Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was an English writer and philosopher who argued that women deserved rational education and equal moral standing. Her A Vindication of the Rights of Woman became a foundational work of feminist thought.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: A 1792 work by Mary Wollstonecraft arguing that women’s apparent inferiority results largely from deficient education. This book develops her central case for women’s education and equal moral standing.
Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: A 1787 conduct and education book by Mary Wollstonecraft addressing girls’ upbringing and women’s lives. This early publication anticipates her later criticism of girls’ restricted education.
Mary Shelley: An English novelist best known for Frankenstein and the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. Her life and work carried her mother’s legacy into the next generation.
Vindication of the Rights of Woman: The shortened title commonly used for Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1792 book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The book became the work most closely associated with her arguments for women’s equality.
Enlightenment: An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, criticism of authority, and the possibility of social reform. Wollstonecraft used Enlightenment principles to challenge women’s subordination.
A Vindication of the Rights of Men: Mary Wollstonecraft’s 1790 political pamphlet defending the French Revolution against Edmund Burke’s critique. Its defense of political reform established the argumentative setting for her later rights work.
William Godwin: An English political philosopher and novelist associated with philosophical anarchism and radical reform. Wollstonecraft and Godwin shared radical political commitments and married shortly before her death.
Feminism: A range of movements and ideas seeking equality between the sexes and challenging gender-based subordination. Wollstonecraft is often treated as an early landmark in the history of feminist thought.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: An eighteenth-century Genevan philosopher whose writings shaped debates about education, politics, and human nature. Her critique of gendered education directly challenges his prescriptions for women in Émile.
French Revolution: A political and social upheaval beginning in 1789 that ended the French monarchy and transformed European politics. The revolution sharpened her questions about whether universal rights included women.

Linked from 38 pages