George Sand Was Not a Man, or Was He? An Egalitarian's Stand Against Gender Division and Its Impact on the Role of Women in Nineteenth Century France
Graduation Date
Spring 2003
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
First Reader
Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD
Second Reader
Jan Van Stavern, PhD
Abstract
This culminating project focuses on the controversial life of nineteenth century French novelist, George Sand. The paper examines the political climate surrounding Sand, her ancestry, upbringing and position on the rights of women in the context of her egalitarian ideals. Her values were influenced by nineteenth century French politics, which also contributed to the development of her socialist and republican principles. Sand’s egalitarianism was largely the result of her ancestral background and upbringing and it applied uniformly to gender. Today, Sand is viewed as having been a feminist, although she is not easily defined as such. She did not belong to any particular feminist organization and, in fact, rejected much of what they championed. Sand believed that women should have political and civil equality but that first, they must be liberated from the yokes of marital slavery, and second, they must be educated. Sand s position on the rights of women was rooted in her egalitarian views that espoused equality for all individuals in nineteenth century France, not just women.