The first lecture back this semester, and I had the instant impression that I would fully enjoy this topic. This semester we are looking over the book 'A Vindication of the rights of woman' slightly daunting when first looked at, however the read is not as bad as i thought.
Mary Wollstonecraft: Mary had a difficult early life and upbringing; she had a drunken violent father who had numerous affairs. She constantly tried to protect her mother from her father's behaviour. However Mary was critical of her mother for not being more forceful; do something about the situation. She was forced to work as a governess for a family in Ireland, here she was deeply unhappy. She was obsessed with education and with her first publication she expressed her thoughts on education of daughters.
Argued that education given to woman was superficial and was obsessed with appearance. She argued that education can give you power to do what you want, she was a believer in rationality and reasoning. After returning to London she set up her own school and became a rational dissenter. Mary had a fascination with Rousseau, finding him inspirational and aggravating. ‘Mary’ a direct response to Rousseau ‘Emile’: she stated how she liked his ideas of equality however she was critical of him. ‘Woman is made especially for man’ this statement she rejected.
In her book ‘A vindication of the rights of woman’ her central themes is of a diagnosis of the current state. She was writing for middle class woman, woman have accepted a role they have been given. Mary idea was that men and woman should just be human beings; not isolated genders and equality. She tries to limit the areas in life where men are men and woman are woman.
After she died Goodwin wrote a bibliography of her on everything about her, it was scandalous and therefore gained a bad reputation up until after the suffragettes.
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