Comparing Paradise Lost And A Vindication Of The Rights Of Women

Mary Wollstonecraft adds on to her argument by comparing the way women were viewed as “insignificant objects of desire” by their male counterparts. At the time, society crafted women into physical entities for men that would provide pleasures for them at any time they wished. Without the proper education, women could do little to prove themselves to be worth more than just objects. The metaphor that Wollstonecraft utilized was key in advocating for the education of women as it represented how they were defenseless and only seen to be slaves in the eyes of men. She comparison is vital to the piece as she is stating how women were seen in her time and how there needed to be reform in order to improve their stance in society.

Throughout history, women are always seen as the weaker gender. Although it is not true, people has often brought into this idea of

Mary Wollstonecraft’s famous book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, is “one of the earliest expressions of a feminist consciousness.” Wollstonecraft claims that women are upset mainly due to the fact that they are not receiving the education they deserve, and goes on to explain how women are notorious for being weak, and mentally unstable. She blames the education system for this since all the books are written by men, and they claim that women are barley humans and are treated as another species. She questions the eligibility of men to claim they are better than women. A useful education, in her opinion, is one that teaches students how to be strong and independent. Her directed audience is anyone who is unsure of the true definition and meaning of feminism. Wollstonecraft believes that all humans are capable of the same intelligence, no matter the gender. Her overall idea is that every individual, both male and female, deserve equality.

In the mind of most men, women are viewed as nothing but someone inferior to them and

Women are devalued and clearly mistreated as they are looked down upon by society and

From the begging of history women have been viewed as a lesser sex. In the

Throughout history, most societies held women in an inferior status compared to that of men. This was often justified as being the natural result of biological differences between the sexes. In many societies, for example, people believed women to be more emotional and less decisive than men. Women were also viewed to be less intelligent and less creative by nature. However, research shows that women and men have the same range of emotional, intellectual, and creative characteristics. Many sociologists and anthropologists maintain that various cultures taught girls to behave according to negative stereotypes (images) of femininity, thus keeping alive the idea that women are naturally inferior.

Women are shamed and belittled by society due to the expectation set by society, television, and magazines. Women are often shamed because they don't fit into the standards of society of being "perfect." Women have to walk around with the expectation of being perfect. Women must look perfect and act perfect and even wait to have sex until their married. These are the standards set by the society surrounding women.

In the preface of her book she writes, “my main argument is built on this simple principle, that if woman be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all (Wollstonecraft).” She claims that without the gift and opportunity for women to be educated, society will ultimately become a tumultuous and uncivilized place seeing as primarily their mothers teach most young children, both boys and

Historically, women weren’t seen as equal partners when it came to their male counter parts. In fact, they weren’t seen as an actual person at all. Only as an object that was to be possessed by the men of society. In chapter twelve of A Vindication of The Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft, she speaks a great deal on national education and how important it is in shaping one’s views of the world. She begins this concept by starting with the differences between a private school education and that of a home school education. She then goes on to explain how boys are taught in a private school setting, they tend to become “gluttons and slovens” whereas in a home schooling environment, boys tend to become “ vain and effeminate” and in return develop an overbearing, cocky and aggressive attitude and way of thinking towards other peers and members of society. Wollstonecraft proposes a simple solution to this issue, allowing everybody, boys and girls of every social class to be placed in a public school environment and all taught the same exact lessons.

This non-consensual subjection of women was likened to slavery. Therefore, Wollstonecraft argues that women must attain individual rights and liberties for society to be virtuous or happy (p. 217). To achieve virtuosity, she posits that one must exercise one’s faculty of reason (p. 219). Through education and socialization, women have been construed as inferior to men (p. 214) and have been artificially barred from obtaining virtue (p. 223). By eradicating such barriers and granting women, civil liberties then can society progress.

Women had always been considered inferior to their superior husbands and men. Whether it be psychically inferior where women couldn’t get the jobs men had leaving them with fewer career opportunities, or intellectually inferior where they had

The reason of why women have been treated unfairly is because of how we have portrayed women throughout history.

As one of the earliest feminist writers, Mary Wollstonecraft faced a daunting audience of critics ready to dispel her cry for the rights of women. Her powerful argument calling for equality in a society dominated by men was strong, and her ideas withstood a lot of criticism to become one of the most important feminist texts. Her argument was simple and illustrates a solution to the inequality in society. The foundation of this argument is the idea of education and how independent thought is necessary to live a virtuous and moral life. In the present state of society, women are seen as inferior to men and held in a state of ignorance. The worst effect of this

Women have always been seen as a lower social class than males and are therefore identified as having limited privileges and rights compared to men.