Core Arguments
Wollstonecraft argues that women should primarily strive to cultivate this faculty, which she claims is the source of all human authority and goodness.
What is Reason?
Wollstonecraft criticizes the notion that women are meant to be merely this, created solely to provide pleasure for men.
What are Playthings (or Objects of Desire)?
Wollstonecraft advocates for an educational system that is free and available to both sexes, known as this type of education.
What is Coeducation (or National Education)?
Wollstonecraft challenges the view of this popular Enlightenment figure who, in Émile, suggested that women should receive a specialized, separate education aimed at pleasing men.
Who is Jean-Jacques Rousseau?
The Vindication was published in 1792, during the early stages of this great European political upheaval.
What is the French Revolution?
Wollstonecraft views this as the sole foundation for all moral behavior and true freedom.
What is Virtue?
She argues that a woman who is not a rational companion to her husband and family cannot properly perform this important social role.
What is a Mother?
She stresses that education should focus on preparing children not just for earthly life, but for their immortal souls and this ultimate goal.
What is Eternity?
She criticizes the writings of this highly respected English physician who advised that women should avoid too much study for fear of damaging their health and ability to bear children.
Who is Dr. John Gregory?
Mary Wollstonecraft is considered a founder of this type of political and social thought.
What is Feminism?
The primary goal of her work is not to make women equal in strength, but to enable them to become fully rational beings and gain this status in society.
What is Citizenship?
She refers to women who manipulate men through tears and temporary power as tyrants who possess a kind of this.
What is Cunning (or Contemptible Power)?
She insists that boys and girls should be taught together so they may acquire this vital social skill by interacting from an early age.
She insists that boys and girls should be taught together so they may acquire this vital social skill by interacting from an early age.
Wollstonecraft objects to the writings of this conservative political figure who romanticized chivalry and focused on women's weakness and delicate beauty.
Who is Edmund Burke?
Before writing the Vindication, Wollstonecraft had worked as a teacher, a governess, and a translator and reviewer for this notable journal.
What is the Analytical Review?
Wollstonecraft argues that the current system trains women to be weak and overly focused on appearance, causing them to prioritize this over developing their mind.
What is Love (or Beauty/Sensibility)?
She compares women confined to domestic life, trained only in manners and appearance, to this species of colorful but caged bird.
What is a Cage Bird (or Fettered Bird)?
Wollstonecraft argues that female boarding schools are detrimental because they encourage vanity, frivolity, and this artificial social habit.
What is Emulation (or Rivalry)?
She attacks writers like Dr. Fordyce who suggest women's modesty is not about virtue but about strategically concealing their passions for this purpose.
What is Catching a Husband (or Securing a Mate)?
This famed anarchist philosopher was Mary Wollstonecraft's husband and the father of her second daughter.
Who is William Godwin?
Wollstonecraft's central argument is that the apparent inferiority of women is due to a lack of this, rather than to any natural deficiency.
What is Education?
Wollstonecraft insists that marriage cannot be a truly sacred and lasting union if it is based merely on physical attraction and passion, rather than on this stable foundation.
What is Friendship (or Mutual Esteem)?
In her ideal educational scheme, children would return home only for the night and this specific day of the week, ensuring maximal parental input.
What is Sunday?
Wollstonecraft refutes this key philosophical concept from Locke, arguing that children's minds are not merely blank slates but possess inherent moral faculties.
What is Tabula Rasa?
Mary Wollstonecraft's second daughter, also a famous author, is best known for writing this Gothic novel.
What is Frankenstein (or Mary Shelley)?