In its political structures one
finds the embodiment
of the common good, and in its polity
of equality and redistributive justice one
finds the
ideal of civic life.
Although in her later years Rosa Bonheur might have made fun
of some
of the more far - fetched eccentricities
of the members
of the community, and disapproved
of the additional strain which her father's apostolate placed on her overburdened mother, it is obvious that the Saint - Simonian
ideal of equality for women — they disapproved
of marriage, their trousered feminine costume was a token
of emancipation, and their spiritual leader, Le Père Enfantin, made extraordinary efforts to
find a Woman Messiah to share his reign — made a strong impression on her as a child, and may well have influenced her future course
of behavior.