However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's advocacy of women's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.Īfter Wollstonecraft's death, Godwin published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for a century. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. Wollstonecraft died at the age of thirty-eight due to complications from childbirth, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts.ĭuring her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. After two ill-fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay, Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin, one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement they had one daughter, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Among the general public and specifically among feminists, Wollstonecraft's life has received much more attention than her writing because of her unconventional, and often tumultuous, personal relationships. Mary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth century British writer, philosopher, and feminist. This edition also includes Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, a series of essays by Wollstonecraft that expands on her views on society and morality, as well as a foreword by renowned feminist scholar, Dr. This work is not only an important historical text but remains relevant today, as gender inequality and the struggle for women's rights continue to be pressing issues around the world. She also critiques the gendered roles and double standards in relationships, and advocates for the development of a rational and equal society that values both women and men equally. She calls for women to have equal access to education, employment, and political participation. Wollstonecraft argues that women have been systematically oppressed by society's expectations and limitations, and that education is the key to their liberation. First published in 1792, it is considered one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. A Vindication of the Rights of With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects by Mary Wollstonecraft is a revolutionary work that challenges the prevailing views on gender roles and advocates for the education and empowerment of women.

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