Olympe De Gouges’s philosophical ideas about women’s rights and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s well known writings about the men and women’s nature often intertwine. In a deep delve into what civilization and true human nature would have been like before their governed states. Rousseau comes to the conclusion that humans’ true nature and happiness can only come from being self governed, or having sovereignty and argues that in their primitive state humans could not live in peace but rather needed some form of structural government to have them coincide with each other. Since humans lack moral sense and are amoral according to Rousseau,they start off as peaceful but once groups of societies start to form they no longer maintain that peace (he explains these views in the “social contract” 1762). Rousseau also reflects on education in the writing of Emile in which he argues for men to be left by themselves in order to grow properly without restraints and have an education that allows natural orders to occur. However, in the same writing Rousseau argued the opposite for girls and women claiming that they needed to be restrained and made submissive in order to become proper companions for men in the future.Being a highly regarded philosophy at the time Rousseau influence pushed for a more domesticated upbringing in women and overall pushed excluding women from a majority of the revolutionary rights men were starting to gain access to.
Since Rousseau was very influential during this time period in the French revolution De Gouges made writings not in direct response to him but alluded in contradiction to Rousseau’s views not just on human nature but in the role women played in society. De Gouges argues that humans were capable of virtue and civilization in their own right but more importantly that women needed to have the same rights as their male counterparts. Instead of having a constrained upbringing solely to accommodate man, De Gouges explains in the Declaration that societal constraints on women, similarly to men work against nature and do more harm than good in advancing society bringing about these so called evils that Rousseau mentions in his own writings. Similarly both Rousseau and De Gouges argue that social constructs work against human nature and therefore hinder the people, however, De Gouges argued that this concept applies to both females and males while Rousseau argued that they only applied to men. Claiming that women were to be companions to men and devote their lives to becoming submissive Rosseau showed a more conservative view on women’s rights. De Gouges on the other side of the argument, advocating for women’s rights often went on to use her own experiences in her argument for freedom for women. Claiming that due to her more natural state and lack of traditional education, she had gotten her own sense of freedom which is naturally stripped from women the day they are born. She argued that false structures imposed on women stopped their true nature and eventually restrained their freedom mirroring the same concept that was used for men.
De Gouges actually engaged with a lot of Rousseau’s writings and showed admiration towards him and his theory of human progress, and freedom. The declaration of the Rights of Women addressed a lot of the issues she held with Rousseau’s traditional views in an attempt to advocate for women equally. Once again mentioning her belief in women’s right to hold property and right to divorce. Even pushing for her more radical beliefs such as women being able to name the father of their children. Though Rousseau held patriarchal views on women’s rights and freedoms, he also held the belief that humans in grouped societies turned to violence without any form of structure which De Gouges also went against. De Gouges believed humans in their primitive state were inherently good, and could achieve happiness without any altercations. She also pointed out the contradictions that Rousseau had between human nature claiming that certain societal structures and educations caused too much restraint on the true nature of man, while also writing about how men needed a structure to not revert to their malicious second primitive state. With that being said she also mentioned flaws within Rousseau’s philosophy in that he wrote in response to groups of men as society, completely removing women and families from this society, which would help progress the future. Hence De Gouges emphasis on women in her writing’s going with the notion that allowing arts such as theatre helped advance society since they allowed women to encounter more educational matters, using her philosophy that humans are already peaceful in their primitive state to push forth the thought more art and education which would lead to more advancement in society. Rousseau once again was against this belief as well for he claimed ““The continual emotion that is felt in the theater excites us,…And the sterile interest taken in virtue serves only to satisfy our vanity without obliging us to practice it”(Rousseau’s Letter to d’Alembert on the Theatre 1758). Defending his beliefs that theatre and art, worked against progressing society because it required no actual learning or experience from audiences.
Though both De Gouges and Rousseau’s philosophy worked towards advancing society for the greater good in terms of governed states, education, and theatre both clashed in how their methods for achieving this advancement came about. Rousseau believed primitive groups eventually needed some structure due to people’s lack of peacefulness, and inability to achieve happiness on their own. He also excluded women from this matter and in fact pushed for submissiveness from women, stating various times that women needed to be trained to be submissive to their male counterparts and should not be allowed the freedoms for which he constantly believed men needed. De Gouges instead thought that human nature was peaceful and could achieve happiness. She also believed women indeed did need their own liberty and needed a break away from such rigid societal structures that encompassed none of women’s natural state which was the same as man’s. They also thought differently about art and theatre while Rousseau believed that theatre simply took away from experience and knowledge that could be learned De Gouges thought it enriched people’s education. In the end there was never a direct one on one discussion brought about between the two philosophers but De Gouges was responsive to Rossues exclusion of women in his writings and his contradictions such as the structure men should obey or break free from.
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introduction
biography
philosophical explanation
comparison with Jean Jacques Rousseau
closing argument
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