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A Vindication of the Rights of Men
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), author and pioneering feminist, answers Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France in this, her first stirring political pamphlet. In A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790), Wollstonecraft refutes Burke's assertions that human liberties are an "entailed inheritance," that the alliance between church and state is necessary for civil order, and that civil authority should be restricted to men "of permanent property." Rather, liberties are rights which all human beings "inherit at their birth, as rational creatures."
97 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1790
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About the author
Mary Wollstonecraft
334Ìýbooks917ÌýfollowersMary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth century British writer, philosopher, and feminist. Among the general public and specifically among feminists, Wollstonecraft's life has received much more attention than her writing because of her unconventional, and often tumultuous, personal relationships. After two ill-fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay, Wollstonecraft married the philosopher , one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement; they had one daughter, , the author of Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft died at the age of thirty-eight due to complications from childbirth, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts.
During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.
After Wollstonecraft's death, Godwin published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for a century. However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's advocacy of women's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important. Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and work as important influences.
Information courtesy of Wikipedia.org
During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.
After Wollstonecraft's death, Godwin published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for a century. However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's advocacy of women's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important. Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and work as important influences.
Information courtesy of Wikipedia.org
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 7, 2020
From Mary Wollstonecraft's lesser-known ‘what about teh menz� phase. This was published in response to Edmund Burke's , and it was published extremely quickly: Burke's pamphlet appeared on the 1st November, and Wollstonecraft rushed this one out before the end of the month. At one point, she was sending individual pages to the printer one by one as she wrote them.
The speed is a sign of her fury at Burke's argument â€� and a sign also of her determination to turn herself into a jobbing political commentator, in an age where political opinions were live and dangerous things, and revolution was very much in the air. Sometimes, it has to be said, the hastiness shows. Perhaps a brief bit of editing, a single revision even, might have helped; but then again, perhaps not. The joy of Wollstonecraft's writing is in seeing righteous irritability made eloquent, and there is plenty of that to enjoyÌýhere.
To be honest, I find this a more satisfying response to Burke than Thomas Paine's more famous (which would appear a few months later � slow writer). Paine is admirably calm and measured, but he can also come across as a little naïve. Wollstonecraft is earthier. Not for her the airy formulations of ideal societies: she is much more focused on demolishing Burke's attack than on making any grandiose claims of her own.
She starts as she means to go on. ‘I perceive, from the whole tenor of your Reflections, that you have a mortal antipathy to reason,� she tells Burke near the start, and this pretty much sets the tone. As a result, many critics seem to write her screed off as a series of inconsequential ad-hominems, but I don't think that's right. In fact, she clearly identifies the issue with Burke's Reflections, which is (as I said in my review, I'm pleased to note) that eloquence must not be mistaken for veracity. She accuses him of saying a lot of things ‘merely for the sake of saying them well�, and dismisses many of his points as ‘empty rhetorical flourishes� motivated by ‘infantine sensibility�. (‘Sensibility� was a key pejorative for Wollstonecraft, often meaning something like ‘hysteria�.)
Behind Burke's beautiful phrasing, Wollstonecraft sees an appeal to tradition which amounts to a demand to ‘reverence the rust of antiquity�; his insistence on defending property and social inequality is, she says openly, just a ‘contempt for the poor� in fancy words. She brilliantly exposes Burke's hypocrisy by comparing his anguished description of how Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were treated with his own parliamentary speeches during the Regency crisis � when he painted George III as a raving lunatic and did his best to strip the Queen of her allowance. It is a very astute point, and built on close reading and citations from Burke's own pamphlet and speeches.
