Wollstone Craft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women Was published in 1792. Mary Wollstone Craft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in response to a report on education written by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord to the French national Assembly (LaBlanc.) In his report Charles argued that girls should stay home and only be domestically educated. Wollstone also wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in response to the writing of the new French Constitution. The reason why this mattered to her was because the British were being influenced by the new French Revolution. This new French constitution excluded women from all areas of public life (LaBlanc.) Wollstonecraft's main argument is that women need an educational right not to be better than men but to have power over themselves and their emotions. She also argued that every human should have the right to be ambitious and independent. She mentions that women are taken as weak because of their lack of education and argues for equal civil opportunity (LaBlanc.)<!--more-->

During the time that Wollstone wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women the French Revolution was going on. The British were really starting to look into what new political ideas the French were establishing. This in turn prompted Wollstonecraft to take action to stop French influence from branching out.

The reason why this work is typical of it's era is because during this time lots of reform was going on. There were many radical writers fighting for their ideas to be considered. This work fits into the cultural context of its era because in Britain the women were not being taken seriously. This work really brought this injustice out.

This work is innovative for its time because not a lot of women were very fervent about making changes as to how they were being cheated out of their rights. What also made this work stand out from its peers is that it was the first great feminist treatise (LaBlanc.)

When A Vindication of the Rights of Women was first published it caused upheaval because it's ideas were not in the norm of society. It was also ignored until the late 19th century when philosophers began to take interest in it. And as LaBlanc mentions in an article, "They saw it as one of the founding works of feminism (LaBlanc.)

According to critical essay composed by Micheal L. LaBlanc, he says that "Today it is regared as one of the foundational text of liberal feminism" (LaBlanc.) In another article written by James E. Person he says that " We are convinced all will find some partial instruction at least in it" (Person.) Also that "The style is strong and impressive" (Person.) The difference between the way people received this work before is that they were really close minded towards letting women have their rights. Now people love to see the history of how women fought for their rights as human beings.

My reaction is that yes, Wollstonecraft might of went to deep in detail but she still showed enthusiasm and that she was really passionate. I agree a hundred percent with her argument. I think she really brought fourth outstanding influences and ideas for women. What I also found very meaningful is what she say about women education. She argues that women are seen as weak because they aren't educated and that this is why women fill their mind with sentimental feelings. I believe she makes a strong key point and I'm happy that her thinking pattern was different then that of other women. One reason was because she experienced watching her mother and then later her sister being abused by their husbands (LaBlanc.) I think she considered her family and how,domestically,  things might operate better if women had more rights. She wanted to see women have an educational right and equal civil opportunity as men. I found this meaningful because I love how she wants to persuade women to step up and take the challenge of not being controlled by their emotions all the time because of their lack of education. I also love how she develops the concept of how women need an education other then that of house work so that they can choose reason over emotion. To me it sounds like a strong sound doctrine I like to dwell on it.

A Vindication of the Rights of Women can be compared to a work from a women rights activist in France. She went by the name of Olympia de Gouges and her original name was Marie Gouze. She published Declaration des droits de la femme at de la citoyenne which in English means "Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen". She wrote this in response to the Declaration of the Rights of Men and of the Citizen that the National Assembly had adopted two years earlier (Britannica Biographies.)

The thing that is most significant about this work for future generations to be aware of is that this work is the first feminist treatise. It's historical significance holds a very deep meaning. Without this work being the fore front many other feminist could not have developed the notion of arguing for education and equal work opportunity.

Work Cited

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"Review of 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects,'." <em>The Analytical Review</em> 12-13.3-4 (Aug. 1792): 241-249. Rpt. in <em>Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800</em>. Ed. James E. Person, Jr. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. <em>Literature Resource Center</em>. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.

<em>A Vindication of the Rights of Woman</em>." <em>Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800</em>. Ed. Michael L. LaBlanc. Vol. 90. Detroit: Gale, 2003. <em>Literature Resource Center</em>. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.

Gouges, Olympia de." <em>Britannica Biographies</em> (2010): 1. <em>Middle Search Plus</em>. EBSCO. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.