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How Did Mary Wollstonecraft Contribute To The Enlightenment?

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The Enlightenment was known as a movement of reason, tradition and faith underlooked. This movement changed the way individuals looked at life, many of these ideas being applied and taught to students today. Male philosophers, and writers writers contributed to these ideas, however this was also a time period for women to contribute their ideas as well. The Enlightenment was still a time where women were expected to be fulfilling their duties such as tending to their houses, having children, and focusing on finding a husband. However, many books written by women express their ideas on the current subjects discussed during the Enlightenment. Their ideas sparking the conversation of topics and being impactful present day. Some examples of …show more content…

Wollstonecraft suggests in A Vindication of the Rights of Women,” that to improve both sexes they ought, not only in private families, but in public schools, to be educated together.” The idea Wollstonecraft proposes has been an influence on education today as schools have a fair amount of young girls and boys. Wollstonecraft advocated for women to be included in the education system as well, then would women be as exceptional as boys. This proposal encourages the idea of more females receiving an education and attending school. Not just exclusively with girls, but so females could be on the same level as boys. The idea of day school was proposed to make this possible, as Wollstonecraft suggests, “Day schools, for particular ages, should be established by the government, in which boys and girls may be educated together. The school for younger children, from five to nine years of age, ought to be absolutely free and open to all classes.” Wollstonecraft not only advocated for young ladies to go to public school, even the schooling to be free for young children. This idea is used today widely, a normal for girls and boys to go to public school, different types of school and classes available for young …show more content…

Enit Stiner acknowledges, “In a Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft threw down the gauntlet, not only to her male readers, but equally important to the other women writers of her day, as she called for a ‘revolution in female manners’ And these women took up Wollstonecraft’s challenge.” Wollstonecraft inspired her readers to take part in this change. Stiner writes on the influence Wollstonecraft had on female readers during her time. Not long after, female readers were putting their views on paper. Male and female readers were clearly fazed, their attention grabbed with Wollstonecraft’s work. Stiner mentions, “Mary Hays based both of her novels, Emma Courtney (1976) and The Victim of Prejudice (1799), on Wollstonecraft’s program for social reform.” Mary Hays was another female writer and friend of Wollstonecraft who wrote her novels, influenced by the works of Wollstonecraft. This quote shows Wollstonecraft had some influence on novels written by female writers during the Enlightenment. Her work was to be known to many writers, whether they “endorsed her views or contested them”. Those who read Wollstonecraft’s works were inspired to write or contribute their ideas as well whether they agreed or disagreed. No matter their opinion, readers had something else to say proving the influence Wollstonecraft had on readers during her

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However, Elizabeth Smith points out that Wollstonecraft avoids associating herself with weak women, but she shares the feeling of oppression by men. She strengthens her ethos by being a strong woman who stands up against oppressive men, and she appeals to the emotions of the female audience by the use of first person pronouns. Wollstonecraft wants women to find strength to fight for equality, so she draws the anger from women who feel that men treat them as objects. She then calls for women to stand up for themselves against oppressors because she knows the female audience’s anger encourages women to gain confidence. Thus, Wollstonecraft appeals to the female audience’s emotions with first person pronouns that show how Wollstonecraft experiences the same adversity as all women, but she also strengthens her ethos by distancing herself from weak, submissive women in order to encourage women to join her in the fight to end man’s oppression of

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As a woman striving for intellectual and philosophical pursuits, she challenges the stereotype of women as intellectually “inferior” to men. Moreover, Wollstonecraft strategically employs references to other influential thinkers and philosophers of her time, such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. By aligning herself with prominent intellectuals, she positions her ideas within a broader philosophical context, making her arguments appear well-grounded and respected by her peers. This tactic further enhances her ethos and enhances the credibility of her

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It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.

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In her document she claims that, “Women must be allowed to found their virtue on knowledge, which is scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same pursuits as men”(Wollstonecraft, On National Education). Wollstonecraft dynamically argued that if women had the right to study, they’d be able to prove they aren’t inferior by ignorance and low desires. Despite the fact that these four philosophers had contrasting ideas on how to enhance daily life, they all concentrated the same central idea. They each contributed something unique to their society, which has influenced our daily

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These men attacked the despotism of kings and rejected the institution of slavery but endorsed the subordination of some human beings to others on the basis of gender (Kidner, 523). Mainly her argument was that if women had the same opportunities and education as men they would not be inferior to men. Even so, Wollstonecraft also believed that mothers should continue to be the nurturing factor in their children’s

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In the book of vindication of the right of a woman, Wollstonecraft brings out clearly the roles of a woman in her society and how it has led to oppression of women (Wollstonecraft 22). Wollstonecraft believes that men and women are equal given the same environment and empowerment, women can do anything a man can do. In her society, education for women is only aimed at making her look pleasing to men. Women are treated as inferior being and used by men as sex objects. Wollstonecraft believed that the quality of mind of women is the same with that of men, and therefore women should not be denied a chance for formal education that will empower them to be equal with men.

