Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the French Revolution

The French masses overwhelmingly supported the Revolution in 1789. Economic hardship, hunger, and debt combined to put them solidly behind the leaders. But between the people's expectations and the politicians' interpretation of what was needed to construct a new state lay a vast chasm. Olwen H. Hufton explores the responses of two groups of working women - those in rural areas and those in Paris - to the revolution's aftermath.

Women were denied citizenship in the new state, but…