Wollstonecraft's Arguments by Work
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
"Contending for the rights of woman, my main argument is built on this simple principle, that if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be inefficacious with respect to its influence on general practice. And how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she know why she ought to be virtuous? unless freedom strengthen her reason till she comprehend her duty, and see in what manner it is connected with her real good? If children are to be educated to understand the true principle of patriotism, their mother must be a patriot; and the love of mankind, from which an orderly train of virtues spring, can only be produced by considering the moral and civil interest of mankind; but the education and situation of woman, at present, shuts her out from such investigations."
Mary Wollstonecraft: Letter to M. Talleyrand -Périgord,
in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (4)A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was by far Wollstonecraft's most famous work. Although it was not the first time an author had argued for the equality of women, A Vindication reached an unusually wide audience, and contained forceful arguments. Moira Ferguson and Janet Todd wrote: "In a century of innovative political ideas and fundamental historical change, [Wollstonecraft] flamboyantly urged her feminist theories on the public... She attracted more opposition and mockery than any of her predecessors, for she was not aristocratic, wealthy, well educated, pious, or ladylike" (128).
Kate Lindemann contends that Rights of Woman contains two arguments for the equality of women. "The first stems from her rational psychology: human beings are rational by nature and the sexes are equal in all things but physical strength. Thus, both sexes are called to the same perfection and unless they receive the same education they will not be able to fulfill their human destiny" (163). This argument depends heavily on Wollstonecraft's religious opinions. She believed that all virtue can be understood as an attribute of God, and can be discerned through reason since God is perfectly wise. She also believed that both individual humans and human society are progressing toward complete God-like perfection. In addition, Wollstonecraft used her notion of God to defend her ideas of human rationality, as opposed to male rationality:
I see not the shadow of a reason to conclude that their [the sexes'] virtues should differ in respect to their nature. In fact, how can they, if virtue has only one eternal standard? I must therefore, if I reason consequentially, as strenuously maintain that they must have the same simple direction as that there is a God (Rights of Woman , 26).
Wollstonecraft's "second framework is more pragmatic, 'Contending for the rights of woman... if she be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all, or it will be ineficasious with respect to its influence on general practice'" (Lindemann, 163). Wollstonecraft held that the equality of women would result in many benefits for society in general. She wrote, "Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with rational fellowship instead of slavish obeience, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers--in a word, better citizens" (quoted in Johnson, 52).
Rights of Woman calls for many social changes that will allow women to fully develop as humans. The principal of these is education. Wollstonecraft supported Rousseau's ideal of education, although she bitterly criticized him for not extending his principles to women. She believed that education is necessary to allow any human to fully develop his/her capacity for reason. Wollstonecraft also supported woman's suffrage, which was, according to Moira Ferguson and Janet Todd, "the first conscious, public articulation by a woman of a demand that would receive more attention a hundred years later, but would not legally be enacted until the twentieth century" (126). Wollstonecraft also held that women need to be able to support themselves economically so that they aren't unduly dependent on men. This clearly came out of Wollstonecraft's own struggle to be a self-supporting woman.
A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)
Rights of Men was written in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, which was in turn a response to Richard Price's sermon "A Discourse on the Love of our Country." Price's work reviewed the French Revolution and called for reforms in England that would lead to a more representative democracy. Burke challenged Price by defending the traditional rights of the monarchy, the propertied classes and the state church. He claimed that the reforms suggested by Price would be harmful to liberty in Great Britain. Burke's main argument was an appeal to tradition and a belief in the inherent superiority of the British system.
Wollstonecraft had favorably reviewed Price's sermon in the Analytical Review, and she was very quick to publish a harsh response to Burke's criticisms. She argued that Burke could not legitimately base his opinions on an appeal to tradition. Burke had implied that all necessary human liberties had been in place at least since the Magna Charta, and, thus, no reforms were needed. Wollstonecraft argued that a review of history easily showed that men currently had more liberties than previously, and that further extensions of liberty were not only possible but needed.
Wollstonecraft argued that the true motivation for Burke's arguments was not the protection of liberty, but the protection of property. "Based on her understanding of liberty as the standard against which all governments must be measured, Wollstonecraft's basic charge is that Burke is really trying to defend the privilege of those with property and is ignoring the divine basis of human rights" (Johnson, 37). As she would argue in Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft claimed that human value and morality could only be judged against the attributes of God, which provided a universal standard of virtue. Therefore, propertied and un-propertied, monarch and subject were under the same standard of human virtue and deserved the same liberty.
An Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution (1794)
Wollstonecraft wrote this book after having lived in France and watched the Revolution take place first hand. The book is mainly an account of the events leading up to and during the French Revolution. However, it also provides some further insight into Wollstonecraft's social and political theories. Wollstonecraft believed very strongly in the Lockean theory of the social contract. She opposed any sort of tyranny, including the government over its subjects or one person over another. She saw the French Revolution as a major step toward eliminating tyranny. "She went [to France] convinced of the Enlightenment idea that this was the dawning of a new political age and that there would be a blossoming of freedom and human progress." (Johnson, 55). Wollstonecraft was most enthusiastic about the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen," adopted by the National Assembly in 1789. She thought it contained "the fundamental principles of legitimate government" (quoted in Johnson, 60).
The Wrongs of Woman: or Maria (1798, posthumously)
This work of fiction, left unfinished at the end of Wollstonecraft's life, is in many ways a harsher critique of society than A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Wollstonecraft places Maria, the main character, in an asylum unjustly committed by her husband. While there, Maria befriends Jemima, a working woman, and the two share their stories and help each other heal. Through the women's personal stories, the reader learns about many of the ways in which women are oppressed, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic. The notes Wollstonecraft left contained two possible conclusions for the novel, one of which was suicide, and the other of which was Maria's decision to live for her daughter and to try to create a more just society for her.
Wrongs of Woman shows an greater awareness of class than was apparent in Wollstonecraft's earlier works. The most obvious manifestation of this is the character Jemima. Wollstonecraft portrays Maria and Jemima as significantly different, and oppressed in different ways as a result of their class positions. However, they are able to develop understanding and friendship, until they come to depend on one another. "The novel shows how their common sex results in shared oppression and so shared identity. Woman is a universal category in the novel" (Johnson 74).
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