“And yet this is perhaps the most important. On the whole, you could say that the French Enlightenment was more practical than the English philosophy.”
“You mean they lived according to their philosophy?”
“Yes, very much so. The French Enlightenment philosophers did not content themselves with theoretical views on man’s place in society. They fought actively for what they called the ‘natural rights’ of the citizen. At first, this took the form of a campaign against censorship—for the freedom of the press. But also in matters of religion, morals, and politics, the individual’s right to freedom of thought and utterance had to be secured. They also fought for the abolition of slavery and for a more humane treatment of criminals.”
“I think I agree with most of that.”
“The principle of the ‘inviolability of the individual’ culminated in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen adopted by the French National Assembly in 178V. This Declaration of Human Rights was the basis for our own Norwegian Constitution of 1814.”
“But a lot of people still have to fight for these rights.”
“Yes, unhappily. But the Enlightenment philosophers wanted to establish certain rights that everybody was entitled to simply by being born. That was what they meant by natural rights.
“We still speak of a ‘natural right’ which can often be in conflict with the laws of the land. And we constantly find individuals, or even whole nations, that claim this ‘natural right’ when they rebel against anarchy, servitude, and oppression.”
“What about women’s rights?”
“The French Revolution in 1787 established a number of rights for all ‘citizens.’ But a citizen was nearly always considered to be a man. Yet it was the French Revolution that gave us the first inklings of feminism.”
“It was about time!”
“As early as 1787 the Enlightenment philosopher Condorcet published a treatise on the rights of women. He held that women had the same ‘natural rights’ as men. During the Revolution of 1789, women were extremely active in the fight against the old feudal regime. For example, it was women who led the demonstrations that forced the king away from his palace at Versailles. Women’s groups were formed in Paris. In addition to the demand for the same political rights as men, they also demanded changes in the marriage laws and in women’s social conditions.”
“Did they get equal rights?”
“No. Just as on so many subsequent occasions, the question of women’s rights was exploited in the heat of the struggle, but as soon as things fell into place in a new regime, the old male-dominated society was re- introduced.”
“Typical!”
“One of those who fought hardest for the rights of women during the French Revolution was Olympe de Gouges. In 1791—two years after the revolution—she published a declaration on the rights of women. The declaration on the rights of the citizen had not included any article on women’s natural rights. Olympe de Gouges now demanded all the same rights for women as for men.”
“What happened?”
“She was beheaded in 1793. And all political activity for women was banned.”
“How shameful!”
“It was not until the nineteenth century that feminism really got under way, not only in France but also in the rest of Europe. Little by little this struggle began to bear fruit. But in Norway, for example, women did not get the right to vote until 1913. And women in many parts of the world still have a lot to fight for.”
“They can count on my support.”
Alberto sat looking across at the lake. After a minute or two he said:
“That was more or less what I wanted to say about the Enlightenment.”
“What do you mean by more or less?”
“I have the feeling there won’t be any more.”
But as he said this, something began to happen in the middle of the lake. Something was bubbling up from the depths. A huge and hideous creature rose from the surface.
“A sea serpent!” cried Sophie.
The dark monster coiled itself back and forth a few times and then disappeared back into the depths. The water was as still as before.
Alberto had turned away.
“Now we’ll go inside,” he said.
They went into the little hut.
Sophie stood looking at the two pictures of Berkeley and Bjerkely. She pointed to the picture of Bjerkely and said:
“I think Hilde lives somewhere inside that picture.”
An embroidered sampler now hung between the two pictures. It read: LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY.
Sophie turned to Alberto: “Did you hang that there?”
He just shook his head with a disconsolate expression.
Then Sophie discovered a small envelope on the mantelpiece. “To Hilde and Sophie,” it said. Sophie knew at once who it was from, but it was a new turn of events that he had begun to count on her.
She opened the letter and read aloud:
Dear both of you, Sophie’s philosophy teacher ought to have underlined the significance of the French Enlightenment for the ideals and principles the UN is founded on. Two hundred years ago, the slogan “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” helped unite the people of France. Today the same words should unite the whole world. It is more important now than ever before to be one big Family of Man. Our descendants are our own children and grandchildren. What kind of world are they inheriting from us?
Hilde’s mother was calling from downstairs that the mystery was starting in ten minutes and that she had put the pizza in the oven. Hilde was quite exhausted after all she had read. She had been up since six o’clock this morning.
She decided to spend the rest of the evening celebrating her birthday with her mother. But first she had to look something up in her encyclopedia.
Gouges ... no. De Gouges? No again. Olympe de Gouges? Still a blank. This encyclopedia had not written one single word about the woman who was beheaded for her political commitment. Wasn’t that scandalous!
She was surely not just someone her father had thought up?
Hilde ran downstairs to get a bigger encyclopedia.
“I just have to look something up,” she said to her astounded mother.
She took the FORV to GP volume of the big family encyclopedia and ran up to her room again.
Gouges ... there she was!
Gouges, Marie Olympe (1748-1793), Fr. author, played a prominent role during the French Revolution with numerous brochures on social questions and several plays. One of the few during the Revolution who campaigned for human rights to apply to women. In 1791 published “Declaration on the Rights of Women.” Beheaded in 1793 for daring to defend Louis XVI and oppose Robespierre. (Lit: L. Lacour, “Les Origines du feminisme contem-porain,” 1900)
Kant
...the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me...
It was close to midnight before Major Albert Knag called home to wish Hilde a happy birthday. Hilde’s mother answered the telephone.
“It’s for you, Hilde.”
“Hello?”
“It’s Dad.”
“Are you crazy? It’s nearly midnight!”
“I just wanted to say Happy Birthday ...”
“You’ve been doing that all day.”
