Wollstonecraft is often celebrated as the “Mother of Feminism,” but she was also a fierce Republican and political philosopher. Her work links the Rights of Men (anti-monarchy) directly to the Rights of Woman (anti-patriarchy).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction & Context
2. Part I: A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)
3. Part II: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
4. The Core Argument: Reason as the Basis of Freedom
5. Critique of Rousseau (The “Gilded Cage”)
6. Critical Analysis (Mains/Advanced Perspective)
7. Contemporary Relevance
8. Summary Table
9. Sources

1. Introduction & Context

• Who was she? An English writer and philosopher (1759–1797). She lived during the tumultuous era of the French Revolution (1789).
• The Intellectual Climate: The Enlightenment preached “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” but most male philosophers (like Rousseau) excluded women from this definition.
• Her Mission: To prove that Virtue and Reason are human traits, not male traits. Therefore, rights must be universal.

2. Part I: A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)

Before she wrote about women, Wollstonecraft wrote a blistering defense of the French Revolution.

• The Target:Edmund Burke.
  • Burke wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France, defending Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Tradition (“Chivalry”).
• Wollstonecraft’s Argument:
  • Attack on Tradition: She argued that relying on “Tradition” is just a way to defend injustice (like slavery or serfdom). Just because something is old doesn’t mean it is good.
  • Attack on Property: She criticized Burke for caring more about the “Property of the Rich” than the “Liberty of the Poor.”
  • Reason vs. Sentiment: She accused Burke of being emotional and sentimental about Queens and Kings, while ignoring the rational rights of ordinary men.
• Significance: This book established her as a major political thinker. She argued that Hierarchy is unnatural.

3. Part II: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

Two years later, she applied the same logic to gender. If hierarchy between King and Subject is wrong, why is hierarchy between Husband and Wife right?

A. The “Nature vs. Nurture” Argument

• The Myth: Men claimed women were naturally emotional, weak, and irrational.
• The Reality: Wollstonecraft argued that women are made, not born.
  • Society (education) trains women to be obsessed with beauty, dress, and attracting men.
  • If you deny women books and teach them only to look pretty, they will appear “stupid.” This is a result of oppression, not nature.
• The Analogy: She compared women to Soldiers. Both are taught to obey blindly and care about “uniforms” (appearance), leading to shallow characters.

B. The “Gilded Cage” Metaphor

• She described women in her society as birds trapped in a cage.
  • They are fed, groomed, and admired for their feathers (beauty).
  • But they have no freedom to fly (think/act).
  • Eventually, they grow weak and unable to survive outside the cage.

C. Marriage as “Legal Prostitution”

• Wollstonecraft famously critiqued the marriage market.
• She argued that if women are taught that their only goal is to “marry rich,” then marriage becomes a form of legal prostitution.
• The Ideal: Marriage should be a Friendship between equals, based on mutual respect and reason, not just sexual attraction or property.

4. The Core Argument: Reason as the Basis of Freedom

Wollstonecraft’s definition of freedom is strictly Rational.

1. God and Reason: God gave humans “Reason” to distinguish them from animals.
2. Universal Soul: Women have souls just like men. If the soul is the seat of reason, then women have the same capacity for reason.
3. The Conclusion: To deny women education is to deny them their humanity and their duty to God.
   • “I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”

5. Critique of Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was Wollstonecraft’s main intellectual rival regarding gender.

• Rousseau’s View (in Emile):
  • Men should be educated to be citizens (Rational).
  • Women should be educated to please men (Emotional/Submissive). “Woman is made to please and to be subjected to man.”
• Wollstonecraft’s Rebuttal:
  • She called Rousseau’s view “Nonsense.”
  • She argued that if women are educated only to please men, they will become manipulative, cunning, and shallow—bad mothers and bad citizens.
  • Virtue is One: There is no “Male Virtue” (Courage) and “Female Virtue” (Modesty). There is only Human Virtue, which comes from Reason.

6. Critical Analysis (Mains/Advanced Perspective)

Strengths (Merits):

• First Systematic Theory: She moved the debate from “complaints” to “philosophy.” She linked feminism to the broader democratic rights of the Enlightenment.
• Focus on Education: She correctly identified that legal freedom is useless without the intellectual capacity (Education) to use it.
• Destruction of “Chivalry”: She exposed that “Chivalry” (men opening doors for women) is often a mask for condescension. She demanded Respect, not protection.

Weaknesses (Critiques):

• Class Bias: Wollstonecraft focused heavily on Middle-Class Women. She had little to say about working-class women who labored in factories and didn’t have the luxury of “intellectual friendship” with husbands.
• Devaluation of Emotion: In her zeal to attack “sentimental weakness,” she sometimes demonized all emotion and sexual passion, arguing women should be purely rational.
• The “Rational Mother”: She ultimately justified women’s rights by arguing it would make them better mothers, rather than arguing for women’s rights solely for their own sake.

7. Contemporary Relevance

1. Gender Socialization: Her argument that “toys and clothes” socialize girls into submission is still the basis of modern debates about “Pink vs. Blue” aisles in toy stores.
2. Education: The global push for STEM education for girls is a direct legacy of her argument that women are capable of rational/scientific thought.
3. Marriage Equality: Modern laws viewing marriage as a partnership of equals (rather than ownership) trace their philosophical roots to her.

8. Summary Table

9. Sources

• Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).
• Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790).
• Tomaselli, Sylvana. Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics.
• Brody, Miriam. Mary Wollstonecraft: Mother of Women’s Rights.