A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman By Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft’s famous book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, is “one of the earliest expressions of a feminist consciousness.” Wollstonecraft claims that women are upset mainly due to the fact that they are not receiving the education they deserve, and goes on to explain how women are notorious for being weak, and mentally unstable. She blames the education system for this since all the books are written by men, and they claim that women are barley humans and are treated as another species. She questions the eligibility of men to claim they are better than women. A useful education, in her opinion, is one that teaches students how to be strong and independent. Her directed audience is anyone who is unsure of the true definition and meaning of feminism. Wollstonecraft believes that all humans are capable of the same intelligence, no matter the gender. Her overall idea is that every individual, both male and female, deserve equality.

Women’s rights did not officially begin to be a problem until 1848. Many believe that it’s been a problem from at most the 1600’s. Colonial women didn’t give a thought about their rights, but there were some female political leaders. Margaret Brent, a woman who had been given power-of-attorney from Lord Baltimore. Judith Sargent Stevens Murray, the writer of the United States’ first feminist theory. “Will it be said that the judgment of a male of two years old is more sage than that of a female the same age? I believe the reverse is generally observed to be true. But from that period what partiality! How is the one exalted and the other depressed…. The one is taught to aspire, and the other is early confined and limited.”

In the introduction to Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft asserts that the excess or scarcity of wealth leads to a state of helplessness and is therefore arguing against the innate extremity of capitalism in terms of the advancement of women. According to Wollstonecraft:

Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 in London. Her father was abusive, which negatively influenced her opinions on parenting. Mary is most known for being a feminist and writing A Vindication of the Rights of Women. A Vindication of the Rights of Women mentions many problems she has seen in current day society, including public education and parenting, but always goes back to equality for women. Mary believes that women should be equal to men, not inferior nor superior. She rightfully believes that women should have a right to education. She thinks that educating women will level the playing field between men and women. She also thinks it will make women better mothers, since they have more knowledge.

“I wish to persuade women to endeavor to acquire strength, both of mind and body” (par 1). In this one quote, Mary Wollstonecraft summarizes her entire reason for writing “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”. She effectively uses rhetorical appeals, modes of discourse, and rhetorical devices to argue why women should better themselves. Wollstonecraft uses rhetorical appeals, namely Ethos, many times throughout the paper.

In the world we live in, brilliant minds can vary from people to people, whether they are poor, wealthy, tall, short, or in this case, a female. For example, one prominent female philosopher who has impacted our view of society and many other issues, is none other than Mary Wollstonecraft. A former English writer, philosopher and advocate of women’s rights, and regarded as one of the best female rights activists of her time, Mary Wollstonecraft had spread her beliefs from one mind to another. Who are we to think that such a person as Mary Wollstonecraft had contributed and influence our very own thinking process toward the fields she had once fought for, thus, creating a foundation for what she and many others proudly stand for. In return, an innumerable amount of people now considers Mary Wollstonecraft as a

Mary Wollstonecraft, who was born during the age of enlightenment in the 18th century, is one of the most prominent feminists in women’s history. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman led her to become one of the first feminists, advocating for the rights of women. Born in a time where women’s education was neither prominent nor important, Wollstonecraft was raised with very little education. However, events in her life influenced her to begin writing, such as the way her father, Edward John Wollstonecraft treated her mother, “into a state of wearied servitude” (Kries,Steven)1. In 1792, she published Vindication on the Rights of Woman, which is one of the most prominent feminist pieces to date. This book is considered a reply to

The Age of Enlightenment encouraged writers to break away from conventional thought and express their ideas and opinions through reasoning. Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” and Marquis de Sade’s “Philosophy in the Bedroom” examine the conventional norms in their respective author’s contemporary societies. In both accounts, Wollstonecraft and Sade prescribe the path humanity should take in order to improve the human condition.

In “A Vindication of the rights of a woman”, Mary Wollstonecraft opposes the “prevailing opinion” that women were created for men. Wollstonecraft explains that this assumption may have began as early as Moses’s writings in the bible. Many of these writings portrayed men as they exert their strength and dominance over women and suggested that “the whole creation was only created for his convenience or pleasure” (Wollstonecraft 223). While the implications of what it truly means for a woman to only exist for the purpose of pleasing and serving a man has changed over time the general idea has remained the same -- women are created solely to perform tasks that are not “manly” or men cannot do such as cooking, cleaning, and having children. In

Halle Neisen Mrs. Lippincott English 1314.6 28 November 2015 Analysis of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft, most famously known as the “first feminist”, was born in London on April 27, 1759. She was raised by an abusive father that led her desire to become a philosophical writer and an advocate for women’s rights. In her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft uses examples of ethos, pathos, and logos to extend her argument that women should have individual rights, especially in education. Wollstonecraft uses ethos to convey her position that women should have individual liberties and the right to a good education.

As one of the earliest feminist writers, Mary Wollstonecraft faced a daunting audience of critics ready to dispel her cry for the rights of women. Her powerful argument calling for equality in a society dominated by men was strong, and her ideas withstood a lot of criticism to become one of the most important feminist texts. Her argument was simple and illustrates a solution to the inequality in society. The foundation of this argument is the idea of education and how independent thought is necessary to live a virtuous and moral life. In the present state of society, women are seen as inferior to men and held in a state of ignorance. The worst effect of this

In introduction, Mary Wollstonecraft wastes no time to illustrate and sadness and disappointment with their education system and their educators. Wollstonecraft believes that men see women as wives and mistresses and not “human creatures” and that the government observes the female as inferior to male. To Wollstonecraft, the instruction of women to be beautiful and yielding to men in search for marriage leaves their minds and usefulness sacrificed. Wollstonecraft’s writings are a clear and direct cry to women to have and explore their desires as well as curiosity, and in that regards, intelligence and human character. Wollstonecraft contends that a more educated woman would bring about a happier husband, child, and society. A quote that summarizes

In today’s world of 2017, feminism is more relevant and controversial than ever, with a new, controversial president and more and more women in positions of power. However, feminism has changed and evolved since the first writers expressed their wish for more women’s rights, as do all movements. “It is time to … restore to them their lost dignity—and make them, as a part of the human species, labour by reforming themselves to reform the world,” wrote Mary Wollstonecraft in her Vindication in the Rights of Women (Wollstonecraft 49). Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of the feminist movement wanted women to be able to be a good wife or mother through education, but today’s feminists are educated already- they want more rights for women, such

“…she asserted her view that the young girls she taught had been "enslaved" by men through their social training.” (Cheatle et al.). In the time she spent teaching, Wollstonecraft learned that women were taught from a young age to be submissive to men. For women, education was nothing beyond training for courtship, childbearing and motherhood, and Wollstonecraft greatly disagreed with such a system. Later in her life, Wollstonecraft went on to write her most famous and controversial work.

During the Age of Enlightenment in the late eighteenth century, Mary Wollstonecraft presented a radical essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, that shed light on the largest, underrepresented groups of the time, women. The essay voiced the inequalities women at the time faced and called upon Wollstonecraft’s audience to invoke a revolution for the rights of women. Through her writing, she presented a compelling argument that slowly allowed women to question their “place” in society and demand change to the British social order. While these changes did not happen quickly, her work sparked the feminist movements through its unique message and called upon women to demand equality through the Match Girls Strike and Women’s Suffrage