A Dominated Society : Lady Mary Wroth 's ' Sonnet 9

Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneer in feminist thinking and writing. She was influenced by Thomas Paine that all women should have equal rights. When Wollstonecraft was younger she witnessed her mom being verbally and physically abused by her father. Her father referred to her mother as a piece of property who cannot have the same future as him due to her sex. After her mother’s death, Wollstonecraft decided to make her own livelihood with her sister Eliza and her best friend Fanny.

women have made an exceedingly great impact on the world’s economical, social, and political spectrum. However, women are still deemed inferior to men in past and present cultures. The inferiority of women has been portrayed through various avenues such as literature and written works. The Virgil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses’ women characters are three perfect depictions of how women in today’s society are dominated, disregarded, and discredited.

The Vindication of the Rights of Woman postulates a revolutionary idea – certainly for the era in which it was published – that in the struggle for the rights and equality of man, one must also give such heed to the rights of women. Mary Wollstonecraft adheres to the fact that “the more specious slavery which chains the very soul of woman, keeping her forever under the bondage of ignorance” is the cornerstone of a system of female inequality during the eighteenth century. In this essay, I will focus on the statement:

The lines 809 – 840 of Amelia Lanyer’s poem “Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum” is an argument for why women should have an equal place in society to men’s. The poem is actually a piece of proto-feminist writing using religious examples as a way of getting across the message of equality between the sexes. Lanyer uses examples from the Bible to explain how Eve is not at fault for women having a lesser place in society and why males should have a religious motivation for women being equal with men.

She was a mother, a moral and political philosopher, a writer, and a feminist. Mary Wollstonecraft was the ideal image of what represented the push towards modern feminism. Some may even consider her as the founding mother of modern feminism itself. Much of Wollstonecraft’s literature is influenced by her own life experiences. In 1785, Wollstonecraft took on an employment opportunity as a governess. While spending most of her time there, she had a moment of epiphany where she realized that she was not suited for domestic work. Soon after, she returned to London and became a translator and wrote for a well-known publisher and discovered her love of writing. Eventually, years later she was then able to publish her most notable work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is still a very popular book which can be seen as a guide to becoming a better citizen and understanding feminism in a critical context. This essay will argue that Mary Wollstonecraft is still relevant to the feminist cause today as her views portrayed in her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman are still relatable to many of the feminist issues that currently exist around the world. This essay will do so by comparing how her views in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman can still be used as guiding principles to tackle feminist matters.

Unlike the men, Mary Wollstonecraft agreed that individual freedom was very important to society, but that it also lead to more desirable equality for woman. “Women must be allowed to find their virtue on knowledge, which is scarcely possible unless women be educated by the same pursuits as men” (Doc D). Wollstonecraft believed the primary source was to educate woman the same as men. If a woman were educated the same as men the woman would have a greater value to society.

Women in Wollstonecraft’s time were only valued for their attractiveness, were only useful for their role as a mother, and were not given the right to an education nor the right to jobs. Wollstonecraft observes that “when a women is admired for her beauty, she suffers herself to be...intoxicated by the admiration she receives as to neglect...the indispensable duty of a mother, she sins against herself by neglecting to cultivate an affection that would equally tend to make her useful and happy” (Wollstonecraft 6). In other words, women getting so wrapped up in presenting themselves as beautiful in order to meet society’s standards then completely neglect their natural role as a mother that would make them “useful” by society’s standards by fulfilling the only role they really could at the time: a mother. Instead of being praised for being a virtuous mother, women were valued solely for their sexual attractiveness. Once their beauty fades and they have already birthed and raised their children, as Wollstonecraft states, “let them not expect to be valued” (32). During Wollstonecraft’s time, a typical woman was “dependent on her husband’s bounty for her subsistence during his life or support after his death” (19). A woman did not have any other job than to be impregnated and raise her husband’s offspring, meaning she had to be financially dependent on her husband. Women could not “study the art of healing” nor “be physicians [or] nurses”—jobs Wollstonecraft argued “women might certainly study” given the opportunity

