A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: “Author’s Introduction”

859 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Roles of education in society

Education is the key to achievement and paves the way to success. In the “Author’s Introduction” of her 1792 treatise, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft states that the education of women has been “neglected” and the instruction they receive is “a false system of education” focused on trivial matters. Because women have not been given educational opportunities on a par with men, she laments that women are viewed as inferior and “a frivolous sex” who can only rise in the world through marriage (Wollstonecraft). Women and men should be treated equally and given equal opportunities: one’s ability, not one’s sex, must be the deciding force in all aspects of life.

Wollstonecraft lived during the Enlightenment (ca. 1650 – 1800) when there was a call for greater social and political equality (Fiero 293). In 1789 the lower and middle-class French citizens revolted because of the disorder and inequality in their system. Following the Revolution, the new governing Assembly established a constitution which was prefaced by a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (303). In response, Olympe de Gourges, drew up the Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizen, demanding that women be given the same rights as men. This was the first time in history that women demanded equal property rights, government employment, and equal educational opportunities (303). Wollstonecraft’s treatise was a response to the new French Constitution, which excluded women from all areas of public life; the report on education given by M. Talleyrand-Perigord to the French National Assembly, recommending that girls' education should be directed to more subservient activities (Wollstonecraft); and a condemnation of the philosophe, J...

... middle of paper ...

...ersity Libraries. Duke University Libraries. 10 November, 2011. .

Kingsbury, Alex. "Many Colleges Reject Women at Higher Rates Than for Men." US News & World Report. US News & World Report, 17 June 2007. 10 November, 2011. .

United States of America. U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Census Bureau. The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings. U.S. Department of Commerce. 11 November, 2011. .

Wollstonecraft, Mary. "Author's Introduction." Introduction. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Feminism and Women's Studies. Eserver. 19 October, 2011. .

Show More
Related

  • Between Mary Wollstonecraft And Sor Juana De La Cruz

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Sor Juana de la Cruz are writers of the Enlightenment period, but they each approach women’s rights in a different way. While De la Druz was a Catholic nun from Mexico ad preferred to study and be alone, Wollstonecraft asserted women’s rights for all through publications directed at the masses. During the Enlightenment, people began to question old authoritative models like the Church. Our texts states, “thinkers believed inreason as a dependable guide. Both sides insisted that one should not take any assertion of truth on faith, blindly following the authority of others; instead, one should think skeptically about causes and effects, subjecting all truth-claims to logic andrational inquiry” (Puchner 92). Indeed,

    Read More

  • Declaration Of Independence Summary

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    "This is the very point I aim at. I do not wish [women] to have power over men; but over themselves" (Wollstonecraft 63). Wollstonecraft made this statement in response to Roseau dictating that if society "[Educated] women like men..." (Wollstonecraft 63), and women would resemble the male sex, and then carry less power over men. Instead of succumbing to men, Wollstonecraft stressed how education could elevate a women to reach equal statue in society. Following similar ideas to the Tao Te Ching and the Art of War, Wollstonecraft serves education as a tool of discipline to women who can use it to help elevate them in society. Wollstonecraft points out in her introduction that, "One cause to [the problem of women sacrificing their usefulness and strength to beauty attributes] to a false system of education..." (Wollstonecraft 6), and how a reformation and push for women to better educate themselves and look past what is currently there will help them reach higher status in society; therefore giving them their own independence. As Wollstonecraft dictates, "It follows then, I think, that from their infancy women should either be shut up like eastern princes, or educated in such a manner as to be able to think and act for themselves (Wollstonecraft

    Read More

  • Comparing The Slavery Of Fredrick Douglass And Mary Wollstonecraft

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Born as a free woman in London, England Mary argued for education along with unjust laws for women that subjected them to a form of slavery. As the world around her at the time was facing a political breakthrough with the United States using idea’s formed by philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes theories in the social contract, to break free from England, she hoped the French Revolution would create an era of equality and reason. Wollstonecraft places her opinion that the condition of adult women is caused by the neglect of education for girls. Most of the essay is based on her argument for education of

    Read More

  • Wollstonecraft's Society and Government Point of View

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many changes occurred in France during 1789 until 1799. This ten-year span, not only brought major upheaval to the government, but to social aspects within the country as well. Both, Edmund Burke’s, Reflections on the Revolution in France and Mary Wollstonecraft’s, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’, were published during this revolutionary time period. Although Burke and Wollstonecraft possess contradicting views, their works both include opinions about justice, equality and tradition. Burke’s conservative views persuade the reader to understand that the government follows a natural and cyclical path just as nature does. Wollstonecraft directly retorts by insisting that individuals, not nature, control society and therefore the path it takes. She also insisted that these individuals needed to alter their ways in order to revolutionize society for the better.

    Read More

  • Women's Suffrage in the 1800’s-19th Century

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    As mentioned above, women’s role were unjust to the roles and freedoms of the men, so an advanced education for women was a strongly debated subject at the beginning of the nineteenth century (McElligott 1). The thought of a higher chance of education for women was looked down upon, in the early decades of the nineteenth century (The American Pageant 327). It was established that a women’s role took part inside the household. “Training in needlecraft seemed more important than training in algebra” (327). Tending to a family and household chores brought out the opinion that education was not necessary for women (McElligott 1). Men were more physically and mentally intellectual than women so it was their duty to be the educated ones and the ones with the more important roles. Women were not allowed to go any further than grammar school in the early part of the 1800’s (Westward Expansion 1). If they wanted to further their education beyond grammar, it had to be done on their own time because women were said to be weak minded, academically challenged and could n...

