Thoughts on the Education of Daughters

Considered one of the earliest feminist intellectuals and a prominent name of the liberal first-wave feminism Mary Wollstonecrafts intellectual views on what it meant to be a woman in a patriarchal society were overshadowed by her personal life until the 20th century. In her best-known work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman first published in 1792 she mainly discussed the education system of the time and how it was designed to make women seem inferior to men. While today some of her opinions might seem outdated or some of her goals for an equalitarian society achieved her thoughts still hold true in the 21st-century society in some measure. Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: With Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life is another important work of Wollstonecrafts where she addresses as various subjects as the fine arts boarding schools love matrimony and public places with a particular focus on womens situation in them. In the book which could be thought of as a sort of self-help book Wollstonecraft provides advice to women mostly on morality and etiquette.First published in 1787 Thoughts on the Education of Daughters acts as a precursor to Wollstonecrafts later works. While nothing was edited content- or language-wise in this new edition some archaic forms were changed to provide a more reader-friendly version of the text for the modern reader. Wollstonecrafts work is a must-read for the curious minds interested in one of the earliest works of feminist literature.