A Vindication Of The Rights Of Women: A Comprehensive Study

Book Code: 1111027972376

Mary Wollstonecraft's

ABOUT THE BOOK

“A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” created a scandal in its day, largely, perhaps, because of the unconventional lifestyle of its creator. Today, it is considered the first great manifesto of women’s rights, arguing passionately for the education of women: "Tyrants and sensualists are in the right when they endeavor to keep women in the dark, because the former want only slaves, and the later a plaything."No narrow-minded zealot, Wollstonecraft balanced passionate advocacy with a sympathetic warmth — a characteristic that helped her ideas achieve widespread influence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was an ardent feminist who spoke eloquently for countless women of her time.Having witnessed firsthand the devastating results of male improvidence, she assumed an independent role early in life, educating herself and eventually earning a living as a governess, teacher and writer. She was also an esteemed member of the radical intellectual circle that included William Godwin (father of her daughter, novelist Mary Godwin Shelley, and later her husband), Thomas Paine, William Blake, Henry Fuseli and others.

CONTENTS

Introduction......................................................................... 7
1. The Rights and Involved Duties of Mankind
Considered......................................................................... 13
2. The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character
Discussed........................................................................... 23
3. The Same Subject Continued.......................................... 48
4. Observations on the State of Degradation to
Which Woman Is Reduced by Various Causes.................... 68
5. Animadversions on Some of the Writers Who Have
Rendered Women Objects of Pity, Bordering
on Contempt..................................................................... 102
6. The Effect Which an Early Association of Ideas
Has Upon the Character.................................................... 151
7. Modesty—Comprehensively Considered, and
Not as a Sexual Virtue...................................................... 159
8. Morality Undermined by Sexual Notions of the
Importance of a Good Reputation..................................... 173
9. Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the
Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society..................... 185
10. Parental Affection....................................................... 198
11. Duty to Parents.......................................................... 202
12. On National Education............................................... 209
13. Some Instances of the Folly Which the Ignorance
of Women Generates; With Concluding Reflections
on the Moral Improvement that a Revolution in
Female Manners Might Naturally Be Expected
to Produce...................................................................... 238