Topic > Mary Wollstonecraft's interpretation of women's rights as described in her book, A Vindication of Women's Rights

Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman who preached the ideas of feminism in a time when the word feminism didn't even exist . Since few discussions about her personal life in class had piqued my interest, I decided to do some research and write my first exploratory essay about her. I was interested in his ideas and opinions on marriage and how it was reflected in his personal life. Reading and reflecting on her life was very fascinating and gave me inspiration to continue exploring her views on marriage, how it is reflected in her work, and what may have influenced her to write and publish those views. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay A Vindication of Women's Rights is considered Mary Wollstonecraft's best-known piece, in which she addresses the importance of education for women and how men should not be the only ones who deserve this right. He also points out that educating women would most likely benefit marriage, saying it would strengthen the relationship between man and woman. He believed that marriage was more like a partnership between man and wife (CITE). Therefore, for the partnership to be balanced, a woman must have equal knowledge and intellect for the marriage to be successful. The only way for this idea to work was to push women to receive equal education as men, not only to the benefit of the women, but to the benefit of both partners in the relationship. He also addressed the idea of ​​a stable marriage that also promotes the proper education of children as it would benefit the entire family. For Wollstonecraft to express this particular opinion was a new and different belief for women who had not been seen or heard of. in the society of the time. His work can definitely be classified as a romantic type piece as the views expressed in his work show his concern for people's feelings, his respect for nature, and the importance of sympathy and mutual understanding. At that particular moment in society, women were considered a different human species than men. However, Wollstonecraft denied this way of thinking and believed that women were equal to men and should be considered as such. In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, he states that "I will first consider women in the great light of human creatures, who, together with men, are placed on this earth to unfold their faculties" (quote manual). Here he says that the woman must not only be considered equal to man, but must also be seen as a human being. This notion represents what Romanticism is with the idea that women and men were both created equal, created with thoughts and feelings, or otherwise known as: Reason Continued also to speak out against male writers who saw “women rather as human creatures” (quote the textbook). His passion and drive, as seen in the two statements above, show advanced thinking and Wollstonecraft's revolutionary which once again shows elements of romanticism Her fight for women's rights, which she believed would not only bring happiness to women, but also believed it would benefit both men and women who want to have a marriage. successful and raise well-educated children. For someone of that era to express these kinds of feelings of feminism was very bold and courageous of Mary Wollstonecraft. It makes me curious to know which onewas his influence behind such strong and diverse opinions. One of the main factors that may have influenced his feelings could be his difficult past and upbringing. Wollstonecraft's father was very abusive, drunk, and violent towards her mother when Wollstonecraft was just a young teenager. (cite). It got to the point where Wollstonecraft would stay outside her parents' bedroom in case her mother needed help (CITE). Along with being a violent drunk, his father also squandered most of the family's money on failed projects, which resulted in serious financial problems. This led to Wollstonecraft's father forcing her to hand over the inheritance money that had been saved for when she came of age. It is clear from the two examples above how evil Wollstonecraft's father was. These terrible events that occurred early in her life would have had a serious impact on Wollstonecraft's upbringing and may have caused her to have this negative view of men. The role of a parent in a child's life is huge as it is their duty to set an example for their children. Seeing how badly Wollstonecraft's father treated and hurt her mother is a perfect motif for Wollstonecraft's persistent need for change and her fight for women's equality. Furthermore, not only did her father set a poor example of how men treated women in marriage, but as a parent he also failed to properly teach and educate his children, which Wollstonecraft also preaches in her work. At the age of 20, Wollstonecraft took on the role of more maternal figure in the lives of her sisters Eliza and Everina. In doing so, Wollstonecraft learned that not only was her mother in an unhappy relationship, but so was her sister Eliza. Seeing the effects of what an unhappy relationship had done to her mother, Wollstonecraft took the initiative to try to convince Eliza to leave her husband. At that time it was unheard of for women to leave their husbands. However, this act of defiance of social standards shows how Wollstonecraft was not afraid of going against society's opinions and breaking social norms. This can also transfer to her work, because Wollstonecraft was not afraid to publish her feminist views that challenged what society practiced at the time. Wollstonecraft's first love of her life may have also influenced her outlook on marriage. After publishing Vindication of the Rights of Man in 1790 and Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, she established herself in some well-known intellectual literary circles and eventually met, fell in love with, and had a child with a man by the name of Gilbert Imlay. Gilbert Imlay was an American diplomat during the French Revolution. After Wollstonecraft and Imlay formed some sort of relationship, in order to protect Wollstonecraft from the dangers of the Revolution, he listed Wollstonecraft as his wife at the American embassy. The thing is, they never actually married. What makes things even more complicated is that Wollstonecraft and Imlay later had a child together. The complicated relationship with Imlay proved even more problematic when Imlay fled to London and abandoned Wollstonecraft and their son in Paris. When Wollstonecraft travels to London to confront Imlay, she is shocked to find Imlay with another woman. A shocked and distraught Wollstonecraft was so devastated by this revelation that she ultimately attempted to commit suicide because of what happened. First, although Wollstonecraft and Imlay never officially married, their relationship shared qualities of what a marriage has, for example they share a child. I can see Wollstonecraft's reasoning behind his.