Vindication Of Woman

Those closest to her focus on the status of the man, such as her best friend Charlotte who accepts Mr. Collins “solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment” (Austen 120). Elizabeth, however, looks at a person’s demeanor and actions as well. Dissatisfied with society and Charlotte's irrational decisions, she confesses, “the more I see of the world, the more I am dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of [...] the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense” (Austen 133). Elizabeth is significantly more wary about marriage than Charlotte and her sisters, and therefore she is unwilling to accept a proposal simply because it is expected of a women. Upon first meeting Darcy, she judges him to be arrogant and conceited.

She even makes an allusion to Virginia Woolfe’s A Room of One’s Own, in which she discredits the homogeneity with which the mainstream feminists try to tackle women’s issues by saying “A room of one’s own may be necessity for writing prose, but so are reams of paper, a typewriter, and plenty of time” (116). Not even established authors can escape the blunt reality with which Lorde writes. She blatantly declares that her female readers will never understand each other’s struggles: “Some problems we share as women, some we do not” (119). Some might ask then how can we work together if we do not share the same issues? It seems as if Lorde’s attempt to shed light on social inequalities has only allowed the oppressors to fall further into indifference.

Wollstonecraft emphasized the value of education for women, but she called for something more than opportunities to learn needle work and social graces. She stressed that a woman’s education should shape body, mind, and emotions, eventually leading to a sense of independence. Although Wollstonecraft’s thinking was a head of her time, it reflected philosophies of the Enlightenment, which championed the power of education, social reform, and moral worth and development as the right of individuals including women. Education was necessary for women, and through moral education women would acquire virtue, knowledge and honesty. For Wollstonecraft, lack of education was the cause of all feminine misery, and since women were denied the opportunity to expand their mental activities in many cases, they could never attain virtue.

Mary Wollstonecraft Breanne Charest English 100 Mary Wollstonecraft wrote for women, to prove realistic propositions that oppressed their ability to be equal among men. Woman had almost no say about their education, their choice of career path, or their rights as women. If a woman had limited access to education, she would be unprepared to educate her children – the worlds next generation. With limited resources to education and knowledge, and different views or morals, a woman could not explore options, nor could she educate her children to. Women were all expected to

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote in rebellion against the traditional strictures of the behavior of women, recoiling from the traditional social hierarchy that determined the roles of lives and rejected ideas that she felt confined women. She rejected the notion that women were to bow down to men, questioning “who made man the exclusive judge?” and why it was that “the men stand up for the dignity of man, by oppressing the women.” (Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark: 1796 Letter 3). By looking to the state to reform education and believing that legislation would end women’s subordination, Wollstonecraft initiated a new era in feminist discourse. If women were not innately inferior, and if they could be educated to be the equals of men, then they could prosper to the same degree as men. Wollstonecraft initiated a new era in European feminism with her outspoken ideas, which were piloted by Richard Price and his followers of the Newington Green Circle.

Wollstonecraft believed that her vision towards equality for women, by removing the power that men had in society, would truly end the segregation as men would not have dominance over women (Teachers Curriculum Institute, n.d.). She strongly believed that power had an influence towards the rights of women and she stated in her book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)’ “Let not men then in the pride of power, use the same arguments that tyrannic kings and venal ministers have used, and fallaciously assert that women ought to be subjected because she has always been so… It is time to affect a revolution in female manners-time to restore to them their lost dignity… It is time to separate unchangeable, morals from local manners,” (Anonymous,

But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that he is not as adept as Beneatha would like. He informs Beneatha that a man and woman can only share a certain type of relationship-a romantic one (Hansberry 92). This makes it seem like he values the same things George does in a woman. It comes across that he doesn't want Beneatha around if she keeps sharing her thoughts and opinions, and that bothers her. She knows relationships are based on speaking to one another and learning about the other person so she is irked when Asagai doesn’t want that with her.

As advanced and modern Montaigne’s thoughts on education are, his thoughts on women are dated, misogynistic, and erroneous. The reader has an early impression of this in Montaigne’s essay on education. When speaking about education, Montaigne always refers to male students, never educating daughters. Now, this in itself does not make Montaigne sexist and misogynistic, as it was not part of the culture or period for girls or women to receive an education. However, it is soon very clear that Montaigne’s opinion of women is much lower than not allowing them to be educated.

In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, gender stereotypes and roles are often brought up as cages people must live in to be successful in life. However, schools like Lowood are almost one large gender stereotype, teaching girls to be ladies: to sew, to sit up straight, to endure, to be calm, collected, and tranquil. Gender stereotypes are defied by Jane’s early childhood behaviors, but through her time at Lowood become upheld. Bronte makes this point because it shows how people are shaped by their upbringing, as seen in Jane’s behavior as an adult. Jane’s childhood behavior defies gender stereotypes because at this time, children were supposed to be quiet and obedient, especially female children, yet Jane is impassioned, loud, and relatively disobedient.

Women held the expectation to only desire a marriage due to motherhood, without any urge for sexual or emotional gratification (Hughes, n.d.). With such a strict gendered society, it is not surprising that the Grimm brothers would edit out any explicit or sexual nature from their stories. If the brothers continued having sexualized stories, the tales could have been less popular as the audience of the time disapproved of sex in regards to females, especially before marriage and without the fathers permission (Hughes, n.d). Familial structure was also incredibly important to this patriarchal society, where women “in private life were subject to fathers, husbands, brothers, even adult sons” (Marsh, n.d). When a woman was to be married, it was usually to a many with money,