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Wollstonecraft argues for a co-education model which could be accomplished “by allowing the sexes to associate together in every

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Indeed, Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication on the Rights of Women brings a conversation around the concept of womanhood and their place in society. Literature like Wollstonecraft's push the reader in a different way than Wheatley's. With lines like, "but if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from a participation of the natural rights of mankind" she guides the reader through her critique of society. No longer leaving the work to the reader, Wollstonecraft makes clear arguments in defense of women's rights and their potential as human beings-in a society that clearly does not consider their opinions. Similar to her, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France give a slightly different critique on society.

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Mary Wollstonecraft’s A vindication of the rights of women written in 1792 can be considered one of the first feminist documents, although the term appeared much later in history. In this essay, Wollstonecraft debates the role of women and their education. Having read different thinkers of the Enlightenment, as Milton, Lord Bacon, Rousseau, John Gregory and others, she finds their points of view interesting and at the same time contrary to values of the Enlightenment when they deal with women’s place. Mary Wollstonecraft uses the ideas of the Enlightenment to demand equal education for men and women. I will mention how ideals of the Enlightenment are used in favor of men but not of women and explain how Wollstonecraft support her “vindication” of the rights of women using those contradictions.

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This includes a new public education system where boys and girls studied together and learned the same things. Wollstonecraft concludes her

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Wollstonecraft argues for the rights of women in her A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects. She opposes that only men can receive education. Women are taught by their mother the knowledge of human weakness, “cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience, and a scrupulous attention to a puerile kind of propriety” (2.2). They should be beautiful, then men will protect them. Wollstonecraft argues that women focus on being beautiful and stay indoors, they can’t really run reason because they depend on men.

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This is because when Wollstonecraft discussed about the upbringing of children, she focused her discussion on the roles of women primarily. To clarify, when discussing about caring for children, Wollstonecraft seemed to hint that the ability to care for children, belonged to women by nature. This contradicted her points not only regarding femininity but also natural rights. If women, as emphasised by Wollstonecraft, were not distinctive in nature then men, then why were women expected to care for the child? This question also introduces a final contradiction to Wollstonecraft because if there is no distinctive nature between men and women, then how was the institution of marriage supposed to remain intact?

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Although Wollstonecraft agrees with Rousseau that women are biologically not as strong as men, she does not believe that physical strength is a reason for women to be seen as subsidiary to men. According to Wollstonecraft, the systems of education in place perpetuate socialization among the sexes which results in a society in which women are not using their reason while men lack reason. This knowledge brings the importance of education to the forefront as the current educational system is perpetuating inequalities among women by educated youth to conform to the stereotypical gender norms that are brought on by socialization. To combat the negative aspects brought on through the educational system which perpetuates inequalities brought on by socialization, Wollstonecraft calls for an educational system that focuses on understanding rather than one that nurtures sensibility at the cost of understanding (Wollstonecraft, 82). She believes that the current educational system contributes to some women’s dependence on men as due to the amount of time that women have been dependent, “is it surprising that some

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In 1784, along with Fanny Blood and Wollstonecraft’s two sisters Everina and Eliza, Wollstonecraft opened a school, but closed it in 1786. Wollstonecraft was inspired by this experience and soon after wrote a pamphlet titled Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. This was her first work in which she shared her views on how women were treated as less than men, and how young girls should be educated in a better way. In the following years, Wollstonecraft wrote and published several other works, including A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Wollstonecraft died September 10, 1797, in London.

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Wollstonecraft emphasized the value of education for women, but she called for something more than opportunities to learn needle work and social graces. She stressed that a woman’s education should shape body, mind, and emotions, eventually leading to a sense of independence. Although Wollstonecraft’s thinking was a head of her time, it reflected philosophies of the Enlightenment, which championed the power of education, social reform, and moral worth and development as the right of individuals including women. Education was necessary for women, and through moral education women would acquire virtue, knowledge and honesty. For Wollstonecraft, lack of education was the cause of all feminine misery, and since women were denied the opportunity to expand their mental activities in many cases, they could never attain virtue.

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