French Revolution

While the Enlightenment was bringing about changes in England, the French were undergoing their own revolution at the same time. Similar to what was happening in England, the aspects of marriage was changing in France. The implementation of divorce in France was one of the biggest changes that took place. Husband and wife no longer had to suffer through a terrible marriage. It was better to happy and not married than unhappy in marriage. The reasoning behind this was that if people were happy than that would benefit the state, which was one of the biggest goals of the French Revolution. Now, in order for a divorce to be granted there had to be mutual consent, which was something new that helped people get out of terrible marriages that, maybe, had been forced upon them. However, there were some restrictions to this new installation of divorce. Women could only petition for divorce if her husband had installed a mistress into their home, and men could petition for divorce if only suspected adultery. Thus, this shows that the divorce laws were not really equal during this time period. Even though there were some restrictions to divorce, I think it is a good thing that came about because it gave people a way to get out of an unhappy relationship. Also, it was beneficial for women because their husbands could no longer openly have an affair in their own homes, which helped them gain a little more control over their private lives. Overall, I think the French Revolution did a lot for women, even though it was disguised under betterment of the state.