To be sure, Wollstonecraft is arguing from a sense, after the French Revolution, of ‘the glorious chance that is now given to human nature of attaining more virtue and happiness than has hitherto blessed our globe�. But this tract does not attempt to justify that chance in detail; it confines itself to making Burke's famous attack look thoroughly ridiculous. And I do think that Burke's Reflections have serious problems, which have been obscured by the fact that he correctly predicted the Terror. It is easy, now, to see him as prophetic; to feel that way in 1790 required extraordinary cynicism. If you haven't read Burke, the Vindication of the Rights of Men will be of no interest. Having read him, though, it is a deeply satisfying exercise in political smack-down, a genre of which Wollstonecraft was already a grandmaster.
The speed is a sign of her fury at Burke's argument â€� and a sign also of her determination to turn herself into a jobbing political commentator, in an age where political opinions were live and dangerous things, and revolution was very much in the air. Sometimes, it has to be said, the hastiness shows. Perhaps a brief bit of editing, a single revision even, might have helped; but then again, perhaps not. The joy of Wollstonecraft's writing is in seeing righteous irritability made eloquent, and there is plenty of that to enjoyÌýhere.
To be honest, I find this a more satisfying response to Burke than Thomas Paine's more famous (which would appear a few months later � slow writer). Paine is admirably calm and measured, but he can also come across as a little naïve. Wollstonecraft is earthier. Not for her the airy formulations of ideal societies: she is much more focused on demolishing Burke's attack than on making any grandiose claims of her own.
She starts as she means to go on. ‘I perceive, from the whole tenor of your Reflections, that you have a mortal antipathy to reason,� she tells Burke near the start, and this pretty much sets the tone. As a result, many critics seem to write her screed off as a series of inconsequential ad-hominems, but I don't think that's right. In fact, she clearly identifies the issue with Burke's Reflections, which is (as I said in my review, I'm pleased to note) that eloquence must not be mistaken for veracity. She accuses him of saying a lot of things ‘merely for the sake of saying them well�, and dismisses many of his points as ‘empty rhetorical flourishes� motivated by ‘infantine sensibility�. (‘Sensibility� was a key pejorative for Wollstonecraft, often meaning something like ‘hysteria�.)
Behind Burke's beautiful phrasing, Wollstonecraft sees an appeal to tradition which amounts to a demand to ‘reverence the rust of antiquity�; his insistence on defending property and social inequality is, she says openly, just a ‘contempt for the poor� in fancy words. She brilliantly exposes Burke's hypocrisy by comparing his anguished description of how Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were treated with his own parliamentary speeches during the Regency crisis � when he painted George III as a raving lunatic and did his best to strip the Queen of her allowance. It is a very astute point, and built on close reading and citations from Burke's own pamphlet and speeches.
To be sure, Wollstonecraft is arguing from a sense, after the French Revolution, of ‘the glorious chance that is now given to human nature of attaining more virtue and happiness than has hitherto blessed our globe�. But this tract does not attempt to justify that chance in detail; it confines itself to making Burke's famous attack look thoroughly ridiculous. And I do think that Burke's Reflections have serious problems, which have been obscured by the fact that he correctly predicted the Terror. It is easy, now, to see him as prophetic; to feel that way in 1790 required extraordinary cynicism. If you haven't read Burke, the Vindication of the Rights of Men will be of no interest. Having read him, though, it is a deeply satisfying exercise in political smack-down, a genre of which Wollstonecraft was already a grandmaster.
October 29, 2023
ngl she ate Burke up when she called him out for being a raging sexist but apart from that it was just a long rambling that had no real point or structure to it. Looking forward to reading Vindication of the Rights of Women as I’ve heard that is significantly better.
Also, crazy that her daughter is Mary Shelley. Why are all historical famous people connected????
Also, crazy that her daughter is Mary Shelley. Why are all historical famous people connected????
September 22, 2019
Good insights sometimes; other insights are hampered by ignorances of the age in which she lived. Wollstonecraft is responding to a specific pamphlet by Burke, and her frequent references ti that work and Burke in general, often without quoting that to which she objects, make the work awkward at times. It is not totally irrelevant, but the reliance on another old pamphlet and various actions of Parliament, and also a sermon by some pastor I’ve never heard of, make this a bit outdated.
