Fragments of Saint-Just's True Personality and Views of Women
Saint-Just’s stoic and stern public persona is often discussed. However, many aspects of the revolutionary’s personality remain a mystery to historians. What is certain is that his personal and political relations, which were deeply intertwined, leave us with two likely very different presentations of Saint-Just. In his personal matters, many who knew him describe him as kind. This stoic persona that he created for himself politically likely masks the real individual. In fact, in his personal life, he diverged tremendously from antiquated understandings of many issues. For example, for a young man in Eighteenth Century France, he held relatively progressive views of women.
There are few mentions of women in his Institutions draft, but it is just that- a draft. What Saint-Just was carrying in his coat pocket was likely far from finished. In his other works, Saint-Just expresses his sympathies for women more directly, but in his Republican Institutions manuscripts, he affirms that women and children will be given equal rights to men. Furthermore, he vehemently condemns domestic violence and men who abandon their families and wives. Most interestingly, in the section of Institutions titled “Moral Institutions”, he writes:
“He who strikes a woman is punished with death.”
For another example, in his Du droit social ou De la nature piece, he writes:
“Anyone who dares to say that one sex is subject to the other lies to his own heart..."
Furthermore, in Part Three of L'Ésprit de la Révolution et de la Constitution de France, the revolutionary states:
“In a truly free people, women are free and adored... in this enslaved people, there is not a single happy woman.”
Saint-Just also expresses his frustrations, believing that women are disproportionately negatively impacted by infidelity and divorce. Challenging deeply patriarchal institutions, he wanted to know why it was less criminal for a man to be unfaithful, and why society prosecutes the victim instead of the criminal who violates both the law and social contract. According to Marisa Linton, he also was “violently opposed to the power of adults to coerce their daughters with marriage, and also opposes the condemnation of women for adultery.” This is not alluding to Rousseau’s social contract, but rather evokes a separate moral, civil one.
Additionally, there are anecdotes from Philippe LeBas, Elisabeth DuPlay-LeBas, and his friend Pierre-Germain Gateau, that account for Saint-Just's far-from antiquated views of women and discredit his alleged cold demeanor. An anecdote from a letter written by Conventionnel Philippe LeBas to his wife whilst on mission with Saint-Just in Saverne reads:
“…Saint-Just is almost as eager as I am to see Paris again. I have promised him a dinner from your hand. I am delighted that you are not angry at him; he is an excellent man; I love and esteem him more and more every day. The Republic has no more ardent, no more intelligent defender. The most perfect accord, the most constant harmony have reigned between us. What makes him still dearer to me is that he talks to me often about you and consoles me as much as he can. He attaches great value to our friendship, it seems to me, and from time to time he says things to me which flow from a kind heart.”
During the sculptor David d’Angers’ interactions with Elisabeth DuPlay-LeBas, he remarked that she would speak to him about her late friend:
“Madame Le Bas, wife of the deputy [Philippe Le Bas] and daughter of [Maurice] DuPlay, the carpenter Robespierre lodged with, had lent me a pastel portrait of Saint-Just. As soon as my bust [of Saint-Just] was finished, I ask her to come and view it. When she walked into my studio, the memory of the young representative of the people brought tears to her eyes: “Poor young man!” she said, “I can still see him, leaning against the footboard of my bed as I was nursing my son. My husband was with him. They were talking about the most serious of matters regarding the army they’d just come back from. He was beautiful, Saint-Just, with a thoughtful face, on which could be seen the greatest radiance, tempered by an indefinable look of gentleness and kindness.”
What is perhaps the most striking is the letter written by Saint-Just’s friend Pierre Germain-Gateau from prison in the early 1800s while jailed for his association with the young revolutionary, detailing the personal character of his late friend and how it contradicted the stern political personality cultivated by Saint-Just. An excerpt of the letter reads:
“Tyrant of his own passions, he had subjugated them all to know only the love of the homeland. He was soft by character. generous, sensitive, human, grateful. Women, children, old men, the infirm, the soldiers had his respect and affection; and these feelings were beating so forcefully in his heart that he was always tender at the sight of these objects that are interesting for themselves. How many tears I have seen him shed over the violence of the revolutionary government and the prolongation of an awful regime, that he only aspired to temper with institutions.”
Why might Saint-Just have chosen to publicly present himself in such a way? The stark contrast between his public and personal dispositions in the accounts of those like Gateau and Mme DuPlay-LeBas is often attributed to his desire to be taken seriously, as he was the youngest member of the National Convention. Furthermore, unlike many other Conventionnels, Saint-Just was largely separated from the epicenter of the revolution and government until his election to the Convention days after his twenty-fifth birthday. These circumstances contribute to Saint-Just's role in Montagnard political developments, as he had not established many of the firm connections and personal alliances in Paris that other revolutionaries had. For example, Saint-Just had connections to Camille Desmoulins and Robespierre prior to his election, but was until late-1792, virtually isolated from meaningful political participation in Paris. His lack of affinity for political clubs in comparison to Robespierre and the Jacobins presumably also isolated him even after he got to Paris.
Conclusion
Saint-Just, for all that he was, for all that different people over time have molded him to be, was at his core, an individual swept up in the fervor of the broader revolutionary moment. He was an individual with personal experiences, beliefs, and influences. To reduce him solely to his ideals, which also evolved over time, prevents historians of the French Revolution from understanding many essential elements of his character. His personal convictions are certainly reflected in his political rhetoric and public persona, however, anecdotes from those who knew him personally suggest that many of his popularized portrayals historically are misrepresentations at best. Moreover, it is critical that Saint-Just is analyzed as an individual, viewed not only as an extension of Robespierre.
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