Mary Wollstonecraft Essays (Examples)

Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft

The Woman

This section explains the timeline of Mary Wollstonecraft's life; understanding the choices, relationships, and events in her life helps one to understand her drive and focus in liberal feminism over the course of her short, 38-year life.

Mary Wollstonecraft was born to an English family who moves repeatedly throughout the formative years of her life (birth through 9 years of age). During her 9th through 16th year, she made friends with a neighboring clergyman, Mr. Clare. It has been theorized that it was at this point in Mary's life that she began to truly develop intellectually.

y the time she was eighteen, Mary had developed an ability to exert some influence over her father to stop the incessant moving propensity of her family and persuade him to allow her to live near a friend and continue her studies.

The first indication of Mary Wollstonecraft's social awareness…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft's Impact on American Society it

Mary Wollstonecraft's Impact On American Society

It may be difficult for some to phantom a world where the role of women was substantially different than it is today. In the twentieth century, women have made significant inroads into the world once dominated entirely by men but in the days of Mary Wollstonecraft the situation was remarkably different and the obstacles and barriers that Wollstonecraft and the other ladies who stood by her side had to face were considerable. Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 in a time when the options available to young ladies was extremely limited and for someone like Mary Wollstonecraft to have stepped forward in the way that she did in an attempt to redefine the roles of women in society was unheard of. Mary possessed what one might describe as a contrary personality but the reasons supporting being contrary certainly existed in the mid-18th century and many…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft Although She Was Born in

Mary ollstonecraft

Although she was born in 1759, Mary ollstonecraft is hailed as the first modern feminist (Cucinello pp). Her "A Vindication of the Rights of oman," published in 1792, is the first great feminist treatise (ollstonecraft pp). ollstonecraft preached that women must be strong in mind and body and that sentimentality was symbolic with weakness (ollstonecraft pp).

Born to a "gentry" farmer and an aloof mother, it is said she began protesting at an very young age, when her brother received that favored position when it was Mary who would protect her mother from the abusive father (Cucinello pp). For a number of years ollstonecraft worked as a governess before deciding to make the unconventional career choice of becoming an editor and journalist (Cucinello pp). She wrote the "Thoughts on the Education of Daughters" in 1786 and in 1790 published "A Vindication of the Rights of Man" "as a…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft and Women's Education

ollstonecraft

Mary ollstonecraft and the Mis-education of omen

According to ollstonecraft, women have been mis-educated by men and society in general (ollstonecraft, 7). This has taken place because of the way women have been viewed in society, and how it is expected that they act. ollstonecraft lived in a time when women were most definitely expected to act like "ladies," and were not allowed to work and make lives of their own in the same manner they do today. Those kinds of things would have simply been unacceptable to men and to society. omen also did not have rights like they do today, and they could not do for themselves because they were not legally able to do so. This fostered the belief that women were lesser creatures, and it is a belief that women took to heart for a long time (ollstonecraft, 9). As society was studied by ollstonecraft,…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft Freedom Even Uncertain Freedom Is

Mary Wollstonecraft

"Freedom, even uncertain freedom, is dear; you know I am not born to tread the beaten track." -- Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft was an outspoken political expressionist, essayist and feminist before anyone knew that there was such a thing. Her most famous work to date, A Vindication of the ights of Women, made a radical claim that a society cannot progress unless its wives and mothers were not educated. Born in 1759 in the Spitalfields section of London, Mary was second among seven children belonging to a middle class family. Being poor manager of money, Mary's father John Edward made the family move from place to place in unsuccessful attempts to make it big ultimately settling in Wales, becoming poorer with every move (Kreis, et al. 2009).

An intelligent girl, Mary Wollstonecraft understood at an early age what prospects were like for women of her social class, and…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft

gender equality could be regarded as the most emphasized matter in western civilization and the favorite reoccurring object of public opinion. Mary Wollstonecraft's views on the subject, professed in A Vindication of the ights of Woman, proved to be the first outright manifestation against society's bias concerning women. Notwithstanding its significance, her work was awarded with proper attention after a century.

Despite the fact that Enlightenment centered on humanism and drew the outlines of what we presently call democracy, its leading figures entertained vastly progressive scenarios within the singular reach of men. As a matter of fact, the philosophers, in their arduous yet theoretical endeavors for human perfection, were oblivious to the imbalance and imperfection of this ultimate goal if half of mankind would be left out of it. From this perspective, historian Henry Noel Brailsford reckoned A Vindication of the ights of Woman "perhaps the most original book of…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly and Her

This communication with the outside world includes sections in the novel that clearly show she feels blame and guilt at her depression and how it has made her treat her "beautiful" poet, Woodville. She writes, "But now also I began to reap the fruits of my perfect solitude. I had become unfit for any intercourse, even with Woodville the most gentle and sympathizing creature that existed. I had become captious and unreasonable: my temper was utterly spoilt" (Shelley 76). In fact, she believed her own depression and temperament helped drive Shelley to indulge in extra-marital affairs, and because of this, she became even more depressed and morose. She shows this in Mathilda, in a way to assuage her grief and guilt at placing even more of a strain on her marriage.

It is also interesting to note that Mary formats the novel in the form of a journal or letters…… [Read More]

Vindication Rights Woman - Mary Wollstonecraft Primary

vindication rights woman - Mary ollstonecraft (primary source) http://web.archive.org/web/19970803094951/http:/www.baylor./~BIC/CIII/Essays/rights_of_woman.html Declaration rights omen, Olympe de Gouge, 1791(Compareable source) http://www.

