Babel's Women Scholars

Babel

This flow follows the specific institutional barriers faced by Letitia Price and Victoire Desgraves as women who must disguise, negotiate, and defend their intellectual authority.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Trousers and Admission Trousers and Admission from "Babel". Trousers and Admission A conditional welcome Letitia Price and Victoire Desgraves are admitted to Babel, which is more liberal than other Oxford faculties.

Trousers and Admission from "Babel". Trousers and Admission A conditional welcome Letitia Price and Victoire Desgraves are admitted to Babel, which is more liberal than other Oxford faculties.

Trousers and Admission A conditional welcome Letitia Price and Victoire Desgraves are admitted to Babel, which is more liberal than other Oxford faculties. Yet they are required to dress as men and live apart from the college. Institutional contradiction The university claims not to discriminate while arranging their lives around the assumption that their presence might corrupt or distract male students. Inclusion exists within exclusion. Early solidarity The two women recognize one another as rare participants in a male institution. Their friendship begins with shared mockery of rules that deny their obvious competence.

The Female Faculty Barrier The Female Faculty Barrier from "Babel". The Female Faculty Barrier Unequal access Letitia and Victoire face restrictions in libraries, housing, shops, and social spaces.

The Female Faculty Barrier from "Babel". The Female Faculty Barrier Unequal access Letitia and Victoire face restrictions in libraries, housing, shops, and social spaces.

The Female Faculty Barrier Unequal access Letitia and Victoire face restrictions in libraries, housing, shops, and social spaces. Their academic permission does not extend to ordinary institutional trust. Different burdens Letitia responds by becoming severe and hypercompetent. Victoire is forced to defend not only her scholarship but the legitimacy of Kreyòl and Haitian cultural knowledge. Friendship under pressure Their different strategies create tension. Letitia seeks recognition within existing structures, while Victoire increasingly sees those structures as incapable of treating her fairly.

Women in the Revolution Women in the Revolution from "Babel". Women in the Revolution Equal risk Victoire participates in the occupation, escape, and strike as a strategist rather than a protected companion.

Women in the Revolution from "Babel". Women in the Revolution Equal risk Victoire participates in the occupation, escape, and strike as a strategist rather than a protected companion.

Women in the Revolution Equal risk Victoire participates in the occupation, escape, and strike as a strategist rather than a protected companion. Her political authority grows through action. Letitia’s divergence Letitia uses the same skills of planning and marksmanship to help the authorities. Her betrayal shows that women’s competence does not automatically produce liberationist politics. Historical agency The two women embody competing responses to patriarchy and empire. One seeks survival through collective revolt, while the other seeks safety through alignment with power.

1836, the first day at Babel

1836-1838, their first years of study

1839, from the Babel occupation to the siege