From Vindication To Persuasion
Today you are going on a journey with me while I put on my blinders to the greater world for my own mental health. So, without further ado, here is some musing and research about Mary Wollstonecraft and her influence on our favorite Austenesque heroines.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was a pioneering English writer, philosopher, and advocate for women's rights. Her influence reaches into modern feminism, educational reform, and beyond. She was born in London to a struggling middle-class family. Her early life was challenging, largely due to her father’s descent into alcoholism and financial mismanagement. His violence, particularly toward her mother, would shape Mary’s understanding of the power imbalances between men and women. Despite a limited formal education which was typical for women at the time, she displayed a keen wit and intellect. Wollstonecraft educated herself through voracious reading and went on to establish herself in the intellectual circles of London alongside other progressive thinkers, including Thomas Paine, Joseph Johnson, and William Godwin. Her involvement with the late enlightenment movement would greatly influence her writing and activism.
Early in her career, Wollstonecraft struggled to find her place in society. She started a school with her sisters and good friend, Fanny Blood, but the school struggled to find financial backers and closed after Blood died young. She then tried being a governess but found this work to be demeaning and restrictive. It confirmed her view that a lack of education of women was the main force robbing them of independence and social choice. Her first major written work, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) emphasized the need for rational education for women to allow them to achieve personal agency and become better citizens, wives, and mothers.
While that first work wasn’t well received by the public, it did get the attention of Joseph Johnson, a radical English publisher. Johnson provided her with an invaluable opportunity to write for his magazine, The Analytical Review. Wollstonecraft wrote several pieces on topics such as the French Revolution and human progress. This partnership opened doors for Wollstonecraft and helped her solidify her place among the thinkers of her time.
Two years before the publication of her most well-known work, Wollstonecraft craft published a revolutionary short piece titled A Vindication of the Right of MEN. This was defense of the French Revolution on the basis that the people of France were fighting for liberty and equality. She argued for the natural rights of all people, regardless of their birth or social standing, and made a case for the value of reason, rational discourse, and individual freedom. Wollstonecraft asserted that society should be built upon the principles of liberty and equality, allowing every individual the opportunity to realize their potential without artificial restrictions. Wollstonecraft placed a high value on rationality and reason as the basis of a just society and insists that reason, not emotion, should guide political decisions which should move society away from systems that privilege birth over merit.
Then, in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was published and is considered one of the foundational texts of modern feminism. In this groundbreaking work, Wollstonecraft argued that women are not naturally inferior to men but are kept in a subordinate position due to a lack of access to education and opportunity. She critiqued societal norms that emphasized superficial qualities in women, such as beauty and submissiveness, rather than developing their rationality and moral character.
One of the primary arguments in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is the transformative power of education. Wollstonecraft contended that women’s perceived inferiority is not inherent but is rather a product of a deeply flawed educational system. Society’s neglect of women’s intellectual development stunts their potential and keeps them dependent on men. Women’s role in society at the end of the eighteenth and through the nineteenth century largely revolved around their value to men as wives, mothers, and domestic labor. A problem that we are still dealing with in the world writ-large. Wollstonecraft envisioned marriage and relationships which would be built on mutual respect and intellectual companionship rather than female dependence and she argued that, when educated, women become better partners and mothers because they are self-sufficient and rational. This view challenged the traditional conception of marriage as an institution in which the woman is the passive, submissive partner.
Wollstonecraft goes even further when she talked directly to women, arguing that pursuing education was one of a moral imperative. She called on women to fulfil their duty to their families, children, and society to develop their rational capacities. She even goes so far as to call upon all good Christian women to follow in the development of their education so as to build themselves in God’s image.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman has influenced generations of feminists, educational reformers, and human rights advocates. This work laid the intellectual groundwork for the suffrage movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries, inspiring activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott, who fought for women’s rights in the United States and Europe. It was well known in Jane Austen’s time and regularly discussed in educational circles of the early 19th century.
