A Woman’s Revolutionary Discourse: Olympe De Gouges

Abstract In a landmark text written in 1791, Olympe de Gouges makes a woman’s voice heard in the public arena by modulating and subverting an established genre of discourse. In her address to the queen, whose support she is seeking for the propagation of women’s rights, the speaker subverts the device of the dedicatory epistle to claim complete equality between the two sexes 1 .