A Vindication of the Rights of Woman · Chapter
II explained
Wollstonecraft argues against the prevailing opinion that women and men should pursue different virtues, asserting that virtue has a single eternal standard and that women must be allowed to develop their reason and moral faculties.
What happens
Wollstonecraft argues against the prevailing opinion that women and men should pursue different virtues, asserting that virtue has a single eternal standard and that women must be allowed to develop their reason and moral faculties. She critiques Rousseau, Milton, and Dr. Gregory for promoting female subordination and superficial charm, and insists that women should cultivate their own understanding and character rather than relying solely on pleasing others.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
This passage serves as the dramatic climax because it delivers the emotional and psychological peak of the arg…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Sexual Inequality