A Differently Constituted Society
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social sciences
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published 05/06/2008
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SummaryOne of the few times Mary Wollstonecraft advocates an actual legal right for women in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is when she says that a man who seduces a woman must be “legally obliged to maintain the woman and her children … And this law should remain in force as long as the weakness of women caused the word seduction to be used as an excuse for their frailty and want of principle” (71). This is an odd moment in the text, especially as it is unclear that there ever could be a time when the word seduction will cease to be used as an excuse. Above all, it highlights the conflict between expediency and the slow conversion of society which Wollstonecraft is trying to balance as she defines the proper state of independence for women as reasoned thought following first principles. In the case of ruined women or women who have lost their honour, Wollstonecraft feels such pity and compassion for their situation that she believes these women must be helped. But in other cases she seems strangely acceptant of society’s inertia.
Table of Contents
- She finds society's opinions most responsible for tyrannizing over women
- This is not to say that Wollstonecraft only had the barest necessities in mind when thinking of the legal rights of women
- Power, according to Wollstonecraft, seeks blind obedience.
- A reasonable and ideal part of society already exists
- Some men chose to live by reason while others chose to live by power
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