This is a novel entitled "A Vindication of the Rights of oman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects" and it is meant to address society regarding the fact that women are discriminated on a frequent basis without anyone doing anything to stop this wrongness.

Mary ollstonecraft's 1792 "A Vindication of the Rights of oman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects" is one of the first texts written on the topic of feminism. The writer is a philosopher and an ardent supporter of female writes during an era when women were generally regarded as being inferior to men. In addition to writing on the topic of women being discriminated, she also focused on other topics that required moral attention and did not hesitate to criticize individuals and institutions that she considered…… [Read More]

Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft Were Seemingly

Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft were seemingly writers with two distinctly different styles of writing who created a furor with their controversial styles of presentation. Though each wrote in different ways they were similar in conceptions of theme. Both Feminist writers, Austen and Wollstonecraft underlined the constrictions placed on women in society and the oppression they faced as their individuality was objectified in terms of beauty and societal class.

Consider that critics of Austen's stories contend that she gained popularity not because she offered escape through her fictitious depictions but rather because her protagonists were so "realistic" and presented in real terms the restrictive social conditions in which people, especially women, have had to live. Austen's stories are then based on strong women who struggle with the expectations society places on their actions. Though they may not always prove successful the strength is shown through the attempt rather than the…… [Read More]

Mary Wollstonecraft a Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Marxian critique of capitalism focuses on the private ownership and control of social means of production -- factories, farms, fisheries, forests, and their accumulated representations, financial capital. Capital is the product of the collective productive efforts of the men and women who do the work in society, and it ought to be controlled by them and put to productive uses that serve their needs and desires. Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement

Capitalism and communism are two entirely diverse systems. Capitalism involves the freedom of markets. In capitalism the means of production and distribution are owned and controlled by private owners. In communism the factors of production and resources are controlled by state owners or government.

Capitalism is simply when an owner with the wisdom of God free from government (even well intentioned) trying to impose its collective human wisdom upon society and individuals. Capitalism is the…… [Read More]

Wollstonecraft & J J Rousseau the Influence of

Wollstonecraft & J.J. Rousseau

The influence of humanity and reason in the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and Jean Jacques Rousseau on education and women

The age of Enlightenment put forth the importance of humanism and reason, concepts that creates a balance between humanity's innate tendency to experience emotions while at the same time, cultivating a rational view of experiencing sensations and interactions around him/her. Indeed, discourses that were created and published in the 18th century reflected the use of reason in order to elucidate the nature of human beings. 'Enlightenment discourses,' in effect, provide an important insight into the humanism and reason that dwells inside the human mind.

These important concepts of the Enlightenment were shown in the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and Jean Jacques Rousseau. oth being proponents and believers of the principles reflective of the Enlightenment, they expressed their views of how humanism and reason influenced their position…… [Read More]

Power of One Voice Wollstonecraft

It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored" (King). King responds to the incredible unfairness of the situation carefully and demonstrates that even from in a prison, a person can argue logically.

Both authors appeal to authority. ollstonecraft lives in a world dominated by man and she must appeal to their logic is she is to make any headway with her arguments. She begins by examining the importance of education -- including the education of women. Educating women is important to ollstonecraft and she builds her primary argument upon the principle that if women are not educated to "become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge and virtue; for truth must be common to all" (ollstonecraft). omen are responsible for educating children and they should not under any circumstances, resort to a "false system of education, gathered from the books…… [Read More]

Nature in Shelley's Frankenstein Mary

The monster knows right from wrong and he choice is one of desperation. Victor never realizes the difference between right and wrong because it is not within his nature to do so.

Frankenstein will always be closely examined when it comes to matters of humanity because of its subject matter. Victor has every opportunity to do something good with his life and the most he can muster is achieving his own dreams of glory by attempting to recreate life. Despite his education and loving family, Victor swerves off the normal path and skids onto the freakish one. The monster he creates encompasses more goodness than he does but he cannot see this because he is just like the rest of humanity - unable to see beyond the monster's appearance. The monster tried everything within his power to remove himself from the freakish path that Victor placed him on and gain…… [Read More]

Doubling in Frankenstein Mary Shelley's

It is through Shelley's doubling between Frankenstein and the Monster, and herself and Frankenstein and the Monster, that Freud's uncanny and psychological concepts of the id, ego, and superego can be analyzed. Shelley demonstrates how an individual's outward appearance is not necessarily representative of their character and at the same time is able to come to terms with the psychological traumas that plagued her -- from losing her own mother at childbirth to losing her own children shortly thereafter. Furthermore, Shelley is able to demonstrate how an imbalance between an individual's id, ego, and superego can influence behavior and is also able to demonstrate how each of these is formed, either through instinctual behaviors, observations, and education. Ultimately, Shelley's understanding of the uncanny, and psychological constructs, paved the way for psychologists like Freud to investigate the constructs of fear and unease.

orks Cited

Freud, Sigmund. The Ego and the Id.…… [Read More]

Feminist Reading Two Models of

As such, she fails to address the central problem of feminism in the Pontellier perspective, namely the impossibility of female individuality and independence in a patriarchal world. It is only in isolation that Edna can find any happiness, and she must make this isolation more and more complete in order to maintain her happiness, as the patriarchy has a means of encroaching on all populated areas, and Wollstonecraft's feminism does not offer an alternative to this need to escape humanity.

