Analysis Of A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman By Rousseau

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792 and The Social Contract written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau written in 1762 have many overlapping themes. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the earliest works discussing feminism and equal rights for everyone. She wrote this in response to debates that were caused by the French Revolution, so that women would feel like they had the same rights as men. The Social Contract is a book that theorizes how a political community could best be established, while making sure people have the same liberties as everyone else. The Social Contract and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman both discuss equality and freedom, but the two papers contain very different views

What he is implying is that men will always have more power than women because they are naturally physically stronger than women. It can be interpreted that no matter how intelligent a woman is, she will never be able to overcome a man because she is limited by her lack of strength. Wollstonecraft agrees that men are stronger than women but counteracts this statement by writing that, “the woman who strengthens her body and exercises her mind will, by managing her family and practicing various virtues, become the friend, and not the humble dependent, of her husband” (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, page 19). She strongly disagrees with Rousseau and believes that as long as a woman has the proper education and upbringing, than she can be considered an equal rather than a subordinate. Wollstonecraft believes that until women are equal to men and free from their control, they will will never be moral. This is shown when she wrote, “You can’t expect virtue from women until they are to some extent independent of

Wollstonecraft believes that freedom should be given to all individuals and that these individuals should be able to think for themselves. “Liberty is the mother of virtue, and if women are slaves by their very constitution, and not allowed to breathe the sharp invigorating air of freedom, they must always languish like exotics, and be regarded as beautiful flaws in nature” is a statement that shows the she believes that women are being treated like slaves and until they are equal to men they will never be free (The Vindication of the Rights of Women, page 25). Rousseau believes that men must give up their natural liberty so that they may form a group of like-minded individuals. This is what he describes as the ultimate form of freedom. In the beginning of his book, there is a quote that says, “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” (The Social Contract, Book 1, Part 1). He is encouraging people to break free of the chains that the leaders have put in place and become their own leaders, where no one has more power than anyone else. Wollstonecraft believes that freedom should be given to each individual and that they should be able to do with it what they please, because they have been given the power of reason. Unlike Wollstonecraft, Rousseau believes that if everyone has natural liberties this is unfair to some people, so everyone should be