A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1797)

Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but only appeared to be because they lacked education. She suggested that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagined a social order founded on reason. - Today, Wollstonecraft is considered a foundational thinker in feminist philosophy. Her early advocacy of women's equality and her attacks on conventional femininity and the degradation of women presaged the later emergence of the feminist political movement. Feminist scholars and activists have cited both her philosophical ideas and personal struggles as important influences in their work.

This is one of the 12 Books That Changed the World by Melvyn Bragg. (Summary from Wikipedia and Alex Foster)

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Philosophy

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Brief Sketch of the life of Mary Wollstonecraft (incl. letter) Alex Foster
00:16:08
Play 01 Author's Introduction Kristen McQuillin
00:11:40
Play 02 Chapter 1: The Rights and Involved Duties Of Mankind Considered David Barnes
00:23:39
Play 03 Chapter 2: The Prevailing Opinion Of a Sexual Character Discussed Carl Manchester
00:52:52
Play 04 Chapter 3: The Same Subject Continued Kirsten Ferreri
00:34:16
Play 05 Chapter 4: Observations On the State Of Degradation To Which Woman Is Reduced By Various Causes Part 1 Margaine
00:27:36
Play 06 Chapter 4: Observations On the State Of Degradation To Which Woman Is Reduced By Various Causes Part 2 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:27:24
Play 07 Chapter 4: Observations On the State Of Degradation To Which Woman Is Reduced By Various Causes Part 3 J. M. Smallheer
00:26:16
Play 08 Chapter 5: Animadversions On Some Of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women As Objects Of Pity, Bordering On Contempt Part 1 Kirsten Ferreri
00:42:22
Play 09 Chapter 5: Animadversions On Some Of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women As Objects Of Pity, Bordering On Contempt Part 2 Kirsten Ferreri
00:23:39
Play 10 Chapter 5: Animadversions On Some Of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women As Objects Of Pity, Bordering On Contempt Part 3 Kirsten Ferreri
00:15:05
Play 11 Chapter 5: Animadversions On Some Of the Writers Who Have Rendered Women As Objects Of Pity, Bordering On Contempt Part 4 Kirsten Ferreri
00:24:12
Play 12 Chapter 6: The Effect Which an Early Association Of Ideas Has Upon the Character Betsie Bush
00:19:17
Play 13 Chapter 7: Modesty, Comprehensively Considered, And Not As a Sexual Virtue Samantha Hayes
00:27:14
Play 14 Chapter 8: Morality Undermined By Sexual Notions Of the Importance Of a Good Reputation Cori Samuel
00:31:26
Play 15 Chapter 9: Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise From the Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society Jen Kidd
00:27:00
Play 16 Chapter 10: Parental Affection Gesine
00:08:00
Play 17 Chapter 11: Duty to Parents Maddie
00:15:42
Play 18 Chapter 12: On National Education Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
01:14:29
Play 19 Chapter 13: Some Instances Of the Folly Which the Ignorance of Women Generates Part 1 Caitlin Kelly
00:27:19
Play 20 Chapter 13: Some Instances Of the Folly Which the Ignorance of Women Generates Part 2 Caitlin Kelly
00:30:40