Research Paper on Feminist Literature

Introduction

Feminist literature is poetry, drama, non-fiction or fiction works which support the establishment of equal, social, political, and economic rights for women. The works help in communicating and sharing information that can empower women, make them understand their value, and encourage them to seek opportunities that offer growth beyond being mere wives. Mary Wollstonecraft is among authors who produced earliest feminist philosophy. She was a prolific writer. She used her works to challenge the patriarchal nature for the society. Specifically, she wrote to respond to the provisions of the educational and political theorist. The eighteenth century marked developments in many sectors. Specifically, it marked the beginning of feminist philosophies which pushed for the respect of the rights of women and the provision of equal education and employment opportunities for women. Also, it paved the way for further feminist ideologies. Today, she is regarded as among the first writers who used a protofeminist approach in explaining the explaining the organization of the society and subordinated role played by women. Therefore, this paper provides an analysis of how Mary Wollstonecraft paved the way for future feminist writers through analysing her early life, literary works, legacy, and how she paved way for future feminist literature writers.

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The Early Life of Mary Wollstonecraft

Wollstonecraft was born in 1759. Her family was initially wealthy. However, her father was a drunkard. Thus, he squandered the family wealth, and they became poor. Her father abused her and her mother. Her father used the little money he left to take Wollstonecraft to a day school for a few years and Wollstonecraft's brother through formal education in a boarding school. She felt bitter and vowed that she would educate herself. At the age of 25 years, alongside her two sisters and a family friend, she opened a girls' school (Reuter 1139). Later on, she befriended Richard Price, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. They helped her to be among the panel that regularly held debates on the concepts of enlightenment. She closed down the school after the friend who helped her with resources for opening the small girls' school died during childbirth. She went to be a governess. She disliked her aristocratic employees. For example, she despised her mistress for lack feelings and sensibility. Her attitude made her lose her job. She returned to London where she found her purpose as an author.

The Literary Works of Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft is significant to the future feminist literature because of her works in education and novels which advocated for equal civil, political, social, and economic opportunities for both men and women. A majority of her education works were directed providing general knowledge and vindications of the rights of men and women. Her general education works were directed toward educating society and sensitizing the community on the potential of women. She published Thoughts on the Education of Daughters and Original Stories from Real Life (Richards 565). Both of these works advocate that parents should teach children to reason. Hence, for a long time, she was considered to conform to the ideas of John Locke who emphasized on reason in the seventeenth century during the beginning of enlightenment period. Similarly, her works advocate for women to use education to help them make better wives.

Apart from general education, Wollstonecraft advocated for vindications of the rights of men and women through articles. In 1790, she wrote the Vindications for the Rights of Men. The article responded to a report, Reflections on the Revolution in France, by Edmund Burke, 1790. In the article, Burke defended constitutional monarchy, Church of England, and aristocracy. In her response, Wollstonecraft defended republicanism and attacked aristocracy. She argued that Burke used a wrong language to protect and elevate aristocracy and the authority of the Church of England. As such, she believed that his works associated beauty with weakness, sublime with feminist, and strengths with masculinity. According to her, Burke misled women in society and encouraged them to become weak. Thus, her response to Burke's article is considered to be her earliest push for feminism. She held that inequality in society was persistent because of the existence of passivity among women.

In her article, The Vindications of the Rights of Woman, 1792, Wollstonecraft argued that women had roles beyond being mere wives to their husbands. She believed that the position of women in society needed to be redefined. She felt that women deserved fundamental rights that men received because they were also human beings- not mere ornaments and properties that could be traded off during a marriage (Waters 420). Her criticism of the position of women was critiqued by scholars like John Gregory and James Fordyce. Additionally, there are also scholars, like Jeann-Jacques Rousseau, who supported her argument for the educating girls but still maintained that it should be done to make them better wives to their husbands.

In her novels, The Wrongs of a Woman, and Mary: A Fiction, Wollstonecraft criticizes the patriarchal nature of marriage as an institution. For example, in Mary: A Fiction, she describes a woman who is in a forced marriage because of the economic gains she receives from it. Her status forces her to seek affection and love from romantic with a male and female friend (Waters 26). Similarly, in The Wrongs of a Woman, she provides the story of a woman confined an insane asylum by own husband. Just like the woman in the Mary: A Fiction, she seeks pleasure and affection outside her marriage through having an affair with a fellow inmate. The heroines in both stories have hopes that they will one day go to a place where marriages do not exist. Wollstonecraft used these novels to show how sentimentalism, a popular concept associated with women in the eighteenth century, damaged women by encouraging them to prioritize their emotions.

