The Power of Education
Mary Wollstonecraft believed that there was more women could do to improve the way they were viewed by society. She found it unfair how men were able to boss women around when the women were not allowed to talk back. The work that she produced improved immensely the roles of women. The roles of women in the 18th century were very limited, as women had no voice. Her book, “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” struck a revolution in gender roles. Wollstonecraft was able to inspire not just the women of her time, but women forever. In her book, “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” Wollstonecraft expressed that it is not fair how women are always being judged by men, plus she questions why men have the power to decide what is right, wrong and what their roles are in society. She quotes, “Who made man the exclusive judge if woman partakes with him the gift of reason?” Wollstonecraft believed that, like men, women had the right to express what made them happy and to conquer happiness without the control of a man. She also proved that knowledge was innate, so if man and women were made equal, with the same knowledge, then why can’t they be treated the same and given equal opportunities? If a man had the complete power to decide what he wanted in order to achieve the ideal life, why couldn’t a woman do the same? At that time, she thought if women have such a great potential to contribute to society then, why weren’t they given the proper chance?
Wollstonecraft believed that the ignorance of people was the cause of why they continued to dwell on male dominance and refused to make a change. “Faithless husbands will make faithless wives; such ignorant beings...” Since men were very much closed minded about their perception on what women could truly do, there was no way that women could justify the men to demonstrate their capabilities. In order to become successful at something, one must have faith that it can be done. Without faith from their husbands, women felt that there was nothing they could do; they had no support and no confidence. Since there was no encouragement on becoming more than a wife and mother, it was very much difficult for a woman to make a historical impact on society. If there was possibly for a strong woman to stand up for what she believed during this time than maybe it would have been an encouragement for others to follow and be the role model of the era. Wollstonecraft counteracts the notion of how men thought that women were viewed as weak humans, without barely an education and no potential.
Wollstonecraft’s quote of strength very much defines the biggest concern of a husband during the 18th century, “Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience..” The role of a woman was to look...