Essay Questions

Running head: ESSAY QUESTIONS
Essay Questions
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

ESSAY QUESTIONS
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Essay Question 1
1. Who is the author of this passage?
The author of this passage Mary Wollstonecraft.
2. What is the source of this passage (what book does it come from)?
The source of this passage is “Introduction to A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”.
3. When was this source originally published?
The “Introduction to a Vindication of the Rights of Woman” was published in 1792
(Wollstonecraft, 2016).
4. Explain what the author is saying in this passage? What are the main ideas?
According to Mary Wollstonecraft, in the book “Introduction to a Vindication of the
Rights of Woman”, the two genders of men and women are extremely different from each other
where the women have always been treated as the inferior of the two genders. In the opinion of
Wollstonecraft, it is the factor of education which has contributed to the degrading position of
the women in the society (Wollstonecraft, 2016). The incomplete education of the women
necessarily makes them ignorant of many things in the society, therefore, making them
superficial in the context of the society. After their marriage, the position of such women
degenerates further due to the presence of their husband and children. In the passage mentioned
above, the main idea presented is that the female gender is often unable to stand alone as true
rational creatures. Females should understand the meaning of true happiness and satisfaction
without having to rely on the male gender. In this respect, Wollstonecraft appealed to the women

ESSAY QUESTIONS
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to be strong both in terms of their mental ability and physical strength so that they are at par with
women.
During the time that this book was written, the French Revolution had just taken place
whereby the common people were effective in over throwing the dictatorial monarchic power.
After the end of the French Revolution, a document was formulated which stressed for the rights
of the ‘man’. In this respect, a vacuum was felt within the female gender as there was no one
who advocated for their rights. In this regard, a need was felt to formulate a document which
would uphold the rights for women and this was provided in the year 1792 (Wollstonecraft,
2016). This document which called for the rights of women wanted to empower the female
gender with equal rights like those which were provided to man. However, although the women
were granted some amount of freedom in their personal sphere, they were not given much power
in the public sphere. The women were still denied the right to participate within the political
activities of the state which was still believed to be the realm of man.
This historical context is relevant to the main idea of the passage as the passage seeks to
provide an inspiration to the women gender to fend for themselves without having to rely on
their male counterpart to support them. The inclination of the male gender has always been
towards that of the trying to oppress the female gender. There is a need on the part of the women
to come out of this oppression by better educating themselves and understand the societal
structure which is so much prejudiced against them. It is only through this method that the
women of the society would be able to gain an equal status as that of the male gender.