August 6, 2022
Mary Wollstonecraft, the great classic feminist among other things, directs this open letter of sorts to Edmund Burke, rebutting his famous conservative critique of the French Revolution. I didn't like this as much as her more in-depth and more sympathetic vindication of the rights of women, but it's still a strong and rigorous argument against injustice, aristocracy and the subjection of the proletariat.
January 21, 2022
She drags Edmund Burke through filth for his hypocrisy and the mob he unleashes on Price. Read this for class and the conversation Price, Burke, Wollstonecraft and Paine were having is still fascinating. It’s almost like the 18th century version of a twitter war, and Wollstonecraft’s one-liners (“I think you may have a moral antipathy to reason�) are biting and caustic and perfect.
March 24, 2024
Significant text for the history of political philosophy and feminism. Although it primarily addresses political issues, it also has elements of the author's feminist philosophy, especially her passionate advocacy for equality and social justice.
October 12, 2010
Lady o' fire and brimming with epithets. It feels like she spent more time bashing Burke than defending men, but it's worth a look.
May 8, 2017
It's fascinating how opposed Wollstonecraft's very premises are to Burke's and Williams's! But also uncomfortable how much of this supposedly rational rebuttal is mostly scathing ad hominems.
Read
December 2, 2024Wollstonecraft was far ahead of too many at this time in mainstream society. The fact that she was outspoken and not afraid to share her views. Which if were spoken by men at this time. Probably would have been received differently. Although women were considered property still. In fact in many ways marriage was seen as a point of legal prostitution.
It is not necessarily from this composition but “Wollstonecraft contended that the value of a woman extends beyond the value of her womb and that education is the only thing that separates our sexes.�
It is a travesty on many levels that it has been a few hundred years. Yet illiteracy is still a severe issue.
Especially in America.
As of 2024 it is said that 79 percent of adults in america is considered literate but 54 percent of adults are only educated to maybe the 6th grade. 20 percent of that 54 percent educated to BELOW the 5th grade.
21 percent of adults in this country are completely illiterate.
34 percent of adults are lacking literacy proficiency.
Ironically the state with the lowest adult literacy rate is California.
The highest is New Hampshire.
Sadly illiteracy in children is still a serious issue.
One study showed that 66 percent of children in the 4th grade could not read proficiently.
Which made the comprehension scores even lower.
Education should not be a privilege.
Education should be a given right and encouraged.
It is not necessarily from this composition but “Wollstonecraft contended that the value of a woman extends beyond the value of her womb and that education is the only thing that separates our sexes.�
It is a travesty on many levels that it has been a few hundred years. Yet illiteracy is still a severe issue.
Especially in America.
As of 2024 it is said that 79 percent of adults in america is considered literate but 54 percent of adults are only educated to maybe the 6th grade. 20 percent of that 54 percent educated to BELOW the 5th grade.
21 percent of adults in this country are completely illiterate.
34 percent of adults are lacking literacy proficiency.
Ironically the state with the lowest adult literacy rate is California.
The highest is New Hampshire.
Sadly illiteracy in children is still a serious issue.
One study showed that 66 percent of children in the 4th grade could not read proficiently.
Which made the comprehension scores even lower.
Education should not be a privilege.
Education should be a given right and encouraged.
May 5, 2025
3.75
truly love her but sometimes she is just rambling
can’t wait for rights of woman
truly love her but sometimes she is just rambling
can’t wait for rights of woman
June 5, 2011
Entertainingly vitriolic and contradictory as hell.
January 7, 2022
'Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pile, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat priest to prayer'
Based and Friar Tuck-pilled.
Based and Friar Tuck-pilled.
January 16, 2022
Some of the burns in here are timeless. “Judgement is sublime, wit beautiful, and, according to your own theory, they cannot exist together without impairing each other’s power. The predominancy of the latter, in your endless Reflections, should lead hasty readers to suspect that it may, in a great degree, exclude the former� is a ridiculously good roast.