A final snort of disgust might be distinctly heard from Edna Pontellier upon her reading of this line of Wollstonecraft's, afterwards she might likely have flung the text aside (or into the fireplace, depending on the season): "Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society" (ch. 4, par. 10). What Wollstonecraft means is that women are thought to be so fragile, so emotional, and…… [Read More]

Afghan Women's Social Struggle Social

" In the rural areas, Afghan women "are still forced into marriages and denied a basic education" (Qazi, par. 2). It has been said that many school that cater to girls have been burned down and there were girls who "have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school" (Qazi, par. 2). The struggle still continues up to this day. The Afghan women constitute half of the Afghan population and as such, they are important and should be made equal participants in the rebuilding of the Afghan society. The Afghan women should be empowered in order to do this. The Afghan women do not need to be saved. Instead, equal educational opportunity would help end the Afghan women's social struggle.

eferences

Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women eally Need Saving? Anthropological eflections on Cultural elativism and Its Others." American Anthropologist September 2002: 783-790.

Burke, Barry. "Mary Wollstonecraft on…… [Read More]

Vindication of the Rights of

Ross (1988) notes the development of Romanticism in the late eighteenth century and indicates that it was essentially a masculine phenomenon:

Romantic poetizing is not just what women cannot do because they are not expected to; it is also what some men do in order to reconfirm their capacity to influence the world in ways socio-historically determined as masculine. The categories of gender, both in their lives and in their work, help the Romantics establish rites of passage toward poetic identity and toward masculine empowerment. Even when the women themselves are writers, they become anchors for the male poets' own pursuit for masculine self-possession. (Ross, 1988, 29)

Mary ollstonecraft was as famous as a writer in her day as her daughter. Both mother and daughter were important proponents of the rights of women both in their writings and in the way they lived and served as role models for other…… [Read More]

Gothic Feminism in Wollstoncraft and

The lack of rights within marriage that makes women basically "property" to the man is obviously central to this story, as indicated by the way in which Maria is imprisoned. There are a variety of ways in which this most disturbing of issues is addressed in the book. Women who are married loose control over their own bodies, and are required to submit to caresses to which their soul does not consent. One woman in the madhouse is, in fact, there specifically because she could not tolerate her husband's caresses. "she had been married, against her inclination, to a rich old man,... In consequence of his treatment... she had... lost her senses." (1.39) Not only is a woman prone to institutionalized rape, but she also has no right to require the man to remain as he was before they wed. Maria declaims bitterly of how her husband deteriorates into a…… [Read More]

Vindication of the Rights of

Furthermore, this brief introduction details the different types of legislation regarding men and women that Wollstonecraft supported. Next, this chapter moves onto Wollstonecraft's own life and actions, as well as a brief description of the time period in which she lived. These descriptions allow the reader to understand how Wollstonecraft was both revolutionary and conventional, in addition to how society encouraged and discouraged her various roles. Furthermore, I introduce these ideas to personify the struggle in which Wollstonecraft operated every day. It is this struggle that I emphasize during this chapter, giving the reader an idea of the challenging nature of Wollstonecraft's life because of it, in addition to its contribution to her struggle on paper. This chapter also introduces the reactions that others had to her work, as well as a tribute to its lasting contributions. I remark that Wollstonecraft is a strong voice among other female writers and…… [Read More]

Vindication of the Rights of

At the same time she strove to do well in her traditionally family role, while also attempting to prove herself as a worthy author.

Wollstonecraft also influenced other prominent female figures of her time, of which the most notable is Anna Letitia Barbauld. Although the latter firmly differed from Wollstonecraft in her ideas relating to women and their role in society as well as their rights to formal education, she was indeed inspired by the fervor with which Mary Wollstonecraft fought to bring her ideas to light.

Finally, the conclusion summarizes the fact that Wollstonecraft concerned herself not only with her career as writer, but also with the broader implications of such a career for the women of her time. She used the power of her words to pioneer the rights of women to lives of their own and to an education that would match their intelligence. This makes her…… [Read More]

Woman Question Float John Stuart

Thus, due to women's continued dependence on men in order to survive in society, women inadvertently helped create the thinking that they cannot survive and live within their own means, not without the help of society, most particularly, men. Mill's discussion of male-female relations may be blatantly honest in acknowledging women oppression, but his arguments were strong in that he was able to specifically determine the factor which made women suppressed by men (that is, socio-economical dependence).

Elizabeth Browning had been aware of the plight of the women sector in her society. While Mill's analysis showed that women were subjugated by men because they are dependent on males socio-economically, Browning's explication in the poem "Aurora Leigh" illustrated how oppression had been able to penetrate and affect the mindset of women, who feel that their oppression was inherent and part of being a woman. This was reflected in her assertion that…… [Read More]

Vindication of the Rights of

In this way, religion was used in an attempt not only to make the proletariat content with their lives of alienation, exploitation and poverty, but also as a way to actually encourage them to want less and to enjoy their low stations in life as a sign of their future happiness in the religious afterlife. Regardless of Marx's beliefs concerning the Christian faith, or any other religious belief system, his critique of religion was aimed not at religious institutions per se, but at their implementation of religion as a means of subjugation.

