Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication Of The Rights Of Women

Mary Wollstonecraft is a historical figure in the field of feminism. She was a teacher, writer, philosopher and English feminist from the 18th century. Her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Structures on Political and Moral Subject published in 1792 is considered as a founding writing in the fight for the rights of women. In this work, she answers to the theorists of education and politics of the 18th century who believe that education was not meant for women. The emancipation of women is a really broad idea; it goes from the ability for a woman to support herself financially, to the idea of not being associated to a husband, ultimately being independent. She argues that knowing the role of women of society, they deserve a larger role in it.

We will look at whether her claim are still relevant nowadays, whether her claim is still relevant in the process of women’s emancipation. In other words we will look at her theory and thoughts; we will first argue that she makes some valid points regarding the structural change of the society in order for women to be truly part of it. However, by doing so we will in a second part show that even though there is considerable progress in what she advocates, her reasoning is sometimes still contradictory and as it is sometimes based on clichés and ideas that are themselves results of the dependency of women to men at the time. Finally, I will argue that the idea she puts forward outweighs the contradictions that we mentioned, as her innovative writing gave a new perspective on the field of feminism and the emancipation of