A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

by Mary Wollstonecraft

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Questions and Answers

Discuss the theme of Mary Wollstonecraft's essay "A Vindication of the Rights of Women."

Who is the author’s audience in "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman"? 

How does Wollstonecraft use religion to support her argument for women’s education? Cite details from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in your answer.

Which of Wollstonecraft’s arguments for womens rights is the most convincing? Why?

How is "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" relevant to our time? Do Mary Wollstonecraft's views apply to today?

According to Wollstonecraft, in what way will bettering women’s education benefit men?

In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in the paragraph beginning with “Nature, or to speak with strict propriety God” and ending with “that rare as true love is, true friendship is still rarer,” what kinds of rhetorical appeals and rhetorical devices are used? How do they help develop the central idea? Please cite textual evidence. What is the central idea?

What claim or position on an issue does Wollstonecraft make in her essay?

In "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," Mary Wollstonecraft argues that women should receive education because of what reason? (see choices below) In "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," Mary Wollstonecraft argues that women should receive education because of what? My only choices are:a) raising a family requires good judgment or b) they require some means of supporting themselves independent of men or c) they are equal to men in physical strength, intellect or d) Getting an education will make them more masculine.

What are some of Wollstonecraft's criticisms of women? How does she propose to improve the condition of women?

What is the author's purpose in using antithesis in the first paragraph?

How does Wollstonecraft place the blame for the position of women on men and women?

Examine Wollstonecraft's work as constrained by being the product of its day and age, according to Bakhtinian ideas.

How does Mary Wollstonecraft explain the paradox that women's artificial weakness leads to tyranny in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman? What was women's artificial weakness according to Wollstonecraft? Why did she think this?

In the first chapter of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, what does Wollstonecraft say about the importance of reason and rationality?

In "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," how does Mary Wollstonecraft depict men?

What emotional words does Wollstonecraft use in the first paragraph?

Mary Wollstonecraft's "Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society" attacks the unnatural distinctions between men and women. Establish what those unnatural distinctions are, why she says they are unnatural, and whether such distinctions persist to this day. By contrast, establish what some natural distinctions are between men and women and whether Wollstonecraft has taken them into consideration.

What were the political, social, and economical implications of A Vindication of the Rights of Women?

What is an example of a thesis statement for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman?

In her speech to the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, 1851, Sojourner Truth said, “I can't read, but I can hear.” How does Mary Wollstonecraft address this issue in her essay A Vindication of the Rights of Woman?

In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft rejects the view that man is the oak and woman is the ivy. Why would Wollstonecraft reject it?    

How does Mary Wollstonecraft apply the term "vindication" in the introduction of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in the introduction?

Why, according to Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, should women be taught to exercise their reason?

What is the paradox in the last chapter that has occurred as a result of women’s oppression in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman?

In A Vindications of the Rights of Women, can Mary Wollstonecraft be seen as an anti-feminist due to her extreme hatred of soft spoken women?

In "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," how does the work fit into the category of satire?

What obstacles to women which Wollstonecraft addresses still exist today?

What was Rousseau aiming to show with the anecdotes about girls that Mary Wollstonecraft criticizes in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)?

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to...   a. complain about her lack of education. b. criticize society’s view of women. c.record the customs of the day. d.criticize men.

Discuss Mary Wollstonecraft's proposition in favor of women's rights in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

"[Rousseau's] ridiculous stories, which tend to prove that girls are naturally attentive to their persons, without laying any stress on daily example, are below contempt. And that a little miss should have such a correct taste as to neglect the pleasing amusement of making O's, merely because she perceived that it was an ungraceful attitude, should be selected with the anecdotes of the learned pig." What is Rousseau aiming to show with his anecdote?

In "A Vindication of the Rights of Women," how does Wollstonecraft address the issues concerning the roles of men and women in North American society during the 17th and 18th centuries?

Is Mary Wollstonecraft's book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman a product of the Enlightenment?

It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses, cares, and sorrows into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all power they obtain must be obtained by their charms and weakness.” what is the meaning of this quote

How far do you think Wollstonecraft was arguing that women themselves are also to blame, or are partially responsible for their limited roles in society at the time she was writing?

In "Vindication of the Rights of Woman," what are the criticisms the author makes about the education system?

"All the causes of female weakness … branch out of one grand cause—want of chastity in men." What is Wollstonecraft trying to argue through this quote in A Vindication of the Rights of Women?

Compare Wollstonecraft's time with our time with respect to gender equality.

If women still choose to get married in spite of Wollstonecraft's argument about equality, is it a violation of Wollstonecraft's ideas?  

Does Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" share the same Feminist sentiments as Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen?

According to Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, what is the false system of education?

In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecfraft rejects the assumption that differences in the behavior of boys and girls is evidence of natural differences between them. How does she argue against this view? Why does she think this assumption is flawed?

According to Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, how do men of the time period view women? What does Wollstonecraft think about this?

Throughout various sections of her treatise, Wollstonecraft attempts to counter the pronouncements of various authorities on the nature of women and their moral character, as well as pronouncements on how best to educate women. Choose one of these authorities and briefly state the position. How does Wollstonecraft refute this authority?  What is the overall significance of this refutation?

Please provide a literary analysis using as a base "A Vindication" and how it relates to the elements of "Madame Bovary."