It is for this reason that Marx believes the emancipation of humanity will necessarily involve an emancipation from religion. Because religious teachings, as Marx sees them, reinforce the ideals that create and maintain the inequalities of the capitalist system, such teachings must be done away with if the proletariat are to be able to make fully informed and…… [Read More]

Loss Read P 305 Leaving

" The differences in these two lines seem to be only a matter of syntax but in actuality, it also differs in the meaning. The King James Bible version makes it seem like the Lord is making the individual do something, as if by force or obligation, while the Puritan version states that the Lord causes the individual to do something, as if out of their own will. This alone relays the message that faith itself is driving the action, not a perceived obligation.

Another distinction between the two translations can be found with the lines "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: / and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (King James Bible) and "Goodness and mercy surely shall / all my days follow me. / and in the Lord's house I shall / dwell so long as days…… [Read More]

Wordsworth Blake Shelly and Other Greats of the Romantic Era

Romantic Era

The years in which the Romantic Era had its great impact -- roughly 1789 through 1832 -- were years in which there were "intense political, social, and cultural upheavals," according to Professor Shannon Heath at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (Heath, 2009). The beginning of the Romantic Era actually is traced to the French Revolution, and though that tumultuous event was not in England, illiam ordsworth and others sympathized with the French Revolution -- at least at the beginning of the Revolution.

The demands for democracy in the Era were manifested through poems that reflected solidarity with principles of "equality and individuality," Heath explains. The principles of fairness and equality were needed in England as well as in France, and Heath suggests that poets were not just responding to revolutions but rather were critiquing English government. According to Giovanni Pellegrino the struggles for democracy and the "political…… [Read More]

Beowulf as a Hero Lesson

Your answer should be at least five sentences long.

The Legend of Arthur

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty

1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality.

2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable.

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 10 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7B: Combining Sentences

Complete the Practice Activity on page 202 of your text. After completing this activity, read over your Essay Assessment or another journal activity you've completed.

* Identify three passages that could be improved by combining two or more sentences with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Below the practice activity in your journal, write the original passages and the revised sentences you've created.

* Be sure to…… [Read More]

Shelley's Frankenstein

Frankenstein

"You, who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have a knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes. But in the detail which he gave you of them he could not sum up the hours and months of misery which I endured wasting in impotent passions. For while I destroyed his hopes, I did not satisfy my own desires," (Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapter 24)

Frankenstein's monster remains one of the most misunderstood characters in English literature. Part of the problem can be traced to the commercialization of the book and its adaptation for cinema. As Mary Shelley's work has been appropriated by the horror genre, the monster has taken on a new form as an evil and fearsome creature rather than being the tragic and lonely figure that he actually is in the novel. Film versions of Frankenstein have stripped away from the monster some of the core components of his…… [Read More]

Adventures of a Pincushion

Pincushions and Early Modern Feminism

Mary Ann Kilner & the Adventures of a Pincushion" (1780) meets theories of Mary Wollstonecraft, early feminist and author

According to Patricia Demers' anthology of children's literature, From Instruction to Delight, the morality and the intentions behind the authorship of children's literature are seldom the same of adult literature written large, for smaller hands. Some children's books today might seem to be for 'pure fun,' but often only pure fun in disguise. And, in the past, children's literature never even put up the pretence of merely being for fun and games for the young mind. In other words, children's literature, because of the fact that it is written explicitly by adults for an audience of children, is never simply 'just a story' nor is it absent of ideological and cultural content. Rather, it is more often an intense engagement of cultural ideology and teaching, fused…… [Read More]

Enlightenment Issues

Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, and "Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly. Specifically, it will discuss family ties -- Gulliver's neglect of his family compared to Victor's neglect of his. During the Enlightenment, many issues of life and society were considered important to the very necessity and enjoyment of life. Both authors create characters that are far from normal and neglect their families in chaotic and unbelievable worlds. They abandon their families for their own selfish pleasures and wants. The authors view family as important to society, and so, they create characters that are opposite to point to their beliefs about man, society, and what is natural in relationships.

Both of these works use family ties, and the lack of them, to perpetuate their own distinct views on the Enlightenment movement, an intellectual movement prevalent in the 18th century, when both of these writers were working and…… [Read More]

Women's Rights in Her Personal

Women winning the right to vote, far too long after the founding of America, was of course an important 'first step' in ensuring that women become full participants in the American experiment. But understanding the subtle cultural discrimination, as manifest in John Adams' treatment of his wife, and the subsidiary complaints of Stanton, Wollstonecraft, and Woolf also demonstrate that simply passing a law is not enough to change the rights of women. Women have been treated as children, and also viewed as incapable of truly realizing their dreams because of their capacity to be mothers. This has remained unchanged in the cultural discourse and memory in a way that affects all of our perceptions, male and female, and unless we remember this, we may be too easily seduced by the achievements, however remarkable, of a few talented women who have been able to chip away at the 'glass ceiling.'

Part…… [Read More]

Crying of Lot 49

Dominance of Humanity over Nature: Conflict and Change in 19th Century Human Society in the Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein (1818), had introduced in literature a new genre and theme where human society and nature experiences conflict over time. The novel primarily depicts the state of humanity in the 19th century, where the effects of the Enlightenment period are reinforced through the study of the natural sciences (biology, physics, and chemistry, among others) and predominance of empirical thought, i.e., human knowledge acquired through experience and obtained through the scientific method.

