A vindication of the rights of women quotes. 30+ quotes from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft 2022-10-24

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"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" is a pioneering work of feminist literature written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792. In this essay, Wollstonecraft argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but rather they have been made so by the lack of education and opportunities afforded to them. She asserts that women should be given the same education as men in order to develop their minds and talents, and that they should be able to participate fully in society as equals to men.

One of the most famous quotes from "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" is: "I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves." Wollstonecraft is arguing that women should not seek to dominate men, but rather they should seek to empower themselves and gain independence. She believes that this can only be achieved through education and equal opportunities, as these will allow women to fully develop their potential and be able to make their own choices in life.

Another key quote from the essay is: "Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adore its prison." Wollstonecraft is pointing out that women are often taught from a young age that their value lies in their appearance, rather than their intelligence or abilities. This narrow focus on beauty can prevent women from developing their minds and pursuing their own interests, as they are encouraged to focus on pleasing others rather than developing their own abilities.

Overall, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" is a powerful and influential work that has had a significant impact on the feminist movement. Through her eloquent and persuasive writing, Wollstonecraft makes a strong case for the equality of women and the importance of providing them with the same education and opportunities as men. Her ideas and arguments continue to resonate today and serve as an important reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

She advocates coeducation at every stage, believing this will allow relations between the sexes to develop in more natural and healthy ways. She believed that women were physically inferior to men, but in terms of intellect they were equal and that they so desperately needed a noble, edifying, pursuit in which to show this. The English literary style of the late 1700s is not easily skimmed, and I really just wanted a sense of her propositions, not chapter and verse. Women should be taught relevant principles in school so that later generations will not continue to suffer from this state of affairs. Let the libertine draw what inference he pleases; but, I hope, that no sensible mother will restrain the natural frankness of youth, by instilling such indecent cautions. The most holy band of society is friendship. I appeal to their understandings; and, as a fellow-creature, claim, in the name of my sex, some interest in their hearts.

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Study Guide

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

. Opinion is the grave of virtue among the men; but its throne among women. Let them be taught to respect themselves as rational creatures, and not led to have a passion for their own insipid persons. Wollstonecraft rejects the common argument that men and women should aim to acquire different virtues. And again: To carry the remark still further, if fear in girls, instead of being cherished, perhaps, created, were treated in the same manner as cowardice in boys, we should quickly see women with more dignified aspects. Yet they do not lose their rank in the distinction of sexes, for they are still reckoned superior to women, though in what their superiority consists, beyond what I have just mentioned, it is difficult to discover. So the impression in Woman is not of sexual desire's being written off, but rather of its being repressed, forced down, in a way that makes the book deeply psychologically interesting, even while it weakens its politics.

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Quotes

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

I must therefore, if I reason consequentially, as strenuously maintain that they have the same simple direction, as that there is a God. Weak minds are always fond of resting in the ceremonials of duty, but morality offers much simpler motives; and it were to be wished that superficial moralists had said less respecting behavior, and outward observances, for unless virtue, of any kind, be built on knowledge, it will only produce a kind of insipid decency. They might justly argue, that to be loved. Quote 8 Females have been insulated, as it were; and, while they have been stripped of the virtues that should cloathe humanity, they have been decked with artificial graces that enable them to exercise a short-lived tyranny. After a brief, unhappy stint as a governess, she became a reviewer and translator for the critical journal, Analytical Review—an unusual role for a woman at the time—and through this work became acquainted with an intellectual circle including American revolutionary Thomas Paine, philosopher William Godwin, and poet William Blake.

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman PDF Summary

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

In public schools women, to guard against the errors of ignorance, should be taught the elements of anatomy and medicine, not only to enable them to take proper care of their own health, but to make them rational nurses of their infants, parents, and husbands; for the bills of mortality are swelled by the blunders of self-willed old women, who give nostrums of their own without knowing any thing of the human frame. Wollstonecraft accuses Burke of considering women weak and simple-minded. The effect now is not one of genius, but merely of contemporary common sense, applied somehow, magically, anachronistically. In that regard she was ahead of her time in more than one way. In this classic, Mary Wollstonecraft not to be confused with her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein argues for equality of men and women: Men and women are both born with equal ability to reason, and therefore power and influence should be available to all regardless of gender. Her image of an ideal woman's life builds to a vision that now seems nauseatingly insipid: Her children have her love, and her brightest hopes are beyond the grave, where her imagination often strays. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was her response, offering an alternative mode of educating women to be full citizens in a revolutionary state.