It is true, perhaps, that women are the subset of humanity whose rights had been the longest stripped of them, and who had been abused the worst and for the longest time. Even today, many people believe that women still do not have the equality that ought to be afforded them. Since women first started making steps to approach that ideal equality, they have used various means, including literature, to further their cause. Both Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince, as well as Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen, use language of Christian rhetoric to simultaneously cast their characters and themselves as sinners and the

In this book, women are portrayed with no power since they are not allowed the same luxuries as men, their opinions are disrespected by men, and they are judged based off their appearance or status and not on an intellectual level. Showing as a common theme throughout the book, it is seen

Being a young woman of this generation, I have come to realize the validity of a common bumper sticker quote: Well-behaved women seldom make history. Despite the fact that there is no verified initial speaker to this statement, the older I have gotten, the wider my eyes have become and the more of the world around me, I have seen in its full, vivid colors rather than the simple, crisp black-and-white of childhood. In my elementary days, being anything other than well behaved was downright frightening. The ever-bearing fear of disapproval weighed heavy upon my little shoulders, because frankly, speaking against adults was unforgivable and meant no rewards in the form of sweets or shiny foil stickers with terrible plays on words. But, I digress, the trueness of the statement solidified itself the older I got when the reality became clear; women are to be an object, a fixture, a malleable ball of clay left for shaping at the hands of the man she shadows. However true this may be, this paper, my last soapbox to preach observations upon, aims to reference: The Wife’s Lament, Beowulf, Paradise Lost, The Flea, and The Poetess’s Hasty Resolution to reiterate and further emphasize the use of, shift in, and development of gender roles. My primary focus resting upon the roles of women in literature throughout the time-periods discussed within the span of the semester.

Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 in London. Her father was abusive, which negatively influenced her opinions on parenting. Mary is most known for being a feminist and writing A Vindication of the Rights of Women. A Vindication of the Rights of Women mentions many problems she has seen in current day society, including public education and parenting, but always goes back to equality for women. Mary believes that women should be equal to men, not inferior nor superior. She rightfully believes that women should have a right to education. She thinks that educating women will level the playing field between men and women. She also thinks it will make women better mothers, since they have more knowledge.

The Romantic Period built an environment where women were painted with flowery diction (Wollstonecraft, 216) and were incapable of independence. The Rights of Woman became a crucial topic, particularly in poetry which allowed women the freedom of expression. Accordingly, during the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women writers did not need the prop of their male contemporaries like suggested. Evidently, women were able, successful, and professional writers in their own right. In fact, women often influenced male writers (Dustin, 42). Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Letitia Barbauld are evidence that women did not need to rely on their male peers to become successful poets. Consequently, many poets took inspiration from them (Dustin, 32). In The Rights of Woman and Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Anna Letitia Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft had contrasting ideas. Barbauld’s The Rights of Woman was a documented reaction towards Wollstonecraft’s extremely controversial Vindication. Henceforth, both indicate a separate message for the Rights of the Woman. Assumedly, Barbauld misinterpreted Wollstonecraft and readings of The Rights of Woman in the twenty-first century appear antifeminist as a result.

Mary Wollstonecraft, who was born during the age of enlightenment in the 18th century, is one of the most prominent feminists in women’s history. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman led her to become one of the first feminists, advocating for the rights of women. Born in a time where women’s education was neither prominent nor important, Wollstonecraft was raised with very little education. However, events in her life influenced her to begin writing, such as the way her father, Edward John Wollstonecraft treated her mother, “into a state of wearied servitude” (Kries,Steven)1. In 1792, she published Vindication on the Rights of Woman, which is one of the most prominent feminist pieces to date. This book is considered a reply to

The society always queries about the role of women and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was remarkably negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfil the domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.

In the Middle Age literature, women are often presented or meant to come off as an unimportant character; which can also reflect on how the author wants the women character represent. Women are usually shunned, have no say or control in what they do; due to what men desire; like Ophelia and Gertrude did in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But these female characters that I will discuss are women with power, control, and a voice. Majority of the female character’s appearances are made to represent wickedness, evil, or a seducer who challenges a man belief; and does not symbolize perfect women.