With these state of events and forces dominating 19th century human society, this paper's analysis of the novel Frankenstein is two-fold: one facet discusses the issue of conflict and change happening in human society during the period, and the other facet looking into the dynamics of these changes, through exemplars and cases illustrated…… [Read More]

Ethical Practice the Foundations of

The foundational ideas of the limits of science and medical ethics goes back a very long way and as it has evolved over the centuries, certain laws, rules, regulations and taboos have been put in place to protect the human race from that sometimes blurred line between scientific discovery and human existence. Medical ethics created a system, bound by the ideals of many that came before them to control this blurring and attempt to stand between sciences desire to discover and the public and individual's desire to remain safe and in control of one's own body. A long time medical ethicist discusses the history of medical ethics as one that was founded on the principles of the ancients, but that has now become one where medical ethicists are demanding concrete answers, even laws to guide and demand decisions regarding medical ethics be enforced. "My new colleagues were polite enough, to…… [Read More]

18th C Decorative Botanical Art

In Jamaica, like many other physicians abroad, Sloane collected specimen; later, he acquired the collections of others. Among the botanical material in his collection were exotic plants and bird skins, "unique albums of Durer's prints and drawings" "a vast library of manuscripts and printed books" (Geographical 2003 26+,the second two items of which probably contained abundant botanical engravings.

Not all of the items Sloane collected survived. One that id, however, was cocoa, which he brought back to England and "marketed shrewdly as a medicinal drink valued for its 'Lightness on the Stomach'" (Sterns 2003 411+). The financial incentive was strong in many of the collectors, although with Sloane, it also had a practical side as he went in search of remedies. In 1712, for example, Sloane became keen to purchase the collection of the German physician, Engelbert Kaempfer. A chapter of Kaempfer's book, Exotic Pleasures, mentioned a number of Oriental…… [Read More]

Women and the Enlightenment the

" (Janes, 1978) It was also not due to Wollstonecraft's "assertion that the 'sexes were equal" or due to her demand for opportunities for education for women. The proposals stated by Wollstonecraft for education met with public approval and her political and economic views are stated to have "...excited little negative or positive comment at the time of publication." (Janes, 1978) In fact, it is stated by Janes (1978) that the "element that cam disturbingly close to men's bosoms was the attack on the sexual character of women, the denial that a peculiarly feminine cast of mind was desirable." (Janes, 1978)

III. Nicholson (1990)

The work of Nicholson (1990) entitled: "The Eleventh Commandment: Sex and Spirit in Wollstonecraft and Malthus" that Wollstonecraft "reaches a concept of female emancipation hardly realized in nearly 200 years...by rigorous deduction from her image of God." However, Wollstonecraft's sexual argument is stated to hinge "on…… [Read More]

Women's Rights Cases for Gender

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Illinois and argued that the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to protect against race discrimination only…" Gibson, 2007, Background to Muller v. Oregon section ¶ 1). The Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not include the protection of women's rights.

The following depicts Justice Bradley's concurring opinion regarding Bradwell's

Man is, or should be, woman's protector and defender. The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life. The constitution of the family organization, which is founded in the divine ordinance, as well in the nature of things, indicates the domestic sphere as that which properly belongs to the domain and functions of womanhood.... The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law…… [Read More]

Democrat Motto Too Many People

The preamble of the United States' constitution is the perfect example of democratic government:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." (the United States' Constitution)

What other proof needed, to show the democratic origins of the constitution? "Perfect union," "general welfare," "liberty to ourselves and our posterity." And it was all written by our ancestors.

To those who criticize democracy as a form of government, I only quote what John Dryden once said:

Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees the equality of opportunity."

For if one comes to the Land of All Opportunities in search of a better life for…… [Read More]

Timeline on Gendered Movements Dating From 1700's to Current Century

Women's Timeline

Women's Movement Timeline

The following paragraphs describe eight incredible women who lived from the 1700's through the present. This paper also includes a timeline to better place into perspective these women's incredible effort and their success at initiating change and giving women first, a voice, then, rights equal to those of men.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)

In 1792, Wollstonecraft published the most important piece relating to women's rights, a pamphlet entitled Vindication on the Rights of Women. This work advocated equality of the sexes, and elaborated upon what was later to become the central idea of the Women's Movement across Europe and America. According to scholars, Wollstonecraft "ridiculed prevailing notions about women as helpless, charming adornments in the household" and instead suggested the women should be educated and not be slavish dependents of their husbands. In fact, Wollstonecraft was one of the first women to advocate women's education above…… [Read More]

History and Development of Feminism

Feminism

The concept of feminism is not new, although it is often associated with the latter half of the twentieth century. However, assuming this is correct is an error. The aim of this paper is to look at the concept of feminism, first defining what it is, and then looking at how it is developed and how it may be seen today.

Feminism refers to an ideology in which the position of women is advanced with the aim of gaining equality; meaning that they are able to gain the same rights as men (Offen, 1988). The concept of equality refers to political, economic, and legal rights (Offen, 1988). The underlying concept is that women also need to have equal access to resources, such as education and health care, as well as equal opportunities in the workplace (Freedman, 2003; Offen, 1988).

While the movement and progress of the ideas may be…… [Read More]

Feminism 19th and Early 20th Century America

Feminism 19th and Early 20th Century America

riting and women's roles were unavoidably mixed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was a time in which many women protested their restrictions through novels, poetry, pamphlets, and speeches. By analyzing those creations, readings can begin to understand the lives of those forward-looking women. In their own time, people dismissed them as inconsequential complainers. Minority authors, like blacks and lesbians were even more ignored. However, by learning about their work, we can learn about the daily life of the social classes to which they belonged.