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Quotes by Mary Wollstonecraft(page 4 of 6)

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

After 230+ years the struggle for equal worth should by now be a historical footnote and not still an ongoing process. Alongside traditional subjects, she recommends plenty of open-air exercise, as well as teaching through socratic discussion. In Reflections he argues that citizens do not have the right to revolt against their government because civilization is the result of social and political consensus; its traditions cannot be continually challenged—the result would be anarchy. I'm happy to have rectif As convenient as it can sometimes be, a disadvantage of reading from anthologies is that one can graduate from college with the vague notion that one has read a work in its entirety, only to discover later that in fact one has read only a page and a half of it in a long-forgotten Eighteenth-Century British Literature class. She believes that they should simply "break free" regardless of their family situation, even if that does not allow them to. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. Wollstonecraft believed that regardless of wealth and social status, males and females should have the same educational opportunities.


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Quotes from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

You teach women to be superficial? This is apparent in the One interesting issue to note is that Wollstonecraft was not sufficiently extreme in her call for women's rights to fit the definition of feminism as it later evolved. Is this the man who delights to paint the useful struggles of passion, the triumphs of good dispositions, and the heroic flights which carry the glowing soul out of itself? I know I didn't read it all, but I read enough to recognise its importance and her passion, for which I give her four stars. Let them be taught to respect themselves as rational creatures, and not led to have a passion for their own insipid persons. Thus Milton describes our first frail mother; though when he tells us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace, I cannot comprehend his meaning, unless … he meant to deprive us of souls, and insinuate that we were beings only designed by sweet attractive grace, and docile blind obedience, to gratify the senses of man when he can no longer soar on the wing of contemplation. Wollstonecraft's last novel, Rights of Woman, is usually considered her most radical feminist work. Many female poets and writers gained popularity during the time period, and discussions on the roles of women began to change a bit.

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The 23 Best A Vindication of the Rights of a Woman Quotes

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

. Animated by this important object, I shall disdain to cull my phrases or polish my style; — I aim at being useful, and sincerity will render me unaffected; for, wishing rather to persuade by the force of my arguments, than dazzle by the elegance of my language, I shall not waste my time in rounding periods, or in fabricating the turgid bombast of artificial feelings, which, coming from the head, never reach the heart. I wish to persuade women to endeavor to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost synonymous with epithets of weakness, and that those beings are only the objects of pity, and that kind of love which has been termed its sister, will soon become objects of contempt. Mary Wollstonecraft 'A Vindication Of The Rights Of Women' Quotes Here are the best Mary Wollstonecraft quotes from her book about feminist philosophy. It's as if I made a drawing of my dream house, and then claimed that because I drew it, it must be available for purchase. THANK YOU, MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT.

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

Mary Wollstonecraft in her writing was concerned that some of these age-of-reason writers ha This work of literature is particularly significant because of when it was written. She notes that she understands the basic truth that she is fully human, and her appreciation of the importance of human rights stems from her sense of herself as a human being. The sensualist, indeed, has been the most dangerous of tyrants, and women have been duped by their lovers, as princes by their ministers, whilst dreaming that they reigned over them. Wikimedia Commons In Vindication, Wollstonecraft is very critical of the deleterious effects of romance novels on the aspirations of young women. Galway: Trident Press, 1998, 160. She was a strong crusader of Mary also wrote a book about the French Revolution.

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Historical Context for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

a vindication of the rights of women quotes

But on my red spiral notepad next to me, the quotes to remember or to use for my review. Deseo de veras mostrar en qué consiste la verdadera dignidad y la felicidad humana. Because she holds that the structure of society is so important for the encouragement of virtue, it follows that national schools—created to instill virtuous habits in all children—fit within her worldview. She also thought it was important that women be well educated to enable them to teach their children to become good citizens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.


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