Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

A Vindication of the Rights of Women
A Vindication of the Rights of Women
A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Ebook306 pages7 hours

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity, and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal education for girls and boys, an end to prejudice, and for women to become defined by their profession, not their partner. Mary Wollstonecraft's work was received with a mixture of admiration and outrage - Walpole called her 'a hyena in petticoats' - yet it established her as the mother of modern feminism.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 19, 2016
ISBN9781531294496
Author

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an English writer, philosopher, and feminist. Born in London, Wollstonecraft was raised in a financially unstable family. As a young woman, she became friends with Jane Arden, an intellectual and socialite, and Fanny Blood, a talented illustrator and passionate educator. After several years on her own, Wollstonecraft returned home in 1780 to care for her dying mother, after which she moved in with the Blood family and began planning live independently with Fanny. Their plan proved financially impossible, however, and Fanny soon married and moved to Portugal, where, in 1785, she died from complications of pregnancy. This inspired Wollstonecraft’s first novel, Mary: A Fiction (1788), launching her career as one of eighteenth-century England’s leading literary voices. In 1790, in response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), Wollstonecraft wrote Vindication of the Rights of Men, a political pamphlet defending the cause of the French Revolution, advocating for republicanism, and illustrating the ideals of England’s emerging middle class. Following the success of her pamphlet, Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), a groundbreaking work of political philosophy and an early feminist text that argues for the education of women as well as for the need to recognize them as rational, independent beings. The same year, Wollstonecraft travelled to France, where she lived for a year while moving in Girondist circles and observing the changes enacted by the newly established National Assembly. In 1793, she was forced to leave France as the Jacobins rose to power, executing many of Wollstonecraft’s friends and colleagues and expelling foreigners from the country. In 1797, she married the novelist and anarchist philosopher William Godwin, with whom she bore her daughter Mary, who would eventually write the novel Frankenstein (1818). Several days afterward, however, Wollstonecraft died at the age of 38 from septicemia, leaving a legacy as a pioneering feminist and unparalleled figure in English literature.

Read more from Mary Wollstonecraft

Related to A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Related ebooks

LGBTQIA+ Studies For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    A Vindication of the Rights of Women - Mary Wollstonecraft

