I must say that I was very impressed when reading about Mary Wollstonecratf thoughs of the French Revolution and Burke’s opinion. It is hard to believe that she was only 38 when she died after accomplishing all the work she did and the clear view (future) on the modern world. She disagreed with Burke’s arguments for the hereditary succession of the crown, the alliance of the church and government, the blindness following of the tradition.
Wollstonecraft started by sending rhetoric messages to Burke, which I found very amusing. She said that sensibility is the elevation of feeling over rationality, that when sensibility and compassion are applied the truth may never be uncover. She believed that liberty is a fair idea that had not been in place in the European government, that the having of property and self-interest had bridged the rights of men. She wrote that hereditary property and hereditary honors have had a bad influence on the European civilization. She raised some very good points about the rights of men, the penalties imposed for the life of men, death when the property of the rich was touched, she wondered if those laws are natural to love. (P1366) I agree with Wollstonecraft when she said that it is unethical and a return to barbarism to sell your child as slave, not to teach him to differentiate good from evil, that you must work hard to earn your bread. She denounced the fact that only the property of the rich is secure, that the poor man who lived by the sweat of his brow has no mercy from oppression, that murderers (rich) found refuge in church. For her it is unacceptable for a man to fight for his country's well being and not receive any liberty or property; that prostitution and marriage of convenience be legal. Wollstonecraft made sure to tell Burke that he was supposed to be more sympathetic to fair ladies, that littleness and weakness are not the very essence of beauty. (P1370)
Mary Wollstonecraft showed all the unfairness that was happening in Europe at that time, she said that there is only so much pain that human being can take before revolting. I agree with her when she said “ such misery demands more than tears” (P1373)-The revolution had to happen for changes to occur. She said that poor and rich could live close by while respecting and supporting each other, which is what is happening for the most part in the modern world that we live in right now.
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Mary Wollstonecraft was one of a kind. I loved her simply because she stood up for the lower class individuals. I just felt that the lower class citizens did not stand a chance in the 1800s.
Wollstonecraft was a voice that needed to be heard. Selling children as slaves was a common thing but it was very unethical. We know it was unethical but to the upper classmen in the 1800s it was common and ok for the lower class to sell their children. Imagine the heartache and pain of mothers. Children had to go out and work just as adults did to help the family earn a living. Why? The lower class had to work twice as hard for their needs compared to the higher class. I always thought of prostitution as a modern day thing but it was an issue in the 1800s. Wollstonecraft brought these issues to the light through her writings.
In ending, I am glad that individuals such as Mary Wollstonecraft existed. Her writings stirred up the readers and the government. Whether or not they acted on them is another issue. However, the main point was brought out that the poor individuals were treated unfairly. For the lower class citizens, a revolution was needed to make changes. It is a blessing that in our world today, the rich and poor can live close by but there are still issues that we must overcome. Even in the modern world today, we are still faced with respect and support issues depending on your class level.
Kassia,
I am glad you enjoyed Mary Wollstonecraft's perspective. You make some good observations about her in this blog posting. Much of the time, however, you rely on paraphrase rather than quotations when you state her views. It is always best to start from the author's own words and to discuss them, rather thn to put her ideas into your own words. Be sure to quote, to quote accurately and to cite the page numbers for all quotations in your blog.
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