Thesis advisor: Paul G. Spagnoli / On October 5, 1789, several hundred women first converged on the Parisian municipal government, then marched undeterred on Versailles to demand the king's aid in relieving the dire bread shortage in the city. By the end of the next day however, the women returned triumphantly to the capital not only with bread, but with the entire royal family, the National Guard, and National Assembly's promise to relocate to Paris as well. This revolutionary journée is referred to as the October Days, and this thesis seeks to address its spontaneous and premeditated origins. I argue that although the journée was not the result of an overarching conspiracy, its themes and actions had precursors in the early months of the Revolution and the years before. Also, by undertaking a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the ensuing judicial investigation of the movement, I have attempted to provide a grounding for the October Day's most important primary source through which some of the journée's most controversial aspects can be examined. Finally, I argue that this judicial inquiry significantly contributed to the polarization of the National Assembly as le peuple forced the political elites to take sides over the investigation. Thus, between October 5, 1789 and October 1, 1790 le peuple continued its struggle to reinforce the sovereignty with which it had been endowed. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

This thesis explores the multiple ways women’s capacity for political action was perceived, both by themselves as well as by others, in the early years of the French Revolution. By beginning with women’s journey to Versailles in the October Days of 1789 and concluding with the National Convention’s closure of all women’s political clubs in October 1793, this thesis will suggest that women perceived themselves politically and as viable revolutionary participants, but that these identifications were grounded in and shaped by hegemonic eighteenth-century gender norms, and often demonstrated continuity with their pre-revolutionary identities. In many cases, both men’s and women’s perceptions of women’s appropriate political roles were influenced by idealized standards and gender norms, as exemplified by the fictitious character, Sophie, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s 1762 treatise, Emile, or On Education. The ways women rationalized their political inclusion and situated themselves within the developing revolution demonstrate a sense of compromise with the same norms and ideals which were increasingly used to justify their complete exclusion from political life. Through stressing revolutionary ideals such as equality and unity and by underscoring the importance of their complementary revolutionary contributions, women presented a view of themselves as necessary and viable participants in revolutionary politics in a way that, by late October 1793, increasingly seemed to threaten established societal views on the appropriate boundaries of female political life. / Graduate / 2019-08-22