Analysis of Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'

This essay analyzes Mary Wollstonecraft's seminal work, 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,' focusing on her arguments regarding education, marriage, and societal expectations for women in the 18th century. Wollstonecraft critiques the prevailing social norms and political philosophies of her time, particularly those that limited women's access to education and intellectual development. She challenges the notion that women are inherently inferior to men, arguing instead that their perceived weaknesses are a result of their lack of education and societal constraints. The essay explores Wollstonecraft's views on the interplay between love, sex, marriage, and religion, highlighting her proto-feminist perspective and her acknowledgment of the role women play in perpetuating their own subjugation. It contrasts her views with modern feminist theories while emphasizing her call for women to develop their rationality and virtue to become better companions and contributors to society. Furthermore, the essay also explores her criticisms of contemporary women's customs, focusing on the issue of sensibility, and her disagreement with Rousseau's views on the subject. Finally, it highlights the lasting impact of Wollstonecraft's work on the feminist movement and her vision for a more equitable society.

Running Head: A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
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1A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN
During the utter tumult and confusion following the French Revolution of 1789,
British philosophers and political observers saw the movement as a cruel overthrowing of a
legal government, much like the execution of Charles I in 1649. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-
1797) entered the picture with her work ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Men’ (1790),
followed by her more celebrated work, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ (1792),
where she contends against the 18th century political philosophies that regard the education
and empowerment of women as needless. In her work, especially the second chapter,
Wollstonecraft deals with several social aspects like love, sex, marriage, education, religion;
and shows portrays their interplay with the sexes- masculinity and felinity.
Although Wollstonecraft’s work went on to influence many of the modern feminist
writers like Virginia Woolf and Simone de Beauvoir, it does not conform exactly to the
modern theory of feminism, which essentially sees men and women as having equal
capabilities. In no point in her work does she state that men and women were born to be
equal; but accepts the superior powers and status of men and suggests measures to bridge the
gap. Unlike modern feminist writings which sometimes have a one-point-agenda of blaming
patriarchy for the present plight of women, A Vindication suggests that women also have
their own share of blame, in the present inequity between sexes.
The very first agenda Wollstonecraft dwells upon is education, which in the
eighteenth century, was reserved exclusively for men. She says that women, due to their lack
of education and rationale, keep walking into the ensnaring design of patriarchy which
advises women to nurture only their beauty and physical attributes instead of receiving
education. She declares in her preface: “...my main argument is built on this simple principle,
that if (woman) 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" (Vindication, 102).
According to her, equally responsible is "a false system of education, gathered from the

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books written on this subject by men who [consider] females rather as women than human
creatures" (Vindication, 109). In a way, Wollstonecraft blames young women for adopting
this degrading ideology that enjoins them to care about beauty and physical attractions. She
writes- "…taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to
the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison" (Vindication, 157).
Wollstonecraft highlights the gender-strife that is constantly at play in the social
institution of marriage; and invariably finds its place in love and sex as well. She contends
that women are equally to blame for accepting marriage as the only future a woman could
have, in those days. A woman, after marriage was practically enslaved to her husband, left
only with her physical charm and no education. In some cases, women tend to take advantage
of their physical charm, and beguile men into marrying them, which only goes on to tarnish
their own reputation. To that effect, she writes: “To rise in the world, and have the liberty of
running from pleasure to pleasure, they must marry advantageously, and to this object their
time is sacrificed, and their persons often legally prostituted.”(Vindication, 63). Although the
treacherous path has been laid out by then dominant force of patriarchy, it is women who
indulge in treating themselves as commodities to gratify men, and then, lose their repute amid
the prevalent male hegemony
Some of the direst criticism of contemporary women and their customs in the book
centres on the issue of sensibility. Wollstonecraft is of the view that women who yield to
such compunctions are "blown about by every momentary gust of feeling" (Vindication,
177); since such women cannot harness their sensibility and sensuality, they are unable to
think in terms of logic and reason. Such women detriment not only their own lives, but also
the society; instead of refining and enhancing the civilisation, they tend to disrupt it. She goes
on to say: “Civilized women are, therefore, so weakened by false refinement, that, respecting
morals, their condition is much below what it would be were they left in a state nearer to

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nature.”(Vindication, 88). Wollstonecraft contends that women who fail to harness their
sensual callings are equally at fault as the men who entice and provoke them.
Although most of the book contains Wollstonecraft’s arguments against excessive
sensibility, the diction she uses often seems a passionate and sustained attempt to elevate the
thoughts of women and provoke the reader into taking positive action. She takes several digs
at Rousseau in the hr work, regarding the contemporary notions of sensibility and its
overlapping with sensuality. Citing an extract from Rousseau’s ‘Emile’(1762), she writes: "I
shall make no other comments on this ingenious passage, than just to observe, that it is the
philosophy of lasciviousness."(Vindication, 162); and in the very next page, she adds: "I
must relieve myself by drawing another picture.". Thus, presenting the flaws in women, she
deftly draws the reader on to her perspective of the argument.
To bring matters to a close, there is no denying the fact that Wollstonecraft’s “A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects” is a
proto-feminist writing that served as a stepping stone for the expansive and widely acclaimed
feminist movement of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Her philosophy uncovered the
sexual dualities prevalent in the contemporary society; and argued that men too, display the
same values required of women. However, her fundamental difference with modern feminists
lies in her acknowledgement of the superior nature of masculine strength and glory. She
states- “Let it not be concluded, that I wish to invert the order of things; I have already
granted, that, from the constitution of their bodies, men seem to be designed by Providence to
attain a greater degree of virtue.” (Vindication,135). Besides education and social
restructuring as means to empower women, she also sees hope, both worldly and divine, as a
powerful force which can bridge the wide chasm between men and women.

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Reference:
Wollstonecraft, M. (2016). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Vani Prakashan.