    2^book_preview_excerpt.html}Fr@vǖv 2(NX$-zf cpᇸ#5(~Uqpg0@*++OW?ݿzq?~z7߾}/_U_#_yt~.)f\_j\y~Ջϻ7Oߞ𮺎Kuji]ugqeVM~sC\p=w]5Ӝm%6w6:Lc_6_qs;Icӆ/q GxhiW cu\u,U>46K wiZu_fp+oW|?ǭ=TԷ)awL|' ) adGU/ݼL_2էu]=9| U]xHwy1*Uӧ=qu˾k ^͵ǛT?bS~rfbj/f1.CE2ï|o?oj_>򻗴˯~x嫷o4x_ђoߌ?}c_|///c_c_Ǿ׏}񷏾?}}Ooy( |-~|&7Jol޿yr'[ӚĪk/2q30o%Uiں+1. iUG8}i|8,| 6Jvjdø `tSr?8;>;UTtdx0Х!!Nqq~U=xtG74'GsxߟMNys U׆.6eu &׳eK#`;3fw.ېx(.0Ӫh3fғ hW!b, |K[ axz<Į ZljJ#5Zi t#jaL`!a10?LqA5W>#iaI1qcKg dc~%uJD TqdPϻ ]:G-"l=i8+U;G"Na〙ct &6x0m0GcS[B=6GGĿb.,@ v@C# LLLvtu)Д^ЁZt< /ep#\!ſ( ##$wX0^ Z 8=~ 0;\i#9,~p0!-ixd@؇<|,K[%wzrs탭u_[tћn:-g] ~^|^k=4(GOқ ĊLםC>&ࡊx/~r@FȐ#βM'ns}M { @<M{x! 4߭Iڲe*q]Fm#|^rzR\ӅG%FI1yNC;y? >^קͲfd4GĹWՌ“f)afvVz f])0LP_i߲wXD6YPͺh@d1-ıƮIK9"dciFL|arM Vqh,iD3p' %ړ^pڦ z3IbH& q",z'0mL47ӂJ)q%5nshhX)4k,X Aw"54#sy5xMKˌ>{Ms4TS6MlGDT*,f&U]#APy4``VY!_s1Q{rF..ʄc`(&3,k&ĨmOYuA:D.`IWSNukԬ. Q)L'4zYe yJu|[|ҰVE4E| (;clܴ1f+Om7!4ش+aqwwcMaWisfg :"y\?QݭB$^eYM+ph'Y5[N&-k1[=!c9 FF>p0jhh+ ¥W彶 xl:ƫ5ŠmPrxɺ#ޛi:Q8.,"}#?uy|X!J5|ʫڑ[U?n1?ݘX$~WD촆.)Qw! + F2(!ER3DgGedGHnY~-/igdi94*i:]SzN^yw8&N̛%z$#+.l{Ź叅[%IbmyVx]0x۟bw$Y2j#XY,úgumYsYp=Z>Cz*j޻)v\ڭ!딈ajsWOZ T91Jr+E (1{ӳŵw*C-|2k]S{)bO;CŨ3<h(jJ:mbm&M'[&9 ǒc:W >P0$8-%՝Qt`Eq {#VMgt3K' ^7_ݿz.>{.3SRt8hڮk%$aG{~IъY\;R$_n9G43_PwlBB({(|D&6ӉmTK˥6*_4 JRt$b;uf[2,!`uGNa"]q$kvC1zEsl'E+S.TNLOIF[M` <+YݟWhx&K͂#j(Zl6Ny/,S)d =g 5\ )C\b$}):RFD"?(;"[Tve>IbaWAmZzOL.aXۦ X,345ehYyZ.\sAVӍOjir st'iO~36+)]f1^P$|p%uIU[IF5ztkW!t&˽\PZY_Z o'+A)梋_(;e )DOC[(]5 Kk!;Gڔn?2*\uTeʼTMk%ck{$UW2$3s|bH<<7K>Btܶ يT(R!mf1{HbYX/* PAR#{z/ Vf2څiRѭbl0_ H"FhށL`acG&\YuCHjd %]eo{p$ BqhwvmFݺ<㈙,p}?ZV.M^N 0uTrxj&|gkg)_}4cӲSuel ^R&&PgV6ܕ %.t!5'CGgDdq#.;nG\S3&瘾N!0z?熐MYy{Ɔ~"y&ym;+d\ Mc tyo +*`+df:p ֫12 ,X,h,u5ddD*8&-KqxV!QTan`(BU/l#JZM_e" ~GMU2x*u Av@0@bK ײ ^Vܶ w_,\f!T"7zi)9AA#p4)URr`ሱQx ,Y{M 5S1/i"N'l%>9ZaE9cE^ګ7{9΍ӟo?Z5<E޿Ԩ0èK{^-)*Zq! Ў@Y{n^NFvlEmtf!Vܫܨ̫'G w릹1ސ~_~玒Nnڔf+;TU qhso ۱guUشa:_TK ؋T;ab''ѐk zc{Ө0\n-dlwP'g給 gx>td^ 8=~R|8x93Q;wkהx\zpLZ8-RϸSh5cT٣ҫDe7pKU9[l"!