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24th out of 447 books
—
828 voters
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal educat...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
September 28th 2004
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1792)
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What a perceptive and courageous watershed work of feminism--especially for 1792! Mary Wollstonecraft, journalist, novelist, and wife of political philosopher William Godwin, eventually had three children, and died giving birth to the last, Mary Godwin Shelley, who would grow up to marry a famous, radical poet, and herself write Frankenstein and several other novels a generation later. Wollstonecraft, writing in the middle of the French Revolution, albeit in relative safety across the English C...more
Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A brief introduction to a feminist classic.
What is the Vindication?
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (hence the Vindication) is the classic feminist text. It was written in 1792, and it has its roots in the Enlightenment. Broadly, its aim is to apply the ideas of rights and equality to women and not just to men. This article will briefly explore the origins of the work of Wollstonecraft by looking at John Locke and Jean Jacques Roussea...more
A brief introduction to a feminist classic.
What is the Vindication?
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (hence the Vindication) is the classic feminist text. It was written in 1792, and it has its roots in the Enlightenment. Broadly, its aim is to apply the ideas of rights and equality to women and not just to men. This article will briefly explore the origins of the work of Wollstonecraft by looking at John Locke and Jean Jacques Roussea...more
This was simultaneously brilliant and saddening. I didn’t expect these words to resonate quite as much as they did. I didn’t expect to be able to immediately apply them to my life. I was looking for a historical perspective, some sign that we are headed in the right direction.
We are. At least, I think so. Unfortunately, those steps we have taken don’t seem as dramatic anymore. I mean, women can vote. They can run for office. They have been liberated from traditional sexual confines. They can tak...more
We are. At least, I think so. Unfortunately, those steps we have taken don’t seem as dramatic anymore. I mean, women can vote. They can run for office. They have been liberated from traditional sexual confines. They can tak...more
The introductory letter and first couple chapters of A Vindication are practically perfect. Wollstonecraft formulates an argument that has enough fire and logic to take on the misogyny of the time. There is certainly reason that Wollstonecraft is considered one of the great mothers of feminism. And whether this is evidence of Wollstonecraft's brillance or some of the failures of the women's movement, much of what she says is still incredibly relevant. Seriously, I applaud this woman, and I admir...more
Jan 19, 2013
Juliet Waldron
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
vindication-of-the-rights-of-women
Here it is, the Mother document of feminism! Get through the 18th Century prose and circumlocutions as she states and restates her arguments, going carefully so that slower minds can follow, and you will see the same challenges and discussions about "the sex" that women endure today, in every corner of the world. She was a brave woman and far, far ahead of her time. She was paid out, predictably, by being called "a hyena" and with laughter when she died in childbed. Nothing much has really chang...more
I read this during my last quarter as an undergraduate English major. The class was on revolutionary women writers and it was AWESOME. I was more interested and involved in that class than most of my other classes--I kept up a double-entry journal for all of the reading so that I was constantly analyzing and writing down my thoughts. I had a great relationship with the professor and other girls in my class. It was during this class that the big protest in Seattle was going on, and we were all mo...more
I enjoyed this read. Her writing style reminds me of Shakespeare with all its poetic potency. She speaks of the miseducation of women, but warns against the harmful societal consequence of allowing the miseducation of man or woman. While dated in that women are far more educated now that at the time of writing, there are few barefoot and pregnant...stay at home mothers. Only 14% of women with children under 18 stay at home according to a recent Gallup poll (April 2012). The majority of these pol...more
I mainly began this reading journey in literature to gain wisdom about how to be a good writer. I felt I couldn't properly write, without a good base of knowledge about what had, in years and eras past, been successfully published. I'm finding (more importantly), a profundity of knowledge about how to be human.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which I read over the past week, has affected me more than I expected. Wollstonecraft is for me, one of the “friends” I've had the good fortune to col...more
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which I read over the past week, has affected me more than I expected. Wollstonecraft is for me, one of the “friends” I've had the good fortune to col...more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1702882...
