. This declaration gives them freedom of thought and speech in a society where they would not have been recognized and instead shunned. De Gouges motivated women to free themselves as they had not gained much from the aftermath of the Revolution, unlike men. Despite her years of campaigning for equality, she was executed.
The image on the left is taken from a French newspaper titled ‘The Civilising Mission’. France wanted to educate and integrate inferior colonies in North Africa into a civilized country. This is represented by the woman in the form of a supreme being with light around her. We can see gold falling out, suggesting she is giving resources to places where there may not be as many valuable resources unlike in France. Behind her, we can see the sea. This demonstrates France has traveled south to North Africa. The supreme being in the form of France is wearing the tricolor and we can see a man on the right holding her red cloak may be yearning for the ideologies of France, the civilized nation with a moral code of conduct. This can be supported by the two men sitting down. One is holding the book and looking up perhaps admiring and respecting France’s civilised nation and their cultivated ideologies. Further in the back, we can see a man making a salute across the sea, to France perhaps expressing his gratitude. The universal déclaration aimed to educate the world not just France, however in doing so France was blind to the fact that other countries had their own cultures, histories, and values that couldn’t be changed. The French Revolution was unique to France’s history and the Enlightenment ideas that accelerated as a consequence were in a way solely ideas that fitted France’s perspective. Therefore, the déclaration may not be universal in this sense. Furthermore, France suffers from its colonial legacy today.
The Enlightenment era put forward new ideas that were prevalent in France and created a wave of ideologies across Europe. The déclaration reflects these values that were reinforced however the universal aspect did not target everyone such as women. Olympe de Gouges directly addresses a wider range of people. However, her version was criticized reinforcing women’s inferior position in society and rejecting the universal aspect. By spreading knowledge to colonies, France ignored other cultures’ values and traditions and implemented their ideas.
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