A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Opposing Reviews”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of Wollstonecraft’s ideas and their social context by writing reviews of her work from two perspectives common in her time.

Some of Wollstonecraft’s ideas are radical for the time, while others are simply a reflection of social changes already underway in England during the late 1700s. In this activity, you will show that you understand how the work relates to its historical and social contexts by writing two reviews of Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Research:

• Make a list of the changes in attitudes and traditions that Wollstonecraft advocates for.
• Use academic sources to investigate which of the items in your list were generally accepted in 1792 and which were more radical proposals.
• Investigate how conservative and progressive thinkers differed in their reactions to these kinds of ideas.

Write:

Write one review from a progressive perspective and one from a conservative perspective. Your two reviews should follow the same structure, but their content will differ according to the perspective of the imagined reviewer. Use tone, commentary, and details to convey the reviewer’s attitude as well as the ideas from Wollstonecraft’s text that were generally accepted or considered radical.

Criteria:

• Offer a paragraph-length summary of Wollstonecraft’s argument.
• Offer a paragraph-length response to that argument.
• Close with a brief commentary on the impacts of society thinking like Wollstonecraft.

Reflect:

When you have finished your reviews, answer the following questions:

1. What evidence of perspectives common in Wollstonecraft’s time did you rely on? Why?

2. What choices did you make in your two reviews to convey these perspectives?

3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach in attempting to convey these two perspectives?

Teaching Suggestion: Students will need either internet access or printed research materials to consult as they consider the prevailing conservative and progressive reactions to Wollstonecraft’s treatise. You might remind them of the timelines they completed as a prereading Short Activity and encourage them to use these as a springboard for further research. This Activity can be completed individually or with a partner. If students work with partners, they might each write one of the two perspectives and then edit one another’s work to make sure that the differences in perspective are communicated clearly. When they have finished, you might have students read the reviews aloud or share their work to a class website. Doing this before students write their final reflections is one way to deepen their thinking on this final step.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who struggle with theory of mind or abstractions may find it difficult to imagine the perspectives of two hypothetical reviewers. These students may benefit from a preliminary discussion of their research and its implications, either as a whole class or in small groups. Translating the understanding gained in such a discussion into written form may be another hurdle; you might suggest that these students, as well as those who struggle with written expression, write a review from a more neutral, factual perspective first and then edit it into two separate versions that better reflect the two perspectives.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Wollstonecraft does not limit her argument to men’s “tyranny” over women, as she discusses the practical and moral impacts of hierarchy more generally.

• In what sense does Wollstonecraft’s argument about hierarchies anticipate intersectional feminism? (topic sentence)
• Offer at least three pieces of evidence that support your analysis, making sure to cite any quoted or paraphrased material with page numbers.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the intersectionality of Wollstonecraft’s argument is related to her concern with The Tyranny of Power and the Prevalence of Hierarchies.

2. Contemporary feminists sometimes react negatively to what they see as Wollstonecraft’s denigration of the feminine.

• To what extent is Wollstonecraft’s characterization of women shaped by patriarchal values? (topic sentence)
• Offer at least three pieces of evidence that support your analysis, making sure to cite any quoted or paraphrased material with page numbers.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how the patriarchal elements of Wollstonecraft’s argument intersect with Gender Inequality and Sexual Difference.

3. Throughout her treatise, Wollstonecraft notes the impact that inequality between women and men has on the institution of marriage.

• How does Wollstonecraft characterize marriage? (topic sentence)
• Offer at least three pieces of evidence that support your analysis, making sure to cite any quoted or paraphrased material with page numbers.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how Wollstonecraft’s characterization of marriage supports her larger thematic concerns with Gender Inequality and Sexual Difference, The Tyranny of Power and the Prevalence of Hierarchies, and/or Misconceived Ideas of Virtue and Morality.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Wollstonecraft accuses women of participating in their own oppression. What does this mean, and what specific allegations does she make? What does she believe is the mechanism of this self-oppression, and what solutions does she propose? Write an essay analyzing Wollstonecraft’s arguments regarding self-oppression. Show how this argument is related to her larger thematic concerns with Gender Inequality and Sexual Difference, The Tyranny of Power and the Prevalence of Hierarchies, Formal and Informal Education, and Misconceived Ideas of Virtue and Morality. Support your arguments with evidence drawn from the text and include citations for all quoted and paraphrased material.

2. Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in a great hurry, and she was dissatisfied with the treatise, aware that the work was unpolished. Critics have pointed out that its structure and tone could benefit from editing. If you were Wollstonecraft’s editor, how would you suggest she revise the book’s structure and tone, and why? Write an essay analyzing the weaknesses in the work’s structure and tone, offering both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the text to support your criticisms. Make sure to cite all borrowed ideas and language, and explain how specific revisions would strengthen the overall impact of the treatise.

3. Wollstonecraft’s work was written in a time of turmoil in Europe. For example, the French Revolution overturned long standing hierarchies and seemed to be offering a new vision of equality between classes and races—but not between genders. Write an essay in which you contextualize A Vindication of the Rights of Woman within this larger historical moment. Explore the philosophical and historical connections among Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, Talleyrand-Périgord’s Rapport sur l'instruction publique, and de Gouges’s Declaration of the Rights of Woman alongside Wollstonecraft’s text. Show how this historical context is related to Wollstonecraft’s thematic concerns with Gender Inequality and Sexual Difference, The Tyranny of Power and the Prevalence of Hierarchies, and/or Formal and Informal Education. Support your arguments with evidence from Wollstonecraft’s text as well as outside sources, making sure to cite all borrowed ideas, language, and data.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What do Wollstonecraft’s objections to the idea of a “good reputation,” commentary on the emphasis of women’s education, and ideas about women’s attraction to “rakes” have in common?

A) They all discourage women’s independence.

B) They all contribute to women’s self-oppression.

C) They all demonstrate the toxicity of hierarchies.

D) They all focus on the surface appearance of things.

2. Which of the following claims does Wollstonecraft not explicitly make?

A) Women should be properly educated.

B) Women are reasonable, intelligent beings.

C) Women and men are equals.

D) Women are taught to be superficial.

3. Which is the best characterization of Wollstonecraft’s tone?

A) Warm and teasing

B) Bitter and alienated

C) Sardonic and witty

D) Pedantic and rational

4. Which area of equity for women does Wollstonecraft not address?

A) Voting rights

B) Domestic responsibilities

C) Professional opportunity

D) Parental treatment

5. Which of the following is a solution Wollstonecraft proposes to create more equity?

A) Marriage contracts guaranteeing wives’ rights

B) Free public education in day schools

C) Abolishing the monarchy and aristocracy

D) Improving access to family planning tools

6. Which of the following is not one of Wollstonecraft’s proposed outcomes of education for women?

A) Better economic growth

B) Better marriages

C) Better parenting

D) Better relationships among women

7. What do Wollstonecraft’s critiques of the family and schools have in common?

A) They both are corrupted by the social hierarchy.

B) They both encourage the development of superficial morality.

C) They both fail to promote critical thinking and independence.

D) They both expect more obedience from women than from men.

8. Which of the following is not one of the criticisms Wollstonecraft levels against other women?

A) They are more interested in the appearance of morality than in actual morality.

B) They obsess about fashion, and their vanity creates rivalries among women.

C) They read inferior books on romance, instead of books that will improve their minds.

D) They are involved with fraudulent practitioners of seances and spiritualism.

9. What is Wollstonecraft’s primary criticism of tyrants?

A) They expect “blind obedience.”

B) They create human suffering.

C) They usurp the role of God.

D) They debase personal relationships.

10. Which does Wollstonecraft believe is the root cause of the various problems she identifies in women’s behavior and thinking?

A) Women’s self-oppression

B) Men’s tyranny over women

C) Hereditary wealth and class

D) Private education at home

11. Which does Wollstonecraft believe is a natural duty of women?

A) Serving as moral exemplars

B) Marrying and taking care of their husbands

C) Raising their own children

D) Supporting and advocating for other women

12. Which of the following would Wollstonecraft be least likely to want to abolish?

A) Religious institutions

B) Boarding schools

C) Traditional marriage

D) Hereditary aristocracy

13. Which of the following does Wollstonecraft frequently compare women to?

A) Enslaved people

B) Hostages

C) Pets

D) Servants

14. Which source does Wollstonecraft primarily rely on to lend ethos to her arguments?

A) Literature

B) Philosophy

C) Science

D) Christianity

15. Which is the most accurate statement of Wollstonecraft’s central argument?

A) Men’s subordination of women is unjust and unnatural, and women must reject male tyranny.

B) The innate physical differences between men and women do not necessitate unequal treatment under law.

C) Equal rights and education for women will increase the morality and virtue of society as a whole.

D) Social conditioning and poor education work together to create a childlike dependency in women.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. In what ways does Wollstonecraft suggest that women participate in their own oppression?

2. How does Wollstonecraft contextualize her arguments about women’s position in society within her critique of hierarchies more generally?