One of those classic political texts which everyone should read, written in the revolutionary moment of 1792, and making the daring argument that women should be educated rather than infantilised, indeed, boys and girls should be educated together. Many of her arguments are unfortunately still valid; her analysis of power and oppression is pretty acute, and must be one of the earliest examples of applying arguments about socieo-economic equality to gender...more
One of those classic political texts which everyone should read, written in the revolutionary moment of 1792, and making the daring argument that women should be educated rather than infantilised, indeed, boys and girls should be educated together. Many of her arguments are unfortunately still valid; her analysis of power and oppression is pretty acute, and must be one of the earliest examples of applying arguments about socieo-economic equality to gender...more
okay i didn't read the whole thing, i read the abbreviated version in the norton anthology that i'm using to study. but i feel like i get the jist AND i never WILL read the whole thing (unless i have to teach the whole thing or something) so i might as well mark it as read here and write a short "review" of what i did read. i REALLY liked a lot of her very feminist points-- especially considering that she was very sarcastic which is quite funny because of WHEN she was writing, before sarcasm was...more
Wollstonecraft argues forcefully in 1792 that women are subject to the tyranny of men and are little more than ill-educated slaves. She argues that women have equal morality and are forced by male dominated society to get married and fulfill the role of servant to a husband. She hammers this point home in various ways throughout the treatise – to the point where, I for one, lost interest.
No-one in western societies today can really argue against any of Wollstonecraft’s argument, though, with th...more
No-one in western societies today can really argue against any of Wollstonecraft’s argument, though, with th...more
As convenient as it can sometimes be, a disadvantage of reading from anthologies is that one can graduate from college with the vague notion that one has read a work in its entirety, only to discover later that in fact one has read only a page and a half of it in a long-forgotten Eighteenth-Century British Literature class. Which, as you may have guessed, is exactly what happened to me with Mary Wollstonecraft's seminal 1792 treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. I'm happy to have rectif...more
While many of the ideas in Mary Wollstonecraft's early feminist treatise have merit, the repetition of these ideas encased in swathes of commas makes it difficult to read. Perhaps, this book would really shine if an editor's handiwork were evident.
What is most appealing about this book is her proposal that women exercise, learn, and not spend all of their time on fashion, frippery, and flirtation in order to be good mothers and wives. These same ideas certainly apply today!
Another interesting...more
What is most appealing about this book is her proposal that women exercise, learn, and not spend all of their time on fashion, frippery, and flirtation in order to be good mothers and wives. These same ideas certainly apply today!
Another interesting...more
01.24.11- Book is finished, in-depth review to follow. In this book, Wollstonecraft makes the argument that women are by nature physically weaker than men, but that any difference in cognition comes from education alone (i.e., nurture). She further argues that women ought to be provided with an education that feeds their reason as well as their sensibilities.
I gave this book 3 stars for its historical place as a fundamental feminist classic. Despite her good thesis, Wollstonecraft has a cumbers...more
I gave this book 3 stars for its historical place as a fundamental feminist classic. Despite her good thesis, Wollstonecraft has a cumbers...more
I wish that my intellectual-side would resurface so I could appreciate this femanism manifesto for its true worth... You know the twenty-something bisexual liberal arts hey-hey-ho-ho-the patriarchy's got to go side... Unfortunately, the lazy married forget the Bryn Mawr degree side of me won out. I found this text to be somewhat interesting, but very long-winded and a bit tedious. Oh well. At least I tried. :)
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Mary doesn't wait too long before letting the reader know who is the greatest purveyor of idiotic notions concerning women: Rousseau.
Despite the beautiful yet long-winded prose in developing her argument, Mary proceeds step by step outlining false notions and advocates for equality.
Indeed, "reason" becomes the key element, here.
Like Wharton after her, both the sexes bear blame. However, she reveals how the power structure is set by men.
