Women During The Enlightenment Era

The Enlightenment Era, or Age of Reason, was a time of expressing individuality and not conforming to the “rules and regulations’ set forth by the church or monarchy of that time. This was also an important time for women of this time because they began to soon realize their role as individuals in the community and was also able to question their part in society. Even during this time, or period in history, women were thought as more of a second class citizen where their role was “housewife and caregiver”, rather than independent citizens. During this Age of Reason, women were able to form social gatherings and established institutions known as salons, to “bounce” ideas such as education philosophies off one another and gain literary support. Women were starting to think independently and critically as to how liberty and equality should apply to them and not just their male counterpart. If we were to compare salons from the Enlightenment Era to a form of medium used in today’s society, it would be most like television and media. Salons were used to influence people and enlighten them on relevant social and political topics like education, literature, and cultural arts, as well as reform. The women who hosted the salons had to be educated, sophisticated, and persuasive in all subject forms to lead
such an elite social gathering. One of the famous women who was a socialite, salonist, and author during this period was Claudine Guérin de Tencin.
Born in France (1682-1749), she was the daughter of Antoine Guérin, sieur de Tencin, the president of the parliament. She was also rumored to be involved with King Louis XV’s best friend, the Maréchal de Richelieu, and many believe she had very considerable control over his political affairs. She eventually developed a literary salon which had many high ranking socialites of the time, such as, Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle. Bernard was a very popular figure in France during this time for his position on education which some have compared to
Voltaire. Another famous saloniere was Sophie de Condorcet, best known as Madame de Condorcet. She was the wife and widow of the famous mathematician and philosopher Nicolas de Condorcet. Madame de Condorcet was highly educated for her time and was able to speak several languages such as Italian and English. Some of her best work includes translations of influential figures such as Thomas Paine and Adam Smith. She even remained an active salonist after being left penniless after the death of her husband and promoted his political view until her death in 1822.