}$e/70Hk]ޚE9lʲ+FOQ(>w7C9&4j ־ˢVm‹W5R[A%bf)S"+ fZ9-גVOBrae\`h Yd2E):FH:L /y<%{2^F#&z {C{kd+$mygI l`K\9{)bknkR4oF% ;`-X72BAo?v1__ y.6^+^Q.M\$ {_ӌ_ʅFVVH9ZhyY?bTx'/TnұwI14,CTkĐq0Y/AY6UE u!ݒ)F'x5#[w)> [m\jBFwQ}ͰK!N"n7RUTˤ Ǥ\*9=eTx& D0)i՞Ӟ]Kt nòj6vd^I 1"f|$558=Buwyy4m#sZC _~[I,uxPJuSdϥ!!kn,f_GCp);k0V'..,2. @3Kh,i2L9gA-GI)SZ= |f.B,(gfr1 y0zW,' wL gt@*-MMydz\&uO08K=g|ffbԎҝ@61LG7[}m$Boo䷽ee5͆~9孛 =J*`` m^T3k0QXY *ʎj˥kR?g>[mOm }6 GZc01eͷI~бJںaO֯buf xMbgѫm}.s5 B=^B?"jnG2/k ̼̙ Vx^E[o-ק; 5 G_/קƳ>9NND&\P;_^Uћuƹ糹ơaF? hl/:kdހ @`N<y ҧ:"&ڰEV~" ɵp9)|YC>.uHWl+}RR0O2ƼQmJo6X[Ҋǃgd&hg; x&;GY'@" [xS~k#~uq2s!C.6~93Ty ʹvU3Ln%u{ogo=1FD99ecn)9q0[wV@%LXX;ͺda2I|m-mQdƷ*}> lVݰ-OM6g"b=` K_ؼd:׮z gI1,={BR O>s$nH)bC"pEi6eW۱DoÍ,A"1lM/k" {G Ҁ<~XbHd*f˚1M C:(O{rTDB5b#PxAFq } j0Ķ=v$:rK qۧdzH+M Lac-wuj2g*ޭԑxN۬ؖ:-Dd=O/p^Wbܲ{ôH=-ꙛ):=1#)pX9^MC^2Gh m@ pɌJ#uaYޙHsȟ 4=)y67/֪[þ9;#Kj)< L@fL&1 Qsܴ냾Ɉ֒坜L/Stkς;1&|W};bT#TrZ70'N *%f ; WbVܤ` jg3Uƻ[rE*6uCyJpX463< e[-Z9"jy@w>GYef~`'VK<[5?2cI2 Y,C^uev-sZ'u]P]iyvJ? ש˶s":EM-% a]Ft=;VZpݙm%mk4Aԣu#4"{\[5'T%XHrl05.u^vUfy?9X[$"ݶ_L' üsϿe2lkNi3Q$^9<#|d)SMkm30&l7L|V=?~a.B1(Ξ٪ 5B֐ODj9uΖJ.QQ2m\-MW` XL5ѮV,JXpH,Ϫ1qgGHdn*o)udz;u1}@i"2k5Hy [yRgO6^ݺ1y>wя[[{ Tt25YZ}lLc#i9=nѢlp c7-,RSY{{ ޼R9 VZSn:.k`>86⮜pq=4XܺMgB"mFb7p8ZChgolȹBRtKcs)vl Yn׹np{rgVRpq,(ίj<*3ojF}@o-hyȡmD&M3›2P#js"N.g&&g;r>$_dnpܪ}Z)3d '&1R"ӑ'IP&?.ce^WM OCvb—}`mq:gKL_y\7Yem؃(ߌ5o:GM~sg6W]SkPg5~ΆfమtCִ(c<pz`en&E5u%\ ;g_!*jcDeΎ] G2ˡ ~mӐUtf'*UYS??z-U/ƀǩ42H"P}K]pל6`L GAݺ? ,e>*Ϭ'zf_:Yi*Hrkmځm ZRii{bmMو]dG};5j~>zojX[nLȴx avrʒ;p3v) ͙X҄Ko嘮} 8f[TeY4Vu'YZvͨFyB>{g!5 )ImgW&g >6<:]*53pW^~͛;Mc*jA3!?C@)*dRYrKuC a$8rs!X7VE%w/\Q@([2P)[_ڦR,zJjz' 1_7{"Kw9i;J=]֧E} + jXMhl 9\ثoIt`0M0_-}{*%5t2el^ڄ ʮs~B;ۖT(9'=Ji$#eH-U@γccT<\dbrhxR$;0~.U966LuɫXT{ÓZߎ̶}9!O&|q9՟U 9XmI7"{,X3 [2cݦ/㞣lsʢmL7G,El-$v~ؼcsC{S ^H.:'|pPWѾi͇eZMm/TY5Fi8%aȧ,m,Ec]1)Yjֳ'9㙓W!q\((<2^Քc
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1