It is laced with gratifying feminism, particularly if you have read Burke's Enquiry into the Sublime and the Beautiful and, of course, the text that this is more directly responding to, since his ideas of women in relation to apparently definable beauty, being that weakness is synonymous with it, are aggravating. Since I couldn't actually go and speak to Burke, it was satisfying to know he read this response which more eloquently delivered my thoughts than I could have.
That isn't to say that Burke was entirely wrong on everything, nor is Wollstonecraft wholly unclouded by emotions - a retort she applied to Burke also. Overall, though, when she isn't insulting him for paragraphs, there are valid counterpoints which apply common sense, as she said they would, that do their job.
It is laced with gratifying feminism, particularly if you have read Burke's Enquiry into the Sublime and the Beautiful and, of course, the text that this is more directly responding to, since his ideas of women in relation to apparently definable beauty, being that weakness is synonymous with it, are aggravating. Since I couldn't actually go and speak to Burke, it was satisfying to know he read this response which more eloquently delivered my thoughts than I could have.
That isn't to say that Burke was entirely wrong on everything, nor is Wollstonecraft wholly unclouded by emotions - a retort she applied to Burke also. Overall, though, when she isn't insulting him for paragraphs, there are valid counterpoints which apply common sense, as she said they would, that do their job.
September 30, 2019
Wollstonecraft is a very strong and fiery writer. It amazes me how well she is able to show her indignation of Burke while still being respectful. This is a roast, but nevertheless a civil one. What a woman, to be this well-read in that time, to be able to argue this superbly, to be anti-slavery and pro-equality and to be able to burn a famous and high-ranking figure of her day without holding back! This text may not be for everyone (most reviews here seem to misapprehend its content completely) but it sure is an incredible piece of history and insight into political matters of that time. Bravo.
January 29, 2023
*Read for my English Literature Class*
I honestly love this woman’s way with her words. She was a feminist who fought the gender roles of her time. However, some of her opinions did age like milk (due to the different time lines of both author and reader). But I love how she wrote her opinions and her reply to Edmund Burke. Her writing held my attention, unlike Burke who almost had me asleep and was very uninteresting.
I honestly love this woman’s way with her words. She was a feminist who fought the gender roles of her time. However, some of her opinions did age like milk (due to the different time lines of both author and reader). But I love how she wrote her opinions and her reply to Edmund Burke. Her writing held my attention, unlike Burke who almost had me asleep and was very uninteresting.
April 6, 2021
[read for ENGL 19500; only Rights of Man] ok i speedread this because I forgot I had to read it but lemme tell you....reading a lady verbally tear apart a man in proper formal English wasn’t something I expected to enjoy as much as I did
October 5, 2021
Very interested in the culture of writing something explicitly to another person, but then publishing it for a wide audience. I'm curious about what that does for ideas of civility and conversation, especially when you write something as fiery as what Wollstonecraft writes here haha.
March 5, 2022
Mary Wollstonecraft's ability to see directly into the issues, not only of her day, but of generations past and present, make her work a pleasure to read. Her quest for morality in the shape of kindness and respect is one to be eternally admired.
December 13, 2020
Interesting in concept, but less pleasing to actually read. I much preferred our discussion of the text afterwards.
Read
October 17, 2021She obliterated Burke.
December 7, 2022
Most of the arguments are made more clearly in her other Vindication, the invective is entertaining though.
December 13, 2022
Enjoy the savage style
July 8, 2023
imagine by john lennon starts playing ...
November 30, 2020
this one rocks // i like how at the beginning she addresses Burke with "if I'm being mean at any point in this one, I want you to know that I fully and sincerely mean it" and then she just spends the whole time insulting him
March 25, 2017
Wollstonecraft was savage AF.
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