It is at the end that she reveals her most powerful point: t...more
Despite the beautiful yet long-winded prose in developing her argument, Mary proceeds step by step outlining false notions and advocates for equality.
Indeed, "reason" becomes the key element, here.
Like Wharton after her, both the sexes bear blame. However, she reveals how the power structure is set by men.
It is at the end that she reveals her most powerful point: t...more
I read this book for use in my English Literature coursework, and I really quite enjoyed it.
The introduction and first few chapters are brilliant; it is amazing to think that Wollstonecraft came up with these ideas in the late 1700s; and that she had the bravery to publish them. Her criticisms of famous male (and indeed female) anti-women writers are also very clever; especially her picking apart of the arguments made by Rousseau.
Perhaps the only thing that is really at fault with the book is t...more
The introduction and first few chapters are brilliant; it is amazing to think that Wollstonecraft came up with these ideas in the late 1700s; and that she had the bravery to publish them. Her criticisms of famous male (and indeed female) anti-women writers are also very clever; especially her picking apart of the arguments made by Rousseau.
Perhaps the only thing that is really at fault with the book is t...more
"It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses, cares, and sorrows, into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion, that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms and weakness."
Mary Wollstonecraft
Published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was the first great feminist treatise. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern and sought “to persuade women to endeavour to acqui...more
Mary Wollstonecraft
Published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was the first great feminist treatise. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern and sought “to persuade women to endeavour to acqui...more
Wollstonecraft’s prose is an absolute pleasure to read. Though couched in the didactic terminology of enlightenment moralising, it is easy to see the bravery behind the rhetoric and the anger that must have pushed her principled views to the level of publication. It is sad when reading such a historic volume to learn that much of it is still relevant in today’s feminist thinking. The emphasis of the document is on the treatment of women being in confluence with slavery, and the holding down of t...more
At its core Vindication is a response to 18th century theorists (mostly men) who made some very disturbing comments regarding the education, use, and ideal of women. Wollstonecraft writes back to these theorists, both directly addressing their words and positing her own theories. The work is intellectually challenging, thought-provoking, and revolutionary (but best served in small bites).
Vindication, at least in the translation I have, is not an easy read. The diction is downright imposing, gran...more
Vindication, at least in the translation I have, is not an easy read. The diction is downright imposing, gran...more
Wollstonecraft was the wife of philosopher and author William Godwin and mother of Mary Shelly, who wrote Frankenstein. This, really oddly, reminded me of C.S. Lewis. Like, to such an extent that I wonder if she was one of his influences: honestly, I feel like there's a conference paper here for anyone who knows how to research this stuff. I can see echoes of her ideas in some of his essays, Perelandria, and most emphatically in The Four Loves.
Independent of my hero, she has a lot of great thin...more
Independent of my hero, she has a lot of great thin...more
trade paper good condition
from the library computer:
First published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was an instant success, turning its thirty-three-year-old author into a minor celebrity. A pioneering work of early feminism that extends to women the Enlightenment principle of "the rights of man," its argument remains as relevant today as it was for Woll-stonecraft's contemporaries. "Mary Wollstonecraft was not the first writer to call for women to receive a real, challenging educa...more
from the library computer:
First published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was an instant success, turning its thirty-three-year-old author into a minor celebrity. A pioneering work of early feminism that extends to women the Enlightenment principle of "the rights of man," its argument remains as relevant today as it was for Woll-stonecraft's contemporaries. "Mary Wollstonecraft was not the first writer to call for women to receive a real, challenging educa...more
I think that for her time, this book was extremely well-written. As a woman, she was well-educated, and saw a problem, and, even more problematic than the issue itself, was that no one was talking about the problem. But she spoke up about the problem, that women were not being educated properly and were not being raised properly. Though this was not as radical as the women's movement would become, it was a start, and I think that, though it was written hundreds of years ago, it is still relevant...more
Ok, I get what she's trying to say...sort of. Her language is very sophisticated and I found myself having to go back reread passages because I had no idea what she had just said. It's a period piece - her concerns are dated, as well they should be, but I think that the tone of this essay was exactly the way it should be: direct and assertive. She was a scandalous woman in her day - her behavior and thoughts mirror those that would be acceptable in our day and age, not for woman of the late 18th...more
It's hard to believe that this is the woman who came up with something as macabre as Frankenstein. Having heard so much about this tract, I figured I'd give it a read. It's mentioned as a side note in several of the historical novels that I've read, and I was more than a little surprised by the vehement tome of the piece. It's amazing to see how far feminist ideals have come in such a short span of time, especially when you relate the drop of water that 200 years is in a bucket of millenia. I fo...more
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As the title would suggest, this is feminism in its most obvious form, but is quite an entertaining read if you like a direct tone and a good rant. I hold the image in my mind's eye of a very irate Mary Wollstonecraft trying to put the world to rights in the prejudiced, male-dominated day of the late eighteenth century.