Many people feel that our socioeconomic status limits our understanding of others (McClish and Bacon). Because our understanding is limited by our own viewpoint from our socioeconomic status, patriarchal societies tend to limit self-expression to that which is compatible with the patriarchy. As a result, it's important to remember to ask questions based one's own experience,…… [Read More]

Revolutions in Romantic Literature

Thompson "Disenchantment or Default?: A Lay Sermon," The Romantics.

In the article "Disenchantment or Default?: A Lay Sermon," author E.P. Thompson explores the restoration of literary works by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Specifically, Thompson is interested in the moment when the poet became politically aware and disenchanted with the environs around him, turning his distaste into pieces of literature. While making his argument, Thompson delves heavily into the possible psychological profile of the author and his break with Godwinism. By doing this however, Thompson makes a critical mistake which all literary scholars and critics are meant to watch out for: that is confusing the narrator of the literature with the author himself.

Remarkably, Thompson determines that the change in Wordsworth's writings came at a time when he stopped writing towards an ideal and instead directed his writings at a real person. He writes, "It signaled also -- a central theme of…… [Read More]

Trace How the World Changes

In conclusion, these works all illustrate the changing role of women in 19th century society. At the beginning of the century, women's work was inside the home and raising a family. By the end of the century, Victorian women were attempting to add meaning and fulfillment to their lives. Women in this country were attempting to gain the right to vote, they were forming women's groups and societies, and women like Gilman, Chopin, Wollstonecraft Shelley, and others, were attempting to create their own writing careers, allowing them to be at least partially autonomous and independent. They write of women's struggles for equality and understanding with great knowledge, skill, and perception. They also write of the realities of being a woman in the 19th century. For the most part, women's lives were unfulfilled and controlled by the men around them.

eferences

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening, and Other Stories. Ed. Knights, Pamela.…… [Read More]

Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus

He writes, "Lucy Westenra, but yet how changed. The sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness" (Stoker 225). It is clear that wantonness is not a characteristic to be admired in Victorian times, because he compares her wantonness to cruelty, as well. Clearly, both these novels echo the time they were written and society's views on women. Women play insignificant and "wanton" roles in both books, and they are a source of motherly love and distress. One critic, however, feels the novel may be a beacon of change, too. He writes, "Dracula is not only a threat but also imaginative and physical vitality, a catalyst for change. The novel suggests that a new understanding of sexuality and decay is necessary for any attempt to attain social order and growth" (Boone). What is most interesting about these two novels is that they portray relatively like…… [Read More]

Feminist Analysis of Dryden's Marriage

Adultery and any sort of infidelity turns out to be a different story for men as Rosenthal stresses: "prohibition against adultery is not about property, pregnancy, misdirected male desire, or bloodlines, as one might have thought, but about the prevention of female comparison" (Rosenthal, 2008) as sharing men would be established by the size of their sexual organs.

A recurrent theme in the play from a gender perspective relates to the fact that the play is generally a patriarchal type of play in which paternal figures are predominant and the evolution of the other characters is a direct result of this way of using power. The women in this play, especially Doralice and Melantha are victimized as women had lesser rights to speak their minds or act according to their decisions. The paternalistic environment is also observed in the way Palamede and Rhodophil behave, as all four of them find…… [Read More]

Price Beauty 'For Though Beauty Is Seen

Price Beauty?

'For though beauty is seen and confessed by all, yet, from the many fruitless attempts to account for the cause of its being so, enquiries on this head have almost been given up"

illiam Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, (1753)

Not very encouraging words, but if the great artist illiam Hogarth felt himself up to the task, we can attempt at least to follow his lead. That beauty is enigmatic goes almost without saying. Different ages, different cultures, and even different individuals, will have their own definitions of "beauty." The problem is more than skin deep. Any term that can be so widely and irregularly employed is bound to trap the casual researcher ... Or reader ... Or viewer ... Or for that matter, any other human being who attempts to define what is and what is not "beauty." People, places, things -- even ideas dreams -- can…… [Read More]

Role of Gentleman Ideal in Jane Austen's Emma

Jane Austen's Emma

Jane Austen's Gentleman Ideal in Emma

In her third novel, Jane Austen created a flawed but sympathetic heroine in the young Emma oodhouse. idely considered her finest work, Austen's Emma once again deals with social mores, particularly those dealing with ethical actions and social status.

This paper focuses on how Austen uses the figure of George Knightley to propose a new English Gentleman Ideal to criticize the strictures regarding the role of women and the skewed relationship between the sexes. In the first part, this paper looks at the social world of England in the early 19th century, in which Austen lived. It then compares the reality of these conditions with the seemingly idyllic settings Austen portrayed in novels like Emma.

The second part of the paper then examines Austen's redefinitions of the ideal English gentleman, as embodied by Mr. Knightley. Despite the expected happy ending, this…… [Read More]

Women Struggles in EL the Rights of

omen struggles in EL

The rights of women in society have always been a topic shrouded in a great deal of discussion. In many ways women are still struggling for equality within society and will likely continue to struggle for some years to come. The purpose of this discussion is to focus on how this theme of women's rights has informed English Literature and the manner in which it has been expressed including those thing that have changed and those things that have remained constant. More specifically the research will focus on women's rights in English literature from the Romantic Age until the 21st century.

The Romantic Age

In the real of English literature the Romantic age (1789-1830) was an extremely important time because it marked a new birth in the type literature that was written and the manner in which readers were exposed to the literature. As it pertains…… [Read More]

Women's History

public roles of women in the 18th century vs. The 19th and 20th centuries

The implications of gender difference placed special emphasis on a woman's place and the distinction economically and socially in women's lives.

