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Whereas much of the literature on women and the French Revolution continues to see political activity as incommensurate with a desire to behave properly as a woman, studying the correspondence of Marie-Jeanne Roland from 1788 to 1793 shows how she combined political action with respect for gender norms in the last six years of her life. Both while living in the countryside near Lyon and in Paris itself, Roland assumed three roles which she deemed proper to a woman patriot: inciting revolutionary action, formulating policy, and informing others of revolutionary events. The importance of each of these roles shifted with changes in political climate, as did Roland’s conception of what constituted appropriate female behaviour. What made these changes possible was Roland’s ability both to adapt her political strategy to her circumstance and to create a mutable gender code to fit her political needs.

Publisher: University of Toronto Press