Thoughts on the Education of Daughters

Abstract

Paving the way for modern feminist thinking, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) dared to challenge traditional eighteenth-century attitudes towards women. First published in 1787, this book discusses how girls can best be educated to become valuable wives and mothers. It argues that women can offer the most effective contribution to society if they are brought up to display sound morals, character and intellect, rather than superficial social graces. Wollstonecraft later developed her ideas in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (also reissued in this series), in which she attacked the educational restrictions imposed upon women. Her writings formed a cornerstone of the battle for women's rights in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Prompting deeper reflection upon the role and status of women in modern society, the present work remains an instructive and provocative read for those seeking to learn about the roots of feminism in its social and historical context.

Mary Wollstonecraft and Catharine Macaulay on education

“…In the preface she makes reference to several popular books on this topic that were extant, and the inheritance of Rousseau's Emile and Locke's Thoughts is also prominent (Wollstonecraft, 1974(Wollstonecraft, /1787. Education includes care and socialisation from the earliest days of infancy.…”

“…Education includes care and socialisation from the earliest days of infancy. She is concerned to repudiate harshness, and to affirm values such as respect and affection, and early in the book she adverts to the theme of truth: 'Children are taught revenge and lies in their very cradles' (Wollstonecraft, 1974(Wollstonecraft, /1787. This emphasis on truth and truthfulness is underpinned by an account of truth similar to the one that is so central to Macaulay's Letters on education and to her Treatise.…”

“…This emphasis on truth and truthfulness is underpinned by an account of truth similar to the one that is so central to Macaulay's Letters on education and to her Treatise. This is that 'principles of truth are innate'-our assent to many truths is without 'reasoning' (Wollstonecraft, 1974(Wollstonecraft, / 1787). Our understanding and apprehension of truth is not based on inference (from our senses, or from evidence).…”

“…In her earlier work Wollstonecraft had argued that schools, at least the ones she was familiar with, were not good for children, who were at the mercy of illtreatment at worst, and bizarre educational ideas at best (Wollstonecraft, 1974(Wollstonecraft, / 1787. This is in part a Lockean theme.…”

“…Above all, Macaulay and Wollstonecraft both dissent from any model of education as manipulation, or the use of concealment or subterfuge. For both, the matter of truth that is at the heart of virtue, and hence should be at the heart of political and social life, must be enacted also in the process, as well as the outcome, of education (Wollstonecraft, 1974(Wollstonecraft, /1787Macaulay, 1996Macaulay, /1790.…”