A Vindication of the Rights of Women

I finally finished A Vindication of the Rights of Women. It doesn’t always take me so long to finish books, but sometimes those 18th century works are difficult to get through. It was interesting, though, to see how some things have changed while others, regrettably, have stayed the same.

One of Mary Wollstonecraft's main points was that women cannot be expected to possess virtue when they are not adequately educated. She says, “True grace arises from some kind of independence of mind.” Independence of mind cannot be learned when women sit at home with nothing more to occupy their time than sewing, dressing, and catching husbands. She argues that women are so focused on their looks and how they accessorize that they cannot possibly be gaining any sort of morality. Vanity, I know, has not much changed, even though women are more educated than they were in the past. I will even admit that when I walk by my reflection in a glass or a mirror, I glance at myself to see how I look. However, I don’t spend a lot of time on myself in the morning. It takes me only about 15 minutes to get ready (minus breakfast). I might comb my fingers through my hair, and if I’m going to sub, I wear a little make up. That is the extent of my morning routine (I shower at night).

She also put forward some ideas for education reform. She believed that schooling should be both public and private. Boys were sent away to school and girls only had tutors or schools of deportment, where they learned to be graceful and silent. Wollstonecraft suggested that boys and girls go to school during the day and come home at night, much like school is today.

This edition is a Norton edition, and Norton always adds footnotes for better comprehension. Wollstonecraft says, “What can be more indelicate than a girl’s coming out in the fashionable world?” Norton’s note reads, “’Coming out’ meant in the eighteenth century what it does now.” In some circles, it may mean the same: “A young girl’s debut into the social world;” but most often, I hear it used to describe someone “coming out of the closet,” admitting to being gay (another word whose meaning has changed). I thought that was pretty funny.

Next up, I’m reading two books (well, four if you want to be specific): The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien and I'm rereading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. We’ll see which one I finish first!