Research Paper On Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft, a well-known 18th century philosopher, scholar, women’s rights activist, educator, and journalist was born on April 27, 1759 in London, England. The beginning of her life was influenced immensely by her abusive father who spent the family’s fortune on unsuccessful ventures in farming as well as the sudden death of her mother in 1780. From this, Mary was determined to make a living on her own, and set off for with her sister and best friend to establish a school in Newington Green, London. It was there that Mary wrote her first piece of writing, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: With Reflections on Female Conduct, in the More Important Duties of Life. Soon after, she became a governess in the family of Lord Kingsborough, and spent most of her time in Ireland. After being dismissed from there in 1787, Mary traveled back to London, and became driven to earn a living from a literary career. She began her work as a literary advisor and translator for Joseph Johnson, who published radical texts. It was there that Mary was accepted into the most advanced groups of London intellect, inevitably, bringing her into the world of
Despite writing a piece of text called A Vindication of the Rights of Man earlier in her life, Mary’s most impactful work of the time was her book-length essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which was published in 1792. Both of these writings fight for the natural rights of women and men, as she claims that withholding rights from one segment of society would be considered a sin in God’s eyes. But, her main argument presented in The Rights of Woman was that woman have a right to be educated thoroughly in response to certain contradicting viewpoints