Wollstonecraft’s personal life was less storied than her legacy on women’s education. Her first romantic relationship with Gilbert Imlay, an American businessman, was tumultuous and ultimately tragic. They had a daughter, Fanny Imlay, but the relationship dissolved after Imlay abandoned her. Deeply affected by this betrayal, Wollstonecraft attempted suicide twice. Later, Wollstonecraft met and married the philosopher William Godwin. Their union was unconventional yet intellectually fulfilling for her. Wollstonecraft and Godwin shared a mutual respect for each other’s work and independence, and they maintained separate residences for much of their relationship. Tragically, Wollstonecraft died in 1797 at the age of 38, shortly after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who would later become famous as Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.
After her death, Godwin published Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. This account of her life was quite open about her romantic relationships and struggles with mental health. While Godwin intended the memoir as a tribute to his beloved wife and a woman he truly respected, its candid nature shocked Victorian sensibilities. By the mid-1800s Wollstonecraft’s reputation suffered as a result of these revelations. She was labeled immoral and viewed as a cautionary figure rather than as a revolutionary thinker for much of the second half of the 19th century.
It would take nearly 100 years after her death for her work to make it back into the spotlight as a foundational basis for women’s suffrage in the UK and US. Today, Wollstonecraft is required reading for anyone studying revolutionary history, philosophy, human rights, and educational reform.
There is no direct evidence that Jane Austen read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but it’s very possible she was aware of Wollstonecraft’s ideas. Austen was well-read and kept up with contemporary debates and literary works, especially those that sparked significant social and cultural discussions. Additionally, there are major overlaps between Wollstonecraft’s arguments the themes of Austen’s novels, themes which were unique to Austen at the time of their initial publication.
Austen’s novels often feature strong, intelligent heroines who challenge traditional gender roles and societal expectations. Her critique of marriage based on economic need and her emphasis on the importance of personal integrity, autonomy, and mutual respect in relationships reflect themes similar to those Wollstonecraft championed. For example, Pride and Prejudice and Emma each explore the constraints placed on women and emphasize character and intellect over wealth and status, themes aligned with Wollstonecraft’s vision of rational and independent womanhood. Austen’s critiques of the social pressures that drive women to marry for financial stability rather than genuine affection or compatibility surface in characters like Charlotte Lucas, who marries Mr. Collins to secure a home and financial support.
Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood embody the intelligent, witty, and rational women who value substance over superficial charm which Wollstonecraft said would be created through better education. These characters exemplify Wollstonecraft’s vision of women as rational beings, capable of making their own choices. Even Emma, who is a deeply flawed character but ultimately highly relatable still to modern readers, embodies the intelligent and self-confident woman, more interested in her own pursuits than conforming to societal expectations. The emphasis on Emma’s personal growth aligns with Wollstonecraft’s belief that women should cultivate their minds and moral character.
Fanny Price is a most interesting mix of all of Wollstonecraft’s ideas about not only women, but the nobility. Fanny is well-read and thoughtful, even though she comes from a less privileged background and relies on the charity of her aunts and uncle. Her intellectual and moral virtues eventually distinguish her from her wealthier, more superficial cousins, suggesting that Austen valued inner character and intellect over social rank and superficial accomplishments as outlined in Wollstonecraft’s earlier works. Additionally, characters like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Captain Tilney, and Sir Walter Elliot embody the vanity and arrogance that Wollstonecraft decried in her critiques of class-based privilege.
An interesting rejection of vanity and superficiality, which was outlined explicitly by Wollstonecraft, also shows up in much of Austen’s works. Caroline Bingley, Elizabeth Elliot, Isabella Thorpe, and Mary Crawford are all described as beautiful women with striking physical appearances and a dedication to fashion. None of them receive their happy endings, ultimately being rejected for their lack of substantive character.
It’s clear to anyone who studies women’s education and suffrage that the Austenesque themes that make her works still so important to so many modern women are echoes of Wollstonecraft’s critiques of marriage, gender roles, and social constraints. Austen continued Wollstonecraft’s work of advancing a subtle but compelling vision of women as rational, autonomous individuals.
