-
Essay / A Review of A Vindication of Women's Rights by Mary Wollstonecraft and Masque of Anarchy by Percy Shelley
The Romantic Era was a time of unprecedented change that transformed existing ways of thinking about individualism and idealism by working on the problems and potential benefits of the revolutionary spirit. These philosophical paradigms are echoed in both Mary Wollstonecraft's essay A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) and Percy Shelley's poem, "Masque of Anarchy" (1819). Wollstonecraft addresses issues associated with the existing social hierarchy and inequalities in society to advocate social change and achieve an egalitarian socio-political system. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayWollstonecraft advocates freedom by questioning the existing social hierarchy to achieve social change and the romantic ideal of a egalitarian socio-political system in which all individuals can contribute equally. The urban underclass directly influenced the National Constituent Assembly that formed after the French Revolution of 1789 and influenced the revolutionary spirit. Wollstonecraft's disdain for the aristocracy is established through his assertive tone in "loving God...seems to be the only useful worship...to acquire either virtue or knowledge." It shows that corrupt power thwarts civilization and degrades those in power and those subject to it through the metaphor: “it bows to power; he adores a dark cloud, which can… burst into angry, anarchic fury. Wollstonecraft compares corrupt power to the power men exercise over women in the rhetorical question: "Why do they expect virtue from a slave?" » She argues that men maintain their power over women by denying them effective education, thanks to her assertive tone: "women are systematically degraded by receiving insignificant attention." Anne Mellor (1997), a contemporary scholar, asserts that "upper- and middle-class girls...learned...to capture their husbands, on whom their financial well-being depended", which reiterates the gender power imbalance created by the social hierarchy. Furthermore, his assertive tone in "Until women are educated in a more rational manner, the progress of human virtue and the improvement of knowledge must be continually monitored" reaffirms the need for reform to create a society utopian where all individuals contribute. Wollstonecraft embodies the revolutionary spirit of early Romanticism by challenging patriarchal paradigms to advocate freedom. Shelley's "Mask of Anarchy" also advocates changes in social realities to achieve a society based on equality and freedom in order to realize the romantic ideal of egalitarianism. This poem was written in response to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, which led to the senseless slaughter of fifteen innocent lives under the oppressive government led by King George. Shelley depicts society as dark in the accumulation of “looms, plows, swords, and spades.” He personifies Anarchy as "a skeleton on a blood-spattered white horse" to suggest that it is irrational and emotionless. He critiques the way the aristocracy exploits the working class through the paradox: "what is liberty... what is slavery..." Similarly, Wollstonecraft appeals to reason in metaphor : "it may be impossible to convince them that illegitimate power... is a curse" to show that the imbalance of power in society preventsindividuals to pursue virtue. Shelley alludes to the French Revolution in “Leading to Extinguish Thy Flame in Gaul” which reinforces liberty, fraternity, and equality, emphasizing the need for social change. However, Shelley reveals that society can recover through images of "an influx of light, clouds and splendor, a sense of awakening..." that focus on idealistic views. He urges individuals to reject social divisions based on wealth through the biblical allusion: “To the rich you are a failure…let him tread on a serpent…” Shelley advocates social revolution through the eruptive imagery of “a volcano heard from afar” symbolic of the need for social change to achieve an equitable society. Both Shelley and Wollstonecraft advocate freedom to envision an ideal egalitarian society, based on morality and equality, in which all individuals can contribute equally to society. Wollstonecraft critiques inequality in society to inspire social progress and advocate individuality. The assertion of universal human rights, supported by Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Rousseau, forms the basis on which Wollstonecraft argues that women are the same as men. Wollstonecraft defends this liberal way of thinking in the metaphor “each individual is in this respect a world unto itself.” She argues that insidious social conditioning prevented women from gaining basic rights such as the right to vote and property through personification in “The Mind, Naturally Weakened by Dependence on Authority…”. She claims that a woman's preoccupation with outward appearance is due to her lack of proper education through her assertive tone, "ignorance...makes women very fond of dress." Their lack of adequate education has also taken away their ambition, which prevents them from being functioning members of society, suggested in his assertive tone by "producing all vanity...to the exclusion of emulation and magnanimity" . However, she argues that educating women will develop their self-sufficiency through the assertive tone: "the exercise of their understanding is necessary, there is no other foundation for independence and character." Julia A Monroe (1928), a contemporary scholar, states that "the problem as she saw it was not the system itself, but the fact that these ideals of financial independence and individual achievement did not did not apply to women,” which reveals that the Romantics advocated individuality. Wollstonecraft supports the need for individuality in women to improve society through juxtaposition: "they cannot be called gentle...but...more respectable members of society." Wollstonecraft appeals to reason and virtue to advocate individuality and transform society's ways of thinking so that all individuals are equally active participants in society. Similarly, Shelley's “The Mask of Anarchy” criticizes the current political state and society to advocate a revolt and envisages a strengthening of society. society based on the romantic feeling of individualism. The abolition of feudalism in 1789, one of the central events of the French Revolution, promoted individualism and egalitarianism. Shelley criticizes the instability of authority in England, claiming that "it (anarchy) knew that the place of our kings rightly belonged to it", thus undermining royal governance and suggesting that the liberty of the individual triumph of the monarchy. It reinforces the unity between all individuals in the metaphor of “infants of a mighty Mother” which emphasizes that they are equal and therefore have equal rights. Shelley emphasizes the importance of ,.