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An enlightening insight into the perspectives of a late 18th Century middle class female thinker. There is much here that could be seen to inspire the generations to come, and to stand up for the authority of reason ahead of tradition. At the same time there is an intriguing tension between many views that might be considered the norm today, and some that feel very much of their era in their affirmation of a stratified perspective of how the sexes relate to each other. What frustrates about the
Dense read but with beautiful poetical prose, Mary Wollstonecraft takes down Burke and Rousseau. Vindications of the Rights of Men was a more difficult read, I haven't read Edmund Burke's texts and the writing was clearly more meant for him than for the public. Vindications of the Rights of Woman is a far easier read and you can tell she wrote this for a more wider public. Still it is rich in prose. I was however happy to have read about the French Revolution earlier and having read a biography
IntroductionNote on the TextsSelect BibliographyA Chronology of Mary Wollstonecraft--A Vindication of the Rights of Men--A Vindication of the Rights of Woman--An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution [Abridged]Explanatory Notes
First off, a disclaimer that I did not read the third text in this edition, actually an excerpt from An Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution. I wanted to give Wollstonecraft’s two Vindications a joint rating, though, in order to avoid subtracting a star from the later, more famous text – because one may as well sooner read A Vindication of the Rights of Men! Honestly, it’s Vindication of Woman distilled to its premises, argued less tediously, and engaged with an effective distribut...
'This is the very point I aim at. I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.''A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was published in 1792. It is impossible for me to review this work in any traditional sense. Yes, there are contradictions in some of Wollstonecraft's arguments. Yes, the essay is discursive and meandering at times. None of that matters, compared with the ground breaking nature of Wollstonecraft's fundamental proposition, that women and men are independ...
*No rating, read for college
I've officially fallen in love with Wollstonecraft. Her style of essay writing is biting and to the point, whilst using 18th century modes of writing to her advantage. Rights of Men is basically one big take down of Edmund Burke, whilst Rights of Woman tears Jean Jacques Rousseau and other philosophers of the period a new one. Meanwhile, A Historical and Moral View is analytic and more like a modern essay in its style and language. One thing I love in particular is how Wollstonecraft looks at th...
I read this for the first time when I was 19 and it fundamentally shaped the way I looked at history and feminist theory. Late reads might not have yielded anything so revolutionary, but still informed my beliefs. Radical in the best ways.
Read for university
First wave feminism. For 1975, pretty bold and important arguments.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a revolutionary for her time. Her work is not only sparking questions and changing the way we look at feminism but it's also a great period piece on the way women would act during the Enlightenment. This book is a must-read for any young feminist trying to understand where the movement came from and why it's still relevant today. Though the language was at times complicated to grasp, it was overall, well explained and the surrounding sentences made the whole book come tog...
After reading these three works from the late 1700s, I have to say, they’re still relevant. They’re depressingly relevant in fact, because many of the issues she dealt with remain intractable. It’s also very instructive to see how she approached the topic from her time period and perspective. If you’re interested in feminism or justice for mankind, this book will be one you eventually come across. It deals with a very interesting historical time period, and for readers today the writing is still...
This review was just for A Vindication of the Rights of Men (I had read Rights of Woman prior)...
I maintain that if these results can be achieved, the state of affairs in our corner of Greece, where men and women do not have a common purpose and do not throw all their energies into the same activities, is absolutely stupid. Almost every state, under present conditions, is only half a state, and develops only half its potentialities, whereas with the same cost and effort, it could double its achievement. Yet what a staggering blunder for a legislator to make!Laws VII, PlatoIt's worth invokin...
I’ll confess that I only read the two Vindications in this edition as part of research for a university essay. Some of the prose is a little tough to read but that may be a symptom of the time she wrote in as much as anything. Some of these arguments are utterly timeless, her advocation for a level playing field for both sexes upon which they can develop morality is something that resonates even today. A genuine legend of her time and one of the founding mothers of the feminist movement.
Very interesting, but quite rambling.
Read selections for a class I am TAing for and *chef's kiss*.
Read for school, did not rate
I had to read this for my 18th century literature class. It had interesting points, but overall not the most engaging read.
I already wrote about A Vindication of the Rights of Men and A Vindication Of The Rights Of Women; but this appealing edition from Oxford also includes selections from Wollstonecraft's Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, which she wrote in Paris and published in 1794, when the Terror was at its height. It is a little bit stodgy, to be honest, and shows how much her prose style depended on the touch of personal outrage that was present in her earlier scr...