Her Legacy

During the eighteenth century, there were various feminist thinkers. However, the works of Mary Wollstonecraft captured the interest of many people because of the controversies in her ideas. Therefore this section provides an explanation of the controversial ideas regarding feminism that significantly influenced the future works of feminist writers.

Mary Wollstonecraft explicitly highlighted inequalities in the society that were propagated by men. Specifically, she assigned the responsibility of the gender vices in the community to women. She argued that they proactively contributed to them being regarded as a weaker gender because they spent their lives begging for food from men instead of freedom (Kerry 10). Admittedly, she used a harsh language that would annoy readers instead of engaging them. Nevertheless, she showed that through being dependent on men, women accepted their slavery. In her book, Vindication of the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft provided that women were comfortable with domination. She called for unity among women because, seemingly, they were the suppressed gender (Kerry 11). During that time, people critiqued Wollstonecraft ideas claiming that her argument portrayed masculinity in reasoning hence was not influential in creating change. They argued that she neglected the role of how the political and social context needed a female perspective.

Similarly, Wollstonecraft is significant in the history of feminist literature because she challenged the negative influence of marriage of women. She believed that marriage was a patriarchal institution which misled women by regarding them as heroines because of their sentimentality (Waters 27). Through her works, she shows that when the society prioritizes marriage, it distracts women from achieving their potential and passing the knowledge to the general community. Many institutions continue to maintain the status quo through denying women access to civil, economic, political, and social opportunities.

How She Paved the Way for Future Feminist Literature Writers

The goal of feminist literature is to create culturally valuable information which catalyzes and support revolution among women to challenge the gender stereotypes imposed on them by the patriarchal society. Published works define feminist research by women during the 1960s, 1970s, and1980s. The section below provides findings on how Wollstonecraft created a platform for future feminist literature writers.

Wollstonecraft provided historical evidence of the existence of discrimination against women in the eighteenth century. Through responding to articles supporting aristocracy and authority of the Church of England using derogatory language, she showed the nature of social relationships in the society during the eighteenth century. She advocated for equality in politics, education, and work. Also, she highlighted that women were capable just like men hence they should feel free to explore their purpose beyond pleasing men.

One of the authors whose Wollstonecraft's works inspired was Margeret Fuller. Her works contributed in the push for feminist agenda during the nineteenth century. She wrote a novel, Woman in the nineteenth century, which highlighted the need for equal rights. She believed that marriage would only be spiritually fulfilling if partners regarded themselves as equals. She provided that both woman and man were under the authority of God. Thus, they both have individual rights (Reuter 1142). As such, she explained the world needed both feminine and masculine sides to operate in harmony. Although she approached feminism from a spiritual perspective on which inequality prevented humanity from enjoying divine love, she advocated for equality. Just like Wollstonecraft, she held that women should stop playing subservient roles in society. Instead, they should seek independence by accessing opportunities like enlightenment.

Another way Wollstonecraft paved the way for future feminist literature writers through highlighting feminist themes that dominated the society during the eighteenth which may still exist. In her articles and novels, Wollstonecraft approached feminism by unequal opportunities in education and economic independence which are still relevant agenda in the modern feminist movements. For example, in The Vindications of the Rights of Woman, she blames women for being content with being mere wives to men instead of seeking education to improve themselves and pass the knowledge to the children (Richards 580). Similarly, in the novel, Mary: A Fiction, she describes a woman who stays in an unhappy marriage because of fear of living without the economic benefits she receives from her husband. In the same way, many women fear living situations that do not give them peace or growth because they lack the economic means to support them. Therefore, through the work of Wollstonecraft, feminist literature writers understand the dynamics of feminism movements and themes that can shape the discussion on the civil, economic, social, and political rights of women in future.

Wollstonecraft highlights the social and political philosophy of feminism which is crucial in advocating for equality in modern feminism. According to the concepts of contemporary feminism, women have a right to live free and intentional lives. They deserve respect because they are human beings and have rights too. They should feel free to pursue their dreams and goals. Additionally, they should seek resources that will help them achieve their goals without feeling inferior to men or confined in unhappy relationships. Most works written by Wollstonecraft challenge the position of women in the society (Richards 582). For example, The Vindications of the Rights of Woman challenges...