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Cover of A Vindication of Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

A Vindication of Rights of Woman

  • 258 pages · about 4 hours
  • First published 1792
  • 309 editions
  • Free to read

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1 About this book

Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity, and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal education for girls and boys, an end to prejudice, and for women to become defined by their profession, not their partner.

Mary Wollstonecraft's work was received with a mixture of admiration and outrage - Walpole called her 'a hyena in petticoats' - yet it established her as the mother of modern feminism.

Good for readers who want: history, philosophy, politics, and a book they can read free online.

  • History
  • Social and moral questions
  • Sociology
  • Philosophy
  • Political science
  • Social science
  • Women's rights
  • Women, education

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3 About Mary Wollstonecraft

1759–1797

Mary Wollstonecraft 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy of women's rights. Until the late twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional (at the time) personal relationships, received more attention than her writing.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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