"Women are therefore to be considered either as moral beings, or so weak that they must be entirely subjected to the superior faculties of men."
"[...] the whole creation was only...more
"Women are therefore to be considered either as moral beings, or so weak that they must be entirely subjected to the superior faculties of men."
"[...] the whole creation was only...more
May 01, 2012
Evelyn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
classics,
feminism,
from-library,
must-buy-a-copy,
non-fiction,
open-uni-reading,
philosophy,
read-in-2012
I've read a few feminist texts in the past, but none quite compare to this, which is often deemed as the classic feminist text. Unlike others which can be on the painfully dry and weary side of things, Wollstonecraft's attitude just jumps out at you with every page that you turn of this book. Reading it is like listening to her perform a speech in front of millions, it's so strong and passionate. It really is incredible when you remember that this was published in 1792, I don't think I've read a...more
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I don't know why I really bothered with this book, I found out about it studying feminism in English Literature but I'm glad I did pick this book up.
Regardless, Mary Wollstonecraft summarizes the plight of women very well and the reader ( whether male or female ) gets a palpable sense of it's injustice.
She concludes that since the literate male giants like " Rousseau" bolstered the prevailing thought that men were made to reason and women to feel it is hardly suprising that women were oppressed....more
Regardless, Mary Wollstonecraft summarizes the plight of women very well and the reader ( whether male or female ) gets a palpable sense of it's injustice.
She concludes that since the literate male giants like " Rousseau" bolstered the prevailing thought that men were made to reason and women to feel it is hardly suprising that women were oppressed....more
Okay, okay, admittedly I'm like, what (?) two weeks behind on this post! So much so, I thought about not actually writing it. I mean, aren't ya'll tired of reading about this antiquated text. BUT because I am attempting to at least ramble a wee bit about everything that I read this year, here goes my wee bit of rambling.
This is my second time around with Vindication. My first experience was a bit over ten years ago, when I was in my early twenties and I could define what "feminism" meant to me i...more
This is my second time around with Vindication. My first experience was a bit over ten years ago, when I was in my early twenties and I could define what "feminism" meant to me i...more
Mary published in 1792 an emotive and spirited plea for women to be treated as equals instead of merely dull objects intended for the momentary pleasure of men. Her plea consisted of a simple proposition; cultivate the developing minds of women to allow them to emulate the virtues of men, should women not rise to their potential, let them be resigned to their limited fate. "If the latter, it will be expedient to open a fresh trade with Russia for whips; a present which a father should always mak...more
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Mary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth century British writer, philosopher, and feminist. Among the general public and specifically among feminists, Wollstonecraft's life has received much more attention than her writing because of her unconventional, and often tumultuous, personal relationships. After two ill-fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay, Wollstonecraft married the philosophe...more
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“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”
—
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“My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone.”
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Jan 09, 2011 04:52pm