Mary Wollstonecraft wrote in a different era, and it shows in her writing. I could barely wrap my head around the first paragraph, and I started to dread the next 18 pages. Surprisingly, once I got reading it wasn't that hard to understand her thoughts. Not only did Wollstonecraft pull me in with her strong words, I could sense the passion behind them.
While reading Wollstonecroft's essay I found a few similiarites between that period of time and present day. She writes, "Children, I grant, should be innocent; but when the epithet is applied to men, or women, it iis but a civil term for weakness." I find this to be true today; a child is supposed to hold on to innocence as long as possible. Though when you grow old, if you are "innocent" you are perceived as naive (weak). One sentence in particular really stuck out to me; "In fact, if we revert to history, we shall find that the women who have distinguished themselves have neither bene the most beautiful or the most gentle of their sex." She makes a great point. Still to this day, women often have to prove themselves in society, and these women are usually not percieved as the most beautiful nor the most gentle.
Another point that Wollstonecraft mentioned in her essay was that women should not have to build themselves to please their husbands, suitors, etc. She states, "She will not model her soul to suit the frailities of her companion, but to bear with them." So true! No one should "model his/her soul" to please another. Before women were allowed to receive the same education as men they were more or less silenced by their inadequate education on math, science, literature, etc. Wollstonecraft writes,"That a proper education; or, to speak with more precision, a well stored mind, would enable a woman to support a single life with dignity." A woman living by herself, back then, would have been looked down on. In AP Euro we talked about how if a woman never married, or was widowed and never re-married, she was looked upon as a "witch".
Even though it seemed to drag on, this essay was a great read. Wollstonecraft's views and opinions were extremely compelling, and she put true power into her writing.
I agree! I really liked this essay even though it was kind of long. I like how you point out the similarities between Wollstonecraft's time and now. The one thing I would have to say is that I think you are right about women, even today, who prove themselves in society are not usually "percieved as the most beautiful nor the most gentle;" however, I think that it has definitely changed at least a little since back then. I also agree that Wollstonecraft's writing showed passion and power.
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