Monday, January 29, 2018

What is an example of a thesis statement for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman?

While A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was considered a radical work for its eighteenth century time period, today it seems much less controversial. In it, Wollstonecraft is not arguing for female equality with men nor for the right of women to work outside the home. Primarily, she is arguing that women will be better helpmeets or helpers to their husbands and better mothers to their children, if they receive a more rational education and are taught to act like adults, not children.
Wollstonecraft contends that women of her period were taught to be childish and vain, and to catch a husband using flirtation, fashion, and pretty looks. She says this does not make for a good marriage. A better idea would be to educate women more on the same level as men are educated, with more emphasis on rationalism, character building, and good judgement so that they can enter into intelligent and helpful conversation with their husbands. She argues that this will also help them raise their children, especially their daughters, to be less silly and more helpful to their spouses.
A thesis statement therefore could be along the lines of the following:
Although considered radical at the time, Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is, by modern standards, a conservative work because of its strong emphasis on woman's role within the home as helpmeet to her husband.

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