3 - German women respond to the French Revolution

Summary

INTRODUCTION

German intellectuals greeted the French Revolution with an enthusiasm that for most soon gave way to horror, as the Declaration of the Rights of Man led to revolutionary tribunals and mob violence. Within a matter of months Europe's most powerful country swept away the feudal order that had structured society for a millennium. While the events in France did not provoke similar uprisings on the part of most German subjects against their rulers, they did inspire intense reflection on the implications of what was immediately perceived as a watershed event in European history. Could citizens attain liberty and equality without violence? Could reform mend the old order and make revolution unnecessary? Because the identity of the rising middle class was closely tied to its attitudes toward sexuality and the family, reflections on revolutionary politics were inextricably linked to issues affecting individuals' seemingly private concerns. Did fraternity include women, and if not, what role were women to play in a republic? What was the relation between patriarchy in the family and patriotism in the nation?

Schiller's “Das Lied von der Glocke” [The Song of the Bell] (1800) contained one of the most influential German responses to the Revolution, as subsequent generations of schoolchildren were forced to memorize his poem. Basing his idealized image of village life on a strict division of labor between men and women – “Der Mann muß hinaus / Ins feindliche Leben … Und drinnen waltet / Die züchtige Hausfrau” – Schiller condemns revolutionary French women as appalling hyenas. Goethe's equally popular epic poem Hermann und Dorothea (1798) portrays domestic virtue with considerably greater irony.