A Vindication of the Rights of Men
Published on 1. November 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
96 pages
978-1-60520-454-3 (ISBN)
Description
Revolutionary in all senses of the word, this classic treatise on republicanism, individual merit, and inherent human worth was published in England to great acclaim in 1790, a response to Edmund Burke¿s Reflections on the Revolution in France, which denounced the upheaval on the Continent and voiced support for the aristocracy. Formulated as a letter written to him, this pamphlet¿the blog posting of its day¿is a passionate and beautifully witty rebuke of crumbling and ineffectual tradition and a stirring call to replace hidebound monarchy with a society in which all citizens¿men and women, moneyed and working class¿are granted equal opportunity to access wealth both material and spiritual.
Originally published anonymously¿and selling out its first edition in weeks¿a second edition revealed its author as female¿ which led to its inevitable dismissal as the ¿irrational,¿ ¿emotional¿ work of a ¿mere¿ woman. Today, however, we recognize this as a foundational work of feminist theory¿one both remarkably intellectual and highly entertaining.
British writer and educator MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (1759¿1797), the mother of Frankenstein author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, espoused her then-radical feminist and liberal philosophies in other such works as Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) and History and Moral View of the Origins and Progress of the French Revolution (1793).
More details
Series
Language
English
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
133 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-60520-454-3 (9781605204543)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mary Wollstonecraft was a British author, philosopher, and women's rights activist. Until the late twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's life, which included multiple unusual personal relationships, drew more attention than her writing. Wollstonecraft is now considered as one of the founding feminist philosophers, with feminists frequently citing both her life and her works as significant influences. Throughout 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 well known for her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not innately inferior to men, but only appear to be so due to a lack of knowledge. After two failed romances with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay (with whom she had a daughter, Fanny Imlay), Wollstonecraft married philosopher William Godwin, one of the anarchist movement's progenitors. Wollstonecraft died at the age of 38, leaving several unfinished writings. She died 11 days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Shelley, who later became a successful writer and the author of Frankenstein.