A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects - Mary Wollstonecraft, Chapter 13 Short Summary, Women's Writing

 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman:

with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects

-  Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft

           Mary Wollstonecraft was born in London on 24th April 1759. She advocates educational and social equality for woman in her works. Her first published book was “Thoughts on the education of Daughters : With Reflections on Female conduct in the more important Duties of Life” in 1787. Her first novel “Mary, A fiction” (1788). In 1790, she published A Vindication of the Rights of Men as part of the pamphlet war sparked by Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. Her famous Work, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects” was published in 1792. By 1797 tragically, she died eleven days after her daughter’s birth, at just thirty-eight years old.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: Chapter 13

(Chapter 13) : Some Instances Of The Folly Which The Ignorance Of WomenGenerates; With Concluding Reflections On The Moral Improvement That ARevolution In Female Manners Might Naturally Be Expected To Produce.

There are plenty of follies particular to women, and Wollstonecraft explains that her goal here is to point out those follies most harmful to women's moral character. She divides this chapter into smaller sections on specific topics.

Section -1 : Charlatans

 

In the first section she calls attention to people who prey on women by predicting the future using astrology. Women flock to them ignorantly, not seeing them as the charlatans they are. Wollstonecraft adds that going to a soothsayer belies the Christian religion in that this activity violates God's commands. A Christian woman cannot really believe God would allow his prophets to lurk in cities and charge money to dabble in astrology.

 

Women are also swayed by magnetizers, who are mesmerists or hypnotists who claim to treat bodily or spiritual infirmities. Actual physicians should be aware of the basics of medicine and anatomy; they should adhere to a regimen, "another word for temperance, air, exercise, and a few medicines, prescribed by persons who have studied the human body" as "the only human means, yet discovered, of recovering that inestimable blessing health." The swindlers, however, are motivated merely by money, not "superior temperance or sanctity." They are merely "priests of quackery." It is even worse when they claim to be Christians. Rational religion must be based on reason, not these devilish pursuits. One cannot respect God and give credence to such manipulative liars.

Section -2 : Sentimental (Novel Reading)

 

In the second section, Wollstonecraft turns to women's romantic, "sentimental" twist of the mind. They read stupid and silly novelists who know nothing of real human life and spin sordid, tawdry tales to draw the heart and mind away from real duties. Women's attention is focused not on important community issues but on these minute fictions. Their "sentiments become events." They shy away from reading history, which they find boring. Of course, it is better to read something than nothing, but novels are quite dangerous. Women should not read such silly and irrelevant works but instead "read something superior." The way to get women to avoid these novels is to ridicule them, but this should not be done indiscriminately, throwing away the good with the bad, and the proper discrimination should come from someone whom they admire.

 

Section -3 : Over fondness in Dressing Up

 

In the third section, ignorance and cunning lead to a woman's over-fondness of dress. When a mind is not open to reflection or rumination, extra care is given to one's outward appearance. This can be observed in slaves and servants as well. The author adds that whereas men have friendships, women are all rivals. Even virtuous women are concerned, nonetheless, with trying to be agreeable above all else. The "immoderate fondness for dress, for pleasure, and for sway" is the passion of savages as well as civilized women.

Section -4 : Sensibility

 

In section four, Wollstonecraft states that women are supposed to possess more humanity and sensibility, but there is nothing noble about ignorance. They usually become selfish, no different than children or animals. This affection is the result of their confined status and views; even sensible, smart women can rarely rise to heroism in their circumstances. Friendship is more commonly found in the male world than the female world, and men also tend to have a higher sense of justice. And she points out, "how can women be just or generous, when they are the slaves of injustice?"

Section -5 : Ignorance about Child Care

 

In section five, the subject of childrearing is heeded. Children are unutterably affected by a mother's ignorance. Education's job is usually to correct the abuses perpetrated by a silly mother. Women treat their servants poorly in front of their children and set a bad example, yet they often rely on those servants to practically raise their children. Conversely, they also treat their children like little idols or demigods and give them whatever they desire. Nature has made it the duty of women to raise their children, but they are not equipped to do so by the current state of sexual relations. Women cannot be more affectionate until equality is achieved, until "ranks are confounded and women freed."

Section -6 :  Concluding Thoughts

 

In section six, Wollstonecraft begins her concluding remarks. Moralists agree, she writes, that virtue needs liberty to develop. Women's minds should be cultivated to love their country; one cannot be expected to love what one does not understand. Public virtue is only an aggregate of private virtue. There must be a revolution in female manners. Husbands and wives also must have more in common to strengthen their marriages because "virtue flies from a house divided against itself—and a whole legion of devils take up their residence there."

Conclusion :

Most of these follies stem from the tyranny of man, and women's cunning is produced by their oppression. Most of women's faults are a "natural consequence of their education and station in society." If women could share with men fundamental rights and freedoms, they would more likely become virtuous and progress toward perfection.

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