LECTURE 5

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (1757-1797)


A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

1. Purpose of treatise?[171f/167f, 180/176]
2. Her audience? [172/168, 173/169]
3. Womanly attributes
A: She despises
174/170--artificial graces encouraging cunning
174/170--ignorance posing as innocence
189/185--the wish only to please and be pleased

B: She seeks to cultivate
180/177--independent thought
182/178--strength of body; exercise of mind
191/187--power over the self, not over men

4. Women/soldiers? 177f/173f

5. Christian vs. Muslim 171/167, 173/169, 174/170, 182/178 (Salman Rushdie)

The Qur’an/Koran actually says:
Verily, for all men and women who have surrendered themselves unto God, and all believing men and believing women, and all truly devout men and truly devout women, and all men and women who are patient in adversity, and all men and women who humble themselves, and all men and women who give in charity, and all men and women who keep fast, and all men and women who remember God constantly: For all of them has God prepared forgiveness of sins and a mighty reward (33:35).

6. Is the Vindication Romantic?
176/172, 188/184: Revolutionary: Liberty, equality, virtue
172/168-9: Anti-theatrical style
181/177-9: Dr. Gregory's foolishness
BUT:
Is this treatise hostile to Emotions and the Passions? [189/186]

JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817)

Persuasion (1817, posthumous publ.)
Chief points of focus:
1. Shift of social power from effete aristocracy to capable middle-class professionals {R:--democratizing?}
2. Dilemmas of right conduct faced by a young gentlewoman/aristocrat: Anne Elliot {R:--reason vs. feeling, heart?}

Opening Sentence:
a. the father figure: Sir Walter Elliot
b. the practice of reading and what it reflects of the individual reader
c. irony

Opening Chapter:
1. future of the patriarchal lineage (10-11 compare with MW 172/168)
2. state of household economy (14)

Anne Elliot's moral quandaries:
1. Was Anne foolish to yield to Lady Russell's persuasion against engagement to Wentworth?
2. Does firmness of purpose amount to a display of "character"? [What does "character" mean in Jane Austen's novels? e.g. Should Anne remain constant to Captain Wentworth?]
3. At what point does firmness of purpose become self-destruction?