    Read More

  • Life of a Sensuous Woman and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

    1844 Words  | 4 Pages

    Woolstoncraft, Mary. A Vindication of The Rights of Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 134-136. Print.

    Read More

  • The Lady of Luminosity: Henrietta Swan Leavitt

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    The androcentric view of history often fails to acknowledge the achievements of notable women who have made profound impacts that have revolutionized the way in which we see the world, as well as the universe. Although the modernized 21st century society is more apt to recognize the achievements of women with an equivocal perspective with men, it was not always so. During the early 20th century, women were consistently denied equality with men due to a perverse androcentric, male-dominated perspective that deemed women as subordinate and insignificant. This androcentric perspective limited the opportunities available to women at the time, leaving them only with domestic occupations that were deemed acceptable for women such as nurses, teachers or clerics. Very few women aspired for higher education, and even fewer achieved it. There were very few colleges that accepted women at the time, save for those erected for women alone. It is because of this, women rarely e...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Wollstonecraft's Essay On Radical Feminism

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    A change in feminism is shown between Wollstonecraft’s essay and Young’s essay. As women first demanded rights, they were coming out of complete dependence on men. Wollstonecraft and other activists fought for the basic right of education for women. As women gained liberty, they began to oppress themselves in the Third Wave of feminism. Wollstonecraft focused on the basic rights of women in her paper, saying “They must be permitted to turn to the fountain of light, and not forced to shape their course by the twinkling of a mere satellite” (Wollstonecraft 5). Here Wollstonecraft is saying that women need to be given the opportunity to get a good education, not just be taught by what their husbands tell them, so they could be their better selves.

    Read More

  • The Rights Of Women 's Rights

    2263 Words  | 5 Pages

    The rights of women have expanded tremendously in the United States over the years. Women 's rights are a lot more flexible. They are allowed to be independent. While these new milestones are a big step forward for woman 's rights in the United States there are still things that need to be corrected. While in other countries women 's rights have not changed at all. There are women in some countries who are denied the right to go to school. They are also not considered equal to men. I will be comparing women 's rights within marriage as well as the justice system in the United States to those of women in other countries in the justice system as well as being married in the Middle East.

    Read More

  • The Declaration of the Rights of Women

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    The French Revolution was a period of time in which France underwent many changes, many which could be considered revolutionary. France’s whole system and way of being was completely changed. New ideas were proposed everyday. An idea is revolutionary when it is a new idea, when it is something that has never been thought of before. The Declaration of the Rights of Women written by Olympe de Gouges on September 1791, was one of the ideas proposed to the National Assembly (Hunt, Web 1). The document proposed that since the French Revolution was all about finding equality for all people, women should be equal to men and therefore, should have the same rights as men did. Women at the time live in terrible conditions. They had little access to education, and therefore could not enter professional occupations that required advanced education, were legally deprived of the right to vote, and were not considered citizens (Class Discussion Notes). If equal rights were not given to women, the French Revolution had not reached its full potential, according to Gouges. She expressed this idea in her document, saying, “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society” (Gouges, Web). Anyone that questioned the Revolution was immediately put to death (Class Discussion Notes). If Gouges’ document and ideas were important enough to catch the attention of the National Assembly and for her to be put to death, her ideas could be considered important and revolutionary (Britannica, Web 1) But, the document was not revolutionary. The Declaration of the Rights of Women was not a revolutionary document because its ideas were taken from other people and were no...

    Read More

  • Women in the Enlightenment

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wollstonecraft, Mary. “A Vindication of the Rights of Women with Structures on Political and Moral

    Read More

  • The Appearance of Incest in Gothic Fiction

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wollstonecraft, Mary. Mary and The Wrongs of Woman, ed. Gary Kelly. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Vindication of the Rights for Women by Mary Wollstonecraft

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Vindication of the Rights for Women by Mary Wollstonecraft was published in 1792, during the French Revolution. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern to persuade women not to endeavor to acquire knowledge but convince them that the soft phrases, acceptability of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are most preferred. By intellect, I mean the men because they were the ones that were allowed to get an education therefore allowing them to become intellectual. Wollstonecraft cleverly does not try to prove her point through protests or accusations, but argue that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. She believed it was unfair for women to be treated differently and passionately wanted to make a change. That it was time to let go of feelings and begin the thought process behind the rationality of the women’s predicament. Men felt that while they would get an education an...

    Read More

  • Vindicating the Suffering Revolutionary Women in Mary Wollstonecraft’s Maria

    1976 Words  | 4 Pages

    The objective of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to examine why Wollstonecraft felt this quest into the genre of novel for the politics which she already had discussed at length in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)? The second strand of inquiry will be into the domestic ideas of despotism which arise from gender discrimination perpetuated by the state machinery, with the legal system, in particular. This second strand will envelope the prevalent issues like the legally disadvantageous position of married as well as maternal women and how the revolutionary bodies of these mothers are confined along with infliction of mental harassment by both private and state systems. The issue of the imprisonm...

    Read More

  • Mary Wollstonecraft

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.

    Read More

More about A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: “Author’s Introduction”

Open Document