The French Revolution did not do much for the status of women, as it did nothing to alter patriarchy. Women were still expected to be submissive to their husbands. But during the latter half of the 19th century, women were beginning to gain legal recognition.
The fires of this movement towards feminism were fanned by such Romantic writers as Diderot and Goethe, who, extolling the rights of women, argued that, while woman may have been cast out of paradise, she had, nevertheless, kept the key.
