blog




  • Essay / Mary Wollstonecraft's interpretation of women's rights as described in her book, A Vindication of Women's Rights

    Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman who preached the ideas of feminism at a time when the word feminism did not even exist not. As little discussion of her personal life in class piqued my interest, I decided to do some research and write my first exploratory essay on her. I was interested in his ideas and views on marriage and how that was reflected in his personal life. Reading and reflecting on his life has been very fascinating and has given me the inspiration to continue to explore his views on marriage, how this is reflected in his work and what may have influenced him to write and publish this point of view. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayA Vindication of the Rights of Women is considered Mary Wollstonecraft's best-known work, in which she addresses the importance education for women and how men should not be the only ones to deserve this right. She also points out that women's education would most likely benefit marriage, saying it would strengthen the relationship between man and woman. She believed that marriage was more like a partnership between a man and a woman (CITE). Therefore, for the partnership to be balanced, a woman must have the same knowledge and intelligence for the marriage to be successful. The only way for this idea to work was to push women to receive the same education as men, not only for their benefit, but also for both partners in the relationship. She also touched on the idea of ​​a stable marriage also contributing to the proper education of children as it would benefit the entire household. For Wollstonecraft, expressing this particular opinion was a new and different belief for women that had not been seen or heard. in society at that time. His work can certainly be classified as a romanticism type work as the views expressed in his work show his concern for people's feelings, his respect for nature and the importance of sympathy and mutual understanding. In this particular era of society, women were considered a different species of human than men. However, Wollstonecraft denied this way of thinking and felt that women were just as equal to men and should be considered as such. In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, she states: “I will first consider women in the great light of human creatures. , who, like men, are placed on this earth to deploy their faculties” (quote a manual). Here she says that woman should not only be considered equal to man, but also be considered as a human being. This notion represents what Romanticism is with the idea that women and men were both created equal, created with thoughts and feelings, or otherwise known as: Reason. She also continued to rally against male writers who considered “women more like women.” than human creatures” (quote a textbook). His passion and drive, as seen in the two statements above, show Wollstonecraft's forward-thinking and revolutionary thinking which again shows elements of Romanticism. Her fight for women's rights, which she believes will not only bring happiness to women, but also to men and women who want to have a successful marriage and raise well-educated children. For someone of this era, expressing these type of feelingsfeminists was very bold and courageous on the part of Mary Wollstonecraft. It makes me curious what his influence was behind such strong and diverse opinions. A major factor that may have influenced his feelings could be his difficult past and upbringing. Wollstonecraft's father was very abusive, drunk and violent towards his mother when Wollstonecraft was just a young teenager. (quote). It got to the point where Wollstonecraft would stay outside of his parents' bedroom in case his mother needed help (CITE). In addition to being a violent drunk, his father also squandered most of the family's money on failed ventures, leading to serious financial problems. This led Wollstonecraft's father to force her to hand over her inheritance money that was saved when she came of age. The two examples above clearly show how bad Wollstonecraft's father was. These terrible events that occurred early in his life would have had serious consequences on Wollstonecraft's education and could have led him to have this negative view of men. The role of a parent in a child's life is enormous as it is their duty to set an example for their children. Seeing how badly Wollstonecraft's father treated and hurt her mother is a perfect motive for her persistent desire for change and her fight for women's equality. Furthermore, not only did his father set a bad example of how men treated women in marriage, but he also failed as a parent to properly teach and educate his children, something Wollstonecraft also preaches in his work. At the age of 20, Wollstonecraft became a more maternal figure in the lives of her sisters Eliza and Everina. In doing so, Wollstonecraft learned that not only was her mother in an unhappy relationship, but so was her sister Eliza. Seeing the effects of an unhappy relationship on her mother, Wollstonecraft took it upon herself to try to persuade Eliza to leave her husband. At that time, it was rare for women to leave their husbands. However, this act of defying social norms shows how Wollstonecraft was not afraid to go against society's views and break social norms. This may also carry over to her work, as Wollstonecraft was not afraid to publish her feminist views that challenged what society practiced at that time. Wollstonecraft's first love of her life may also have had an impact on her view of marriage. After publishing her Vindication of the Rights of Man in 1790 and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, she consolidated herself in some well-known intellectual literary circles and eventually met, fell in love with, and had a child with a man by the name of Gilbert Imlay. Gilbert Imlay was an American diplomat during the French Revolution. After Wollstonecraft and Imlay struck up something of a relationship, in order to protect Wollstonecraft from the dangers of the Revolution, he listed Wollstonecraft as his wife at the American embassy. The problem is, however, that they never got married. What makes things even more complicated is that Wollstonecraft and Imlay later had a child together. The complicated relationship with Imlay proved even more problematic as Imlay fled to London and abandoned Wollstonecraft and their child in Paris. When Wollstonecraft goes to London to confront Imlay, she is shocked to find Imlay with another woman. Wollstonecraft, distraught and distraught, was so devastated by this revelation that she ultimately attempted suicide because of what happened. First, even though Wollstonecraft and Imlay never officially married, their relationship.