A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' Summary
Wollstonecraft was prompted to write the Rights of Woman after reading Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord's 1791 report to the French National Assembly, which stated that women should only receive a domestic education; from her reaction to this specific event, she launched a broad attack against sexual double standards, indicting men for encouraging women to indulge in excessive emotion. Wollstonecraft hurried to complete the work in direct response to ongoing events; she intended to write a more thoughtful second volume but died before completing it.
While Wollstonecraft does call for equality between the sexes in particular areas of life, especially morality, she does not explicitly state that men and women are equal. Her ambiguous statements regarding the equality of the sexes have made it difficult to classify Wollstonecraft as a modern feminist; the word itself did not emerge until decades after her death.
Although it is commonly assumed that the Rights of Woman was unfavourably received, this is a modern misconception based on the belief that Wollstonecraft was as reviled during her lifetime as she became after the publication of William Godwin's Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1798). The Rights of Woman was generally received well when it was first published in 1792. Biographer Emily W. Sunstein called it "perhaps the most original book of [Wollstonecraft's] century". Wollstonecraft's work had significant impact on advocates for women's rights in the 19th century, particularly the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention which produced the Declaration of Sentiments laying out the aims of the suffragette movement in the United States.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1792Author
Mary Wollstonecraft
England
Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh...
More on Mary WollstonecraftDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad by Anonymous
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various sc...
United Nations Agreements by United Nations
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing...
Good Sense by Paul Henri Thiry (Baron d'Holbach)
"Good Sense" is a thought-provoking and insightful book written by Paul Eldridge. Published in the early 20th century, this classic work explores the...
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a book by the Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume, published in English in 1748. It was a revision...
A Theologico-Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza
Written by the Dutch philosopher Benedictus Spinoza, the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (TTP) or Theologico-Political Treatise was one of the most con...
On Duties by Marcus Tullius Cicero
De Officiis (On Duties or On Obligations) is a 44 BC treatise by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his concepti...
A Treatise Of Human Nature, Volume 2 by David Hume
The Treatise is a classic statement of philosophical empiricism, scepticism, and naturalism. In the introduction Hume presents the idea of placing all...
A Philosophical Enquiry by Edmund Burke
Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry is an important treatise in the history of philosophical aesthetics, putting forth a theory of two concepts of central...
Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes
Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated is a philosophical treatise by René De...
Reviews for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
No reviews posted or approved, yet...