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

By Mary Wollstonecraft

Published in 1792

Reference #0368

The work was written in approximately six weeks after Wollstonecraft read Charles Marice de Talleyrand-Perigord’s 1791 report “Rapport sur I’instruction publique,” to the French National Assembly, which declared women should only receive domestic education.

The report prompted Wollstonecraft to launch an attack against the double standard between men and women and call for equality between the sexes in certain areas of life, such as education. Upon its publication, “Rights of Women” was immediately released in a second edition in London, and was followed by several American and French editions.

While it was favorably reviewed by several magazines including “Analytical Review” and “New York Magazine,” it did receive ill-favored reviews. “Rights of Women” heralded in ideas of women’s suffrage that have long influenced feminist philosophy and has made Wollstonecraft a figure in feminism.