Essay Sample about Charlotte Corday: Women in the French Revolution

At the age of 24, Charlotte Corday had a promising life ahead as a Revolutionary until she decided to kill Jean-Paul Marat.Charlotte Corday deserves a place in history because like other feminine heroes, she ultimately defined feminism. She was not as monstrous as she seemed, she may have had justifiable good intentions at heart.Her most extreme action was the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat which helped initiate the movement of empowerment of women, however, it only gathered momentum after her death. Her actions certainly changed the way women were viewed in France. This claim will be confirmed by exploring the life and death of Charlotte Corday.

Why did Charlotte Corday murder Jean-Paul Marat? 

Although her presence was short-lived, her murder of Marat was an extreme act of protest. Miss Corday believed that Marat was a plague because he supported and encouraged the use of the guillotine as means of execution in France. Charlotte Corday first found out about Marat and his rain of terror through his newspaper, L'Ami du Peuple (The friend of the people). In his Newspaper he would say the names of the people who were unfaithful to the renaissance and proclaimed that they needed to be guillotined for not believing in the renaissance, which many of them did.Charlotte felt disgusted about this and knew she couldn't stand for this. “Nothing will make me change my principles. Even with the knife at my neck, I shall still declare, up to this day, the poor have done everything; it is time for the rich to take their turn” (Marat, J, 1973) Marat had made himself clear that he believed and still believed that the poor had ruined France and it was time for the rich to make it their time and punish the poor. Corday made it her life mission to kill Jean-Paul. Corday left her home in Lower Normandy and walked two hundred miles to Paris where she brought a knife with the sole purpose of killing Marat. Corday planned to kill Marat on the 14th of June at the Bastille Day parade but was forced to seek out him in his home as the festival was cancelled. Having to go out with a different plan, she sent Marat a letter requesting an interview. After a while of waiting and no reply she wrote a second letter, this one stating that she knew the names of those in Caen who were plotting against the revolution and was prepared to reveal them to him. Marat took the bait and invited her to come over for the meeting. She came over and stabbed him straight through the heart, and waited for the police to arrest her.She did not attempt to flee, she knew what was going to happen and she embraced it, she embraced death.Corday's decision to assassinate Marat was a mixture of the September massacre for which she held Marat responsibly and for him guillotining innocent people and publicly shaming them for not following the same views that he does, Miss Corday believed that Marat threatened the republic and that his death would end violence throughout the country.

Charlotte Corday bravely confronted the men of the French Revolutions who disagreed with feminism. Men were notoriously sexist in 1790, many people making what she did sound worse than it was.Although Jean-Paul Marat supported the idea of executing people with the guillotine and still many called him their “saviour”. Charlotte Corday was laughed at when she said that she acted alone, No one could wrap their head around a woman being able to kill a man alone, “Many people couldn't believe that Charlotte acted alone, and thought she must have had male accomplices.” (Shearing, J, 1935) it seemed impossible to them. Previous to this there were not many women that killed a superior and acted alone. After Miss Corday killed Jean-Paul Marat and her death, a realisation spread through France and changed the way people viewed the capability of women. As the London Times proclaimed  “Marat has been assassinated by a WOMAN, who has since confessed that she thought she had done the best act of her life by ridding the world of such a monster.” (London Times, 1793) Miss Corday wasn't the only woman who used the French revolution as an opportunity to show the world what they could do, but even before this, women were already striving for their rights.  “Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights.” (Olympe de Gouges,1791) There was even some support from men called “Male Allies”, one of them, Marquis de Condorcet, published a newspaper article that proclaimed that the women of France should have equal political rights to men.

Was Charlotte Corday sorry for her actions?

Miss Corday felt no remorse for her actions, as she said in her trial, “I have killed 1 man to save 100.000 others.” (Corday, C, 1793) Jacques Bearnard-Marie Montane, who told that “She won’t convince anyone that a person of her age and sex conceived such a crime,” Miss Corday then replied without missing a beat, “That shows a poor knowledge of the human heart. It is easier to carry out such a project upon the strength of one’s own hatred than upon that of others.” (Montane, J, 1793) (Corday, C, 1793) Charlotte knew she wouldn't be liked but there were still people who liked her and were on her side, because of this she felt no guilt, even after being sentenced to death by guillotine she kept her head high and did not show fear, “As Charlotte stood smiling a kindly farewell to the people, the sun suddenly pierced through a rift in the storm-clouds and flooded her face and figure with the glory of it setting rays. Framed in this halo of crimson light, Charlotte moved to the spot indicated by Sanson, and laid her head under the knife.” (Lamartone’s history, 1793)  Even the few minutes she had before her death, she still did not show fear, walking up to the guillotine people tried to cover it so she would stay calm, but Miss Corday didn't like this “I have never seen a guillotine before and I am curious to know what it looks like,” (Corday, C, 1793) maybe she wasn't afraid of death, maybe she was but with her not showing it made more people like her, they thought she was inspirational, being a women and killing a politician single-handedly. Charlotte had inspired hundreds and proven how strong Women are, “She has killed us but she has shown us how to die.” (a Girondin who witnessed her performance)  After her death, people were amazed that she was so strong, and people started to embody that strength and started to prove what they could do, “let us arm ourselves. Let us show the men that we are not their inferiors in courage or virtue. let us rise to the level of our destinies and break our chains. it is high time that women emerged from the shameful state of nullity and ignorance, to which the arrogance and injustice of men have so long condemned us.” (Méricourt, T, 1793) This was the time for women to shine, and shine they did. 

Charlotte Corday was an inspiring, young woman who knew she could accomplish anything she set her mind to. After all that has been summarised, should Charlotte Corday be considered “great”? Therefore, It was shown that everything Miss Corday did was for what she thought was best for France, she did everything for what she thought was for the better of France. Charlotte Corday walked two hundred miles, killed a man and then kept her head up high even in the time of death. Charlotte is a hardworking person who was trying to make France a better place. She should be considered “great'', even though she has killed someone, other people like Michelangelo who are considered “great” have done some horrible things too. Michelangelo studied dead bodies to make better sculptures, but people still call him “great” so why can’t Charlotte? Miss Corday has every right to be considered “great” and we should give that to her, that's why Charlotte Corday should be considered “great.”