Mary Wollstonecraft

Life and writing

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) wrote about education, politics and moral relations in several literary forms. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman appeared in 1792, but her work also includes other pedagogical and political writing. The scholarly reference places the argument about women within a wider examination of society and human relationships. Reading that broader concern helps avoid turning one sentence about independence into a complete summary of her thought.

The Introduction and Chapter 2 of the linked Vindication examine expectations that train women for dependence and then judge them through the resulting limitations. Follow the proposed relationship between education, reason and conduct, including the people and arguments she answers. The historical vocabulary and religious assumptions also deserve criticism. This is an extended argument to examine, rather than a collection of verdicts on the capacities or worth of individual people.

Reading this voice

Read the Introduction alongside Chapter 2 before extracting a conclusion about independence or reason. The two supplied selections keep their original records and independent uncertainty; the related edition is not a blanket authentication of all 45 attributions. Documented profile life years do not backfill the entries’ missing dates. No aliases, wording or provenance are merged or replaced.

Subjects to explore

Words to begin with

• It is vain to expect virtue from women till they are in some degree independent of men.
• I love man as my fellow; but his scepter, real, or usurped, extends not to me, unless the reason of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is to reason, and not to man.