A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Author Bio: Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an English writer, philosopher, and women's rights activist. Although her most famous work remains A Vindication of the Rights of Women, written in 1792, she was still prolific in other areas of literature as well, writing novels, treatises, cookbooks, children's books, and even a history of the French Revolution. After giving birth to her first child out of wedlock, Wollstonecraft married philosopher William Goodwin, to whom she birthed a second child, Mary Shelley; Shelley would go on to write one of the most well-known and well-respected novels of the nineteenth century, Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft died ten days after Shelley's birth and was largely forgotten until the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century. As a woman herself, Wollstonecraft's gender no doubt fueled her positions. Her femininity did not hinder her progress, but rather catalyzed it. She not only crafted a revolutionary viewpoint that viewed females as equal to men but created one to which many women connected. Her husband, Godwin, also likely influenced much of her work, for he was a renowned left-wing philosopher himself who believed in anarchism as the best form of government. For the most part, Wollstonecraft is a reliable narrater, offering solid and coherent evidence for her arguments.

Speaker: See above.

Date/Context: At the turn of the nineteenth century, women did not have many rights in government. Wollstonecraft's piece was published in 1792, some three years after the start of the French Revolution which served as a basis for much of this work. Many other British writers used the French Revolution as a means of creating debates in areas such as representative government to human rights. Many of these British writers actually supported the French Revolution, for it bore many similarities to their own Glorious Revolution in 1688. Most argued that the French Revolution, because it limited the power of the monarchy's power, was a good thing for France. Regardless of this liberalism, however, some were not so keen to societal advances. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord wrote a pamphlet to the National Assembly of France in which he stated that women were better off accepting their limitations and being educated in "the paternal home." Essentially, he argued against the formal education of women. This pamphlet impelled Wollstonecraft to take action and served as inspiration for A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

Summary: The beginning of Wollstonecraft's piece addresses a "what if question," in which Wollstonecraft ponders all of the good things women could accomplish (be physicians, politicians, etc.) if granted a right to education. She then states that intelligence and education last far longer than beauty, and that even after beauty fades, the work created as a result of a solid education will still remain. She says that if men were to grant women this right to education, they would be more faithful mothers and wives (as well as better citizens). She states that the time to educate is now and that "truth must be the same" for both men and women. She says that education will vindicate women from the shackles of servitude and grant them "authority of reason." The conclusion of her argument states that until equality is created, morality will never truly be present. She alleges that if one half of mankind (women) if still chained to a lack of education, then society will never reach its full potential.

Key Quotations: "Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with rational fellowship instead of slavish obedience, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers--in a word, better citizens."
"There must be more equality established in society, or morality will never gain ground, and this virtuous equality will not rest firmly even when founded on a rock, if one half of mankind be chained to its bottom by fate, for they will be continually undermining it through ignorance or pride."