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She realized that this was a problem of society and openly voiced her opinions on the matter. She wrote the book A Vindication of the Rights of Women in response to a literary response to the society’s so-called proper behavior of a woman and what her rights should be. But her opinions were brought on by more that the ability to think for herself; she suffered much during her childhood and throughout the years to come. Wollstonecraft dealt with the beating of her mother and sister, death of a close friend, and even a nervous breakdown of her sister. Her own experiences in her life inspired her to write a book that would cause her to be criticized harshly for her radical views. From the beginning, Mary’s life was one large cry for help. Her father, always in the middle of some economic failure, would beat Mary’s mother and the children during his drunken fits of rage and frustration over losing money and being a failure. She had witnessed time and again her mother being abused by her father, and many times she would throw herself in front of her father to keep her mother from receiving yet another blow (Ferguson 1). Another domestic violence situation she encountered was that of her sister, Eliza. Eliza had suffered a nervous breakdown, and Wollstonecraft was convinced that this was caused by her husband’s abuse. Wollstonecraft then proceeded to kidnap her sister and hid her from her husband and five-month year old daughter. This action caused quite a stir in seventeenth-century England, and many people criticized Mary for doing so (Abrams 98). Considering her rash reviews and probably more than a little out of sorts, England, as well as other parts of Europe, criticized her for years to come. Wollstonecraft suffered more losses, which only added to her strengthening and growing dislike for the institution of marriage. Her best friend, Fanny Blood, died giving birth to her daughter, which to Mary was a direct result of marriage. Also, at one point during her thirties, Wollstonecraft fell in love with an American businessman, Gilbert Imlay. She had a child by him, whom she named after her beloved friend, Fanny, but Imlay then left her. She thought the pain unbearable, and twice attempted suicide (Ferguson 3-14). The only emotions that she had experienced with marriage, men, and relationships were of heartbreak and pain emotionally and physically. This is certainly reflected in her writing, especially in A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which in part responds to the tyranny men have exercised on women and how it has damaged their views of themselves, their mentality, and their characters (Rood 393). Another issue, perhaps more often discussed in her book, is the idea of more education for women. Because of the expectations of women of her time, Wollstonecraft, wanting to leave her abusive household, had only a few choices. She knew she could marry and be emotionally and financially dependent on her husband, or she could work as a governess, or other low-key career appropriate for a woman. Thinking back on the hardships suffered by her mother she became strongly opposed to marriage. This left her with the sole choice to work as a governess, of which she said she “by no means like[d] the proposal” (Ferguson 7), but knew there was no other alternative. She believed that education could help women have more choices in life than being a wife or governess. According to A Vindication of the Rights of Women, ignorance is not strong enough to base virtue on, yet Wollstonecraft feels that is exactly what was “insisted upon by the writers who have most vehemently argued in favor of the superiority of man” (Ferguson 7). Women of that time were labeled as weak, and although Wollstonecraft writes that this description may be accurate, she feels it is only because of lack of education for females (Wollstonecraft 104). She believes, as is written in her book, that education is essential for women to contribute to society and to raise intelligent children. She asks her reader a poignant question: “ can [these women] be expected to govern a family with judgment, or take care of the poor babes whom they bring into the world?” (Wollstonecraft 104). How could women who were not allowed education and were frowned upon by society when voicing opinions or even discussing knowledgeable topics be able to raise a child and give them any type of sense? The mother is equally as important as a father; it takes two make a child, and in eighteenth century England, it takes two to raise it. From birth a child has a natural attraction to his mother. If women were so poorly looked upon, then why were they chosen to raise the future of the world? Knowing that this seemed highly unlikely, Wollstonecraft, simply put, wanted females to be taught to think. Her ideas and views were most certainly radical and bizarre for her time. However, her work did allow the feminist movement to begin. Author Terri Bittner writes that A Vindication of the Rights of Women was “important because it turned the idea of suffrage into a cause” (Bittner 2). Many writers agree that she was too far ahead of her time for the achievement of equal rights for women, but nevertheless she did receive many supporters. Author Mary Hays praises Wollstonecraft in her book Letters and Essays, admiring the “virtues and talents” (Ferguson 72) of her book. Hays later on extolled Wollstonecraft for her ability to “awaken in the minds of her oppressed sex a sense of their degradation, and to restore them to the dignity of reason and virtue” (Ferguson 72). The Analytical Review praised her work for recognizing how men have turned women into sex objects, and The Monthly Review supported her wishes for female reason Her book continued to affect and change the feminist movement in England, and would have a large impact on the American feminists in the century to come. She intended her book to add to rising conflict of equal rights and education for women (Rood 393). Though she is considered a pre-Romantic author, her ideas on democracy and women’s rights were used by Romantic authors, such as her daughter Mary Shelley, and son-in-law Percy Bysshe Shelley. For her time period, Wollstonecraft took a brave step to voice her opinion on Though she had admirers of her ideas, she also had criticism of her work. An article appearing in the Monthly Review six years after the publishing of A Vindication of the Rights of Women criticized Wollstonecraft’s ideas. The article disagreed with Wollstonecraft’s view of a woman ending an abusive marriage by writing, “We think it a pernicious doctrine that a woman, when she deems herself ill-used by her husband, has a right to leave him” (Johnson 1). The author also includes a warning to “beware of lessening the respect that is due to this legitimate bond of love” (Johnson 1). In 1792, the year A Vindication of the Rights of Women was published, The Critical Review wrote that Wollstonecraft’s reasoning must be off, and that she should seek so-called womanly virtues, such as “delicacy, elegance, and sensibility” (Ferguson 73). The criticism was ample, and she even received some from her own sister, the one whom she saved from an abusive relationship. Eliza described a certain quote from her book as “the most indecent rhapsody that ever was penned by man or women” (Ferguson 72). Her writings brought on much criticism because the people of her time were not accustomed to such radical ideas, such as women’s rights. Her unselfish willingness to take a stand and voice her personal opinion on the wrongs of society, which brought about many negative consequences upon her herself, is why her writings were so effective in bringing on the feminist movement throughout the civilized world. Wollstonecraft was a strong minded individual who simply put forth her thoughts and stood by them. Her romantic ideas seemed to be criticized only by those who had not and virtually could not experience the injustices in society of which Wollstonecraft wrote about. Mary’s experiences in life definitely contributed to the radical ideas that were expressed in her book. If not for her horrible childhood and uncomfortable life, she might have never been able to achieve such goals. Wollstonecraft was able to overcome the beating of her mother and sister, death of a close friend, and even attempted suicide only to turn it into something positive and fight for what she felt was right. Her work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, is a very powerful statement of what she believes the rights and role of a women should be. Way ahead of her time, Mary’s work discussed in detail viewpoints that are now considered normal, and that in today’s society would be viewed as chauvinistic. How is it that women were so sadly looked down on when this particular woman was so extremely advanced for her time? She may have received criticism on her book, but her writings were persuasive enough to affect the views of women and eventually men for many years to come. Bibliography: Works Cited Abrams, M.H. eds. et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th Edition. vol 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 1993 p. 98-100. Ferguson, Moira, and Todd, Janet. Mary Wollstonecraft. Boston: Twayne, 1984. Monthly Review. Ed. Johnson. Nov. 1798.. Rood, Karen. eds. et. al. Concise Dictionary of Bristish Literary Biography. vol 3. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992 Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. in Abrams. p.101-126. Women’s History. Ed. Terri Bittner. Apr. 1998. . Word Count: 1592
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