Letters From France 1790-1796 by Helen Maria Williams

France in the late 1700s

The French Revolution took place 1789-1799, which overthrew the monarchy and established a republic. The slogan of the French Revolution roughly translates to 'Liberty, equality and brotherhood.' King Louis XVI was the only ruler of France, and he refused to listen to the complaints of his subjects. Louis XVI left Paris to live in Versailles during the French Revolution, and 20,000 people marched from Paris to Versailles to bring him back. Prisoners in the Bastille prison were liberated (but there were only 7 or 8 prisoners inside at the time). The guillotine was invented to speed up the killing of French royalty and aristocrats. Napoleon Bonaparte started his reign over France in 1806. Helen Maria Williams was in Paris at the time of the Revolution.

Travel Writing

Travel writing is form of creative non-fiction, in which the narrator's encounters with foreign places serve as the dominant subject. William Zinsser said in 'The Writer Who Stayed' in 2012 that travel writing is "not what the writer brings to the place, but what the place draws out of the writer."

Travel writing is often characterised by a journey of events and of the self. Williams initially travels to Paris and describes her experiences in the Bastille and then forms an opinion about what she has seen. This is a classic Romantic methodology. The letters could represent the journey of her judgement of the effects of the Revolution. The letters also capture Williams' emotional journey, as she starts Letter IV as optimistic, but then changes her tone when she describes the dungeons of the Bastille. However, Williams does not talk about the stereotypical tourist attractions people visit today, or even the sights rich young men went to see during their Grand Tour, as is typical of travel writing. Instead, she focuses on what she considers to be 'the real Paris.'

Romanticism

Williams was one of the first Romantic writers. The Romantic era was the artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th Century, reaching its peak from 1800-1850. Romanticism is characterised by emphasis on self, personal experience, emotion, individualism and glorification of the past and nature. Romanticism can be found in the visual arts, music and literature, as reactions to the both the French and British Industrial Revolutions. Romanticism had a major impact on education and the sciences, a complex effect on politics, associated with liberalism and radicalism, and a long term effect on nationalism.

Sensibility

Sensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness towards something, such as the emotions of others. In the 18th Century, it was closely associated with the studies of sense perception as a means through which knowledge was gathered. Theorist asserted that individuals who had ultra-sensitive nerves would have keener senses and thus be more aware of moral truth and beauty. Physical and emotional fragility, and even empathy towards others was considered a virtue in the 18th Century.

Women's Writing

Women were encouraged to write during the 18th Century, but were expected to write purely domestic fiction. Jane Austen used this as inspiration. Richard Polwhele wrote 'The Unsex'd Females, a Poem' in 1798, and described women as 'unsex'd hyenas' as they were starting to show interest in politics and moving away from their domestic role. This makes Williams' letters unusual because she largely focuses on the political climate of Paris. Women Romantics Between 1770-1835 published over 1,400 first editions of poetry by women, which are now mostly unknown.

Helen Maria Williams

Williams travelled from Britain to France in July 1790, with her sister Cecilia, to witness the anniversary celebrations of the fall of the Bastille. She supports the French Revolution and wanted one in Britain. Women were often challenged with sexual slurs if they expressed a political view that was unpopular. Williams was unmarried, but cohabiting, and was challenged on these grounds. She had similar feminist ideas to Mary Wollstonecraft.

Letter IV

This letter describes Williams' first experience of Paris. She requests to see the Bastille prison, which is now derelict. Williams describes the horrific conditions of the prison, and then continues to express her political opinions of the Revolution. Williams is overall supportive of the French Revolution, and thus sees the events that took place within it as justifiable. She talks about Parisians as being 'enlightened' as a nation. Williams describes the uncomfortable conditions of the Bastille prison; 'dungeons, which were too low to admit of our standing upright and so dark that we were obliged at noon-day to visit them with the light of a candle.' Read it

The Grand Tour Rich young men in the 17th to mid 19th centuries would have had a sort of 'gap year' between finishing education and starting work, where they would travel around Europe to learn about culture. The Grand Tour was a structured itinerary, with various landmarks and places they were expected to visit, to gain a mutual, cultural understanding with other rich men they would be working with. It was not unheard of for women to go on a Grand Tour, but it was unusual. Williams is perhaps referencing the Grand Tour, when she says 'before I suffered my friends at Paris to conduct me through the usual routine of convents, churches and palaces.'

Descriptions of personal experiences of France in Britain were unusual, almost unbelievable. Britain were afraid of having a revolution themselves, following the one in France. In fact, Britain became a police state (where the police controlled the country) to prevent the revolution from happening. Poets were often accused of being spies for the French government, as they travelled the countryside for writing.

Presentation of Paris and Parisians

The use of the phrase 'most perfect edifices' to describe the traditional tourist attractions in Paris is significant, as Williams requests to see the Bastille prison instead, despite the lack of perfection it possesses, as it gives a truer impression of what Paris is about. The reference to the 'French servant' suggests that there are still inequalities that existed in Paris around this time, in spite of the Revolution. She is overall very positive about Paris, using lexis such as 'enlightened' to illustrate this. Despite Williams' overall support of the Revolution, the negative comments she makes are towards recognition of people's suffering.] As a result of her support of the Revolution, she has come to see the effects of it, first hand. She comments, 'beams of liberty... shed... on the cottage of the peasant, as well as the palace of the monarch!' (lines 162-163)

Williams presents different groups of Parisians in different ways: Her friends (line 115) prisoners of the Bastille (line 143) 'respectable persons' who do not support the Revolution and therefore lack sensibility (line 149) 'servant' (line 119) who is triumphant, with an air of celebration

As a supporter of the French Revolution, Williams describes the 'despotic power' of the monarchs who formerly ruled over the entire country. (despot = dictator) Williams also refers to the 'splendour of the despotic throne' (line 157), and comments that if the throne can only give light (freedom) to people whilst the lower classes are still in poverty then it might as well not exist at all. Thus, this demonstrates Williams' position as anti-monarchy and pro-Revolution. Williams quotes an excerpt from Measure by Measure by William Shakespeare on lines 134-137: 'Man! proud man, / Dressed in little brief authority, / Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, / As make the angels weep.' Here, this quotation demonstrates that pride is a negative attribute; a sin to the Christian Williams. The 'little brief authority' refers to the coronation of monarchs, and the word 'dressed' seems to emphasise the temporary nature of their position of authority. 'Make the angels weep,' suggests that the 'fantastic tricks' or abuse of power is not morally right or pleasing to God.

How has Williams portrayed the French (and differentiate between different elements of French life) and herself? presents French monarchs as dictators presents her friends as happy and content presents French people as tolerant - as she was surprised they didn't revolt sooner she shows herself to have sensibility; moral compassion she presents herself as brave enough to visit uncomfortable/disturbing places, such as the Bastille she presents herself as eloquent, through her sentence structure (syntax) and educated by the references that she makes she presents herself as reflective, as she experiences things and then makes a judgement about them

Strengths and Limitations of Writing Letters

Strengths: can be more detailed than a text message recipient likely to keep the letter more so than emails more planned out than texts or emails more personal - can draw pictures, handwritten

Limitations:takes time to receive them; may be few weeks out of date, as it requires a postal service to be delivered