In the last few decades, the history of women has been recognized and has been defined integrated and accepted at the academic level. Accordingly, the fields of study are now identified as "gender history," feminist history and women's history. Basically, historians have accepted the fact that more than just great men were responsible for the past.

To come to terms with what led to that eventual realization let's begin by examining a time when the treatment of women was dictated by their gender. Let's consider the treatment of women during 18th century Europe. A woman's position within her family, and within society was based specifically on her special reproductive functions. This type of thinking was…… [Read More]

Ethics & Morality in Frankenstein

Victor inwardly becomes a monster himself." (Kain, par. 5)

On the other hand, ichard III was written by William Shakespeare. It is the story of ichard who secretly desired the throne of his brother. Although ichard is unattractive and considers himself as such, he is very charismatic. He has a strong personality and he is brilliant with his words and his arguments. In his desire for the thrown of his brother, King Edward IV, ichard was willing to kill anyone just to obtain it. Being intelligent and skillful, he was able to deceive the people around him in order to manipulate them. In order to get married, he manipulated Lady Anne. And then he used his political power by manipulating and deceiving the people around him to have his other brother, Clarence, executed. He used manipulated his older brother, Edward to feel guilty about Clarence's death. This contributed to the…… [Read More]

Symbolism of Light in Edgar

This is the moment when Victor Frankenstein uncovers the secret that will allow him to create his "monster," and it is one of the most important parts of this novel. Victor has discovered something other scientists have never dreamed of, and the brilliant light symbolizes this knowledge and discovery. Throughout the novel, Shelley continues to use light to show Victor's growing knowledge and understanding, there is always a brilliant light when something important or amazing is about to occur.

Shelley's use of light as a symbol offers some kind of hope to the reader, and it symbolizes what seems to be good in the novel. Poe uses light differently, to highlight strange and bewildering occurrences that are almost always climatic and have to do with the outcome of the story. Poe's light is the light of lightening storms, blood-red moons, and fiery destruction, while Shelley's is the light of creation…… [Read More]

Frankenstein the Classic Horror Novel

The monster is evil, Victor is good, and so they are in conflict throughout the book.

The point-of-view in the novel is first person in both the letters by Captain Walton and the narration told by Victor himself. This helps make the reader feel like they are part of the action and experiencing events as they take place in the novel.

There are many themes in "Frankenstein," and one of the main plot lines is the fight between good and evil. However, there are other themes in the novel. One is Victor's quest for learning, which leads him to create something that is far beyond what he can control. Victor has a thirst for knowledge, he is creative, and his quest takes him down the wrong path. Another theme is the monstrosity of the monster. Because he is ugly and was created by such strange means, he is shunned and…… [Read More]

Gender in the Collector and the Comfort of Strangers

Gender in Fowles and McEwan

[oman] is defined and differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her; she is the incidental, the inessential. He is the Subject, he is the Absolute -- she is the Other. -- Simone de Beauvoir.

Simone de Beauvoir's influential analysis of gender difference as somehow implying gender deference -- that the mere fact of defining male in opposition to female somehow implies placing one in an inferior or subaltern position -- becomes especially interesting when examining how fiction by male authors approaches questions of gender. I propose to examine in detail two British novels of the post-war period -- The Collector by John Fowles, published in 1963, and The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan, published in 1981 -- and hope to demonstrate that, in point of fact, the existence of the feminist movement has managed to shift the portrayal of…… [Read More]

Muckrakers Successes and Failures

Muckrakers

As a profession, muckraking has gained a bad reputation ever since President Teddy Roosevelt compared certain journalists to the obsessive lad in the Pilgrim's Progress. In this 1906 speech, Roosevelt likened many journalists of his day to the man who stood in ooze, holding his garden tool and with his eyes fixed downward (Kiee 2001).

However, the "muckraking" techniques of these journalists have shined the light on many issues and practices that need to be addressed.

These exposes regarding corruption and unjust practices have led to public outcry and have spurred social change. After all, the reverse view would paint muckraking as a profession as a research and revelatory-based process that challenges the status quo. One person's muckraker is then another person's crusading journalist.

This paper looks at historic and modern examples of how muckraking has spurred important social changes in American history. The later part of the paper…… [Read More]

Spheres Men and Women and

In the cinema, women were often sexual, powerful vamps and flappers, portrayed by actresses like Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. Flappers cut off their long hair and shed their long skirts for a more athletic and empowered appearance. However, although the flapper was culturally significant in terms of her image and power, her time in the limelight was relatively brief. Born of the prosperity of the Roaring 20s, during the Great Depression, women faced more sober circumstances. Still, many women continued to work, often because they were now the primary breadwinners for impoverished households. But working away from the home and female independence was less idealized. Films such as The Gold Diggers of 1933 showed women looking to marriage as a way of relieving their economic despair.

