A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: By Mary Wollstonecraft - Illustrated

Its nice not to have to trudge through a read. My norm seems to be expletive-laced grumbling while the last page can't come soon enough. Wollstonecraft has been a breath of fresh air. I have to admit that I went into it with bias. I've read so many male philosophers, probably because women at the time weren't taken seriously, as what happened with Wollstonecraft and the ridicule she received. I was nervous that it was going to be trite and overly emotional. It was an extraordinary blend of reason and sentiment. Her style is poetic. At times, it feels it almost has a sing-song way about it. Her ability reminds me of Jane Austen and makes it very hard to put the book down. I wonder how much Austen lifted from Wollstonecraft considering there was a section on Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Her philosophy is intriguing. Wollstonecraft was quite ahead of her time. She felt that women were trapped in an eternal childhood in the way they were treated by their other halves. This left them unable to be good wives much less good mothers. She makes the argument that not only can women reason, but they can be employed in any field. She envisions a time where boys and girls, rich or poor, can be educated together. As an aside, I don't think the public school system has worked out so well. I attended a joke of a school. That is why I am grateful to have the opportunity to homeschool. Even if you disagree with her assessment that children should be publicly educated, her main point is that boys and girls alike can be educated the same. She actually advocated for a private/public school mix. I'm not sure that our modern day system would meet her vision at all. The crème de la crème? Pages upon pages of attacks on Rousseau. I think I've formed a personal vendetta against Rousseau so when she blasts his inane philosophy for nearly 1/3 of the book, it could only bring a sense of sweet justice. If you're no fan of Rousseau, its worth the read just for that. Ya know, the guy who created Civil Religion. The guy who wrote books about how children should be educated then abandoned all 5 of his newborn children to a foundling hospital. The guy who said women were created for his pleasure. Yeah, its a pretty epic takedown. Enjoy.

Not for your typical casual reader, but very excellent insight into the beginning of women's rights movement.

A must read for every feminist. Even for non-feminists. It shows how much we progressed yet still stuck on some things. The only issue I would have would be the fact that Mary Wollstonecraft wrote with the ideas of her time. She was progressive on some things yet some of the things she wrote would be considered as shaming in today's world. I did not enjoy some parts of it for this reason. However, it is still a must read.

Nothing is bad, nothing is good. It should be a level playing field and let the players or participants slug it out. Let it be known that all of humanity has a right to be happy if they want, sad if they want and nothing at all if they want. It's life. It shouldn't be difficult, it should be a life. We can be better. And I can only thank my parents and theirs, but moat importantly my mother, and hers, and hers... and Mother Nature, she's a 365 days a year reminder that we can do what we need to do in order to give others the chance to exist. Let us make it a place to coexist, and stop the hate, plus any type of discrimination. And if not, let the Australia plan become real in antartica, send the cold hearts south. They'll learn to warm up to peace, real quick. Thank you for reading and thank you for being nice to me and mine. You have provided quite a bit of joy. -TophGainesvilleFL

A tedious read bogged down with the florid prose of its time. It is feminist, so it is indulgently victim oriented. She sees no positives in women being more loved, only negatives in women being less respected. She holds the masculine solely responsible and makes her plea for men alone to "fix" the problem. Blind to Woman's efficacy, she doesn't see the degree to which women's own choices create women's predicaments. But she gets one thing right that subsequent feminism gets wrong. She may not grasp how female power makes Woman equal partner in the human system, equally responsible for outcomes, but she gets it that female power is the root cause of women's issues. She gets it that women in general can best be compared with elite royalty in the way that they are both empowered to go passive. Little is demanded of them. They are both spoiled. In my own words, they are both the "victims of a trust fund." She gets that it's women's *innate* value, power and privilege that inhibits women's ambition. Here you get the standard false premise---men have the power; women are the victims---that plagues all femininism. But in the mix Wollstonecraft expresses many truths about female power and privilege that the coming ideological dictatorship will render forbidden. So, if you want to see this flicker of female accountability before it was snuffed out, read this book.

This book is simply amazing for the author's thinking on women's rights (and responsibilities). I can't believe that such a forward thinking woman was writing in the 1700s. Her clear view of women's rightful position in society, as opposed to their actual position, is made evident at every turn. Her ideas on education - for girls and boys - must have seemed bizarre for her time, but her arguments in favour of her theories are sound and endorsed by modern education philosophies. My only criticism is that she is verbose and repetitious and some of her sentences are over a page long! Well punctuated and quite correct as to grammar, they seem to go on and on. I loved this book and have written down many quotes to keep. One in particular, where she describes foolish women foregoing the joys and duties of motherhood and marriage as chasing the ephemeral "pleasures that sit lightly on the wing of time". What a delightful turn of phrase!

Indeed this is a great book, and Mary Wollstonecraft must have been a truly extraordinary personality. In terms of style, I must say that I have already read more beautiful English, and also her main argument about women, that they would change their character, if they were liberated and educated, has, I believe, been refuted during the last 220 years, as women are still no more and no less frivolous and cunning today as in Wollstonecraft's time. Nevertheless, her observations about mankind generally, such as her analysis on how to acquire virtue, make her book an invaluable reading experience. I love her literary voice, and she says many things that should really be considered even, and perhaps particularly, today.

"I do not wish them ( women) to have power over men; but over themselves." From the back of penguin classics. This edition has the original introduction from the authoress. The book is in good condition but the cover picture is Matt and not glossy like other penguin classic covers. Is it genuine or pirated. I am confused.

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Sehr wichtige Lektüre und sehr interessant zu lesen, aber Vorsicht! Obwohl es auf dem Buch nicht sehr deutlich steht handelt es sich hierbei um eine gekürzte Fassung! Schade! This book is an abridged version, so beware!

Recibido correctamente, y el vendedor responde muy rápido. Buen producto.