Compare And Contrast Marx And Mary Wollstonecraft

Revolution is something that many people have called for over the years for different reasons. It is difficult to define because of how differently each person interprets the word, but at the end of the day it is something that is called for when there is a dire need for change in society. Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Karl Marx advocated for changes in society and wrote about how these changes could take place. However, their ideas of a revolution were very different from one another. Wollstonecraft was known for writing about the inequality of women in society and how this inequality was due to the lack of education of women. Marx, on the other hand, wrote about how inequality in society was caused by how harsh the capitalist system was and

According to him, they were all that was really needed to bring about a revolution. His reasoning behind this was that it is not the oppressors job to organise a revolution, but the job of the oppressed. It was up to them to stand up for themselves and bring about the changes and reforms that they wanted to see take place. We can see this stated in chapter two of the Communist Manifesto when he states: “if the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled… to organise itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution… and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class." Marx believed that they were greater in number than the bourgeoisie and would not only be able to overthrow them, but since they were also in charge of the production of materials, halting this production would cause a lot of harm and would force the bourgeoisie to enact some sort of change as the halt of production would not only harm the economy, but their pockets

She particularly emphasised beginning with social reforms, and starting with the education system. This is because for one, young children are easily influenced and if both sexes are taught and treated equally then social change will slowly begin to occur as old ways of thinking would not be taught anymore. Not only that, but being treated equally from the beginning would lead to equal opportunities for all and a less sexist society as everyone would be taught to respect one another equally. Furthermore, Wollstonecraft also wanted to reform the government, so that there would be equal opportunities for women to openly speak and help make informed and better decisions at that level. This wouldn’t be possible without the education of women. She believed that in order for women to do their moral duties properly they should be educated so that they can “unfold their own faculties and acquire the dignity of conscious virtue” just like their male counterparts. Essentially, she believed that in order for women to be the perfect ‘model citizen’ that society wants, they should be able to receive an education, as without it they would not have any knowledge of the world around them nor have the same virtue as the opposite sex. This would eventually all lead to a more equal economy