Rights Of Woman

When speaking about the early beginnings of what society has dubbed as the feminist movement, a myriad of names are mentioned in this reflection towards equality. One in particular that helped shape the minds of those in Europe within the late eighteenth century is none other than Mary Wollstonecraft. Her early upbringing paired with a struggling early adulthood implored Wollstonecraft to make the argument that both men and women are born with the same brain, but with nurturing, men come out as being seen as smarter and more capable due to their advantages in this child rearing. This argument is highlighted in her piece A Vindication of the Rights of Woman where she spends time arguing the advantages men are given within society due to their

This is seen within the first few paragraphs when addressing the reader where she states “And how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she know why she ought to be virtuous?”, where she hones in on the idea of what virtue means and moreover how one can obtain it (Wollstonecraft 211). By imploring the strong verb of “expected” as well as “ought” it begs the question of how a person can ever be virtuous if they have not the slightest clue on what it even is. Wollstonecraft simply does not understand the logic behind the idea of an uneducated woman following along with the common notion that women are just supposed to understand a complex idea without a formal education, and thus pushes even further to question the necessity of being virtuous. Consequently, once society can allow the education of women to be that of men, only then can the community carry on in a manner of cooperation from everyone. In order for women to be the doormat that has been given to them in society, they must understand the nature of being complicit to a man, which in fact requires some sort of education and only then can it be appropriate to ask them to do such. This thought continues onto the next sentence where Wollstonecraft again asks a question of “Unless freedom

By bringing in a sense of nature to the piece, it helps represent how life resembles nature as well as the unnaturalness of some ideas within the community. This point can be seen in the line where Wollstonecraft points out that by women not having a developed brain through education, they are “like the flowers which are planted in too rich a soil, strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty” (Wollstonecraft 213). She invokes not only the imagery of this poor flower who will not live to its full potential but furthermore uses simile to compare the idea of a woman having a brain which does not have knowledge to a flower who is planted in an area in which it cannot grow. Women and this flower are the same within this restrictive society in that they are only seen for their beauty and nothing else, which will eventually fade away “after having pleased a fastidious eye, fade, disregarded on the stalk, long before the season when they ought to have arrived at maturity” (Wollstonecraft 213). This imagery is placed right in front of the reader to show that without a strong mind and place to grow, women as well as flowers cannot survive and develop to reach a point of sophistication that is needed to flourish. By depriving women of receiving an education due to society’s belief that women are not meant have a developed