Katherine Hepburn: The Next New oman

hile some of the stars to emerge during the 1930s were decorous and feminine, others, such as…… [Read More]

Declaration of Rights of Students a Declaration

Declaration of Rights of Students

A Declaration of the Rights of Students to the Uber Chancellor Supreme

Acknowledging that there is one governor above us, we the students put before his attention and the attention of all a list of complaints, which should, being rational and true, secure a place of prominence in the mind of any man, who calls himself a rational being. This Declaration casts no blame, nor proposes injury; its purpose is only to draw attention to the God-given, natural, and inalienable rights of students. For a student is no less a man than any other -- and for students to be viewed as something less than equal to any other living member of the human race is nothing but an abuse of reason, and an abuse of justice. In justice' sake, in equality's sake, and out of a fraternal bond that separates us not but links…… [Read More]

Harold Smith on Women's Suffrage

omen's Suffrage in the UK

Harold Smith emphasizes that the origins of the women's suffrage campaign in Victorian England stemmed from a larger campaign for reform concerning the franchise in general. Smith is, in fact, careful to note at the very beginning of his study that there has been a recent historiographical shift, which emphasizes the "specifically women's protest against a gender system" by adding some distance between women's suffrage and the different (but related) campaigns for electoral reform in the U.K. In the earlier nineteenth century (Smith 7). In the first three decades of the nineteenth century, for example, British qualifications to vote were determined not only by gender (males only) but also by property ownership and monetary worth, meaning that effectively speaking only 3% of the adult male population could vote. (There were also additional difficulties in this period related to religious qualifications for electoral office: until 1829,…… [Read More]

Interviewing a Woman

interview of a woman that is more than 40 years old and belongs to a generation different than mine. It analyzes and provides a reflection of the woman's life experiences and beliefs. The main focus of the interview is to evaluate the impact of belief systems and socio-economic structures in her life as well as any resistance to these factors. The reflection also examines the impact of ideologies, cultural factors, social structures, and economics on the interviewee as a female. In addition, the process of through which she negotiates these factors and opportunities and limitations in her life are also discussed.

Brief Summary of the Interviewee

I interviewed Rebecca Mintz who is a dynamic, highly accomplished, and renowned business woman in her community. Mintz is famous for her dedication to social work and community development through which she has made major contributions towards improving the livelihoods of young women in…… [Read More]

Forced Nature Or How the

Rousseau implied that this proved the point that women ought to serve their husbands and children, and that they had no need to be educated as a man. Wollenscraft used the fact that women must bear children as evidence that they must be educated, because as they age they will need consolations of the mind to keep them satisfied as their motherhood and old age draws them away from the sensual pleasures of youth. A good mother and grandmother, she would suggest, will not be a Roussean heroine constantly hoping to passively seduce men and defining her life accordingly.

Unlike Rousseau or those scholars which based their opinion on old bones, the feminist thinkers of the Enlightenment based the core of their arguments regarding women on the same arguments which male philosophers of the era used to support universal (white) male suffrage and democratic proceedings. During this era, philosophers (including…… [Read More]

Henry Thomas Buckle's Original 1858

As activists in women's liberation, discussing and analyzing the oppression and inequalities they experienced as women, they felt it imperative to find out about the lives of their foremothers -- and found very little scholarship in print" (Women's history, 2012, para. 3). This dearth of scholarly is due in large part to the events and themes that are the focus of the historical record. In this regard, "History was written mainly by men and about men's activities in the public sphere -- war, politics, diplomacy and administration. Women are usually excluded and, when mentioned, are usually portrayed in sex-stereotypical roles, such as wives, mothers, daughters and mistresses. History is value-laden in regard to what is considered historically 'worthy'" (Women's history, 2012, para. 3).

In what Kessler (1994, p. 139) describes as "the all-too-common historical exclusion or devaluation of women's contributions," the male-dominated record of human history has either diminished the…… [Read More]

Mozart in 1786 the Neoclassical

" Mozart used the play, about a maid, Susanna, who is to marry a valet, Figaro, as the story line of his opera. Together Figaro and Susana seek to outwit their master who is trying to seduce Susanna. A master had "first night rights" to the female servants when they married in those days.

Figaro" successfully champions the ingenuity of the lower classes and the wit of the female over the self-serving, arrogant nobility. The debate that followed the success of this opera is representative of the questions in everyone's minds during those years when the rights of the aristocracy were put into conflict with the rights of the common man and woman (Fiero 165).

Although Mozart appeared to be much more concerned with music and all of its forms, and kept his favored place in the eyes of the aristocracy because of his genius, he had his problems with…… [Read More]

Mozart and Salieri Throughout the

In the scene where the Emperor and his aides argue about the language for the new opera, one of the aides notes, "Plain German for plain people," and "German is too brutal" ("Amadeus"). Underlying this conversation is the idea that the north could not possibly be civilized or educated, and only the elite and attuned listened to the classical music emanating from Italy. This also indicates how the culture was changing, and indicates the difference between the two composers. Mozart welcomed writing in German, but was open to any language, while Salieri plodded along in Italian. He was not open to change and innovation, while Mozart championed it in his music and his life.

Throughout the film, it is clear Salieri cannot grow to accept the changes in Classical music. He represents the old morals of the enaissance, while Mozart represents the new morals of the Enlightenment that would forge…… [Read More]

Women Poets Throughout American History the Work

Women Poets

Throughout American history, the work of American literary artists has helped shape how people think about America and its values. In the modern moment, American literary artists and those involved in other media tend to represent ideals of freedom, autonomy, and individuality. However, this is a perception which has only developed through centuries of artists trying to speak with a unique American voice. Artists who have been oppressed are most successful in their attempts to explain how difficult existence is for people who have to live with some character trait which allows the social setting to suppress. Women writers, in particular, have used their artistry to show the intelligence of females and to help carve a niche in a male-dominated society. Three female poetry writers from three distinct historical periods, Anne Bradstreet who lived in the colonial period, Phillis Wheatley who was a slave living during the first…… [Read More]