The Liberal Libertine: Gender and Revolution in the Writings of Francisco de Miranda

Abstract

Francisco de Miranda's life embodied the contradiction which was central to the Age of Democratic Revolution: to what extent could the liberal ideologies emerging from the Enlightenment replace the old order? Just as other pre-Revolution social and cultural systems like slavery and monarchy survived democratic revolution, patterns of gender relations endured radical political insurrection and emerged relatively unscathed. This paradox is exemplified in Miranda’s simultaneous subversive political acts and conformity with existing libertine forms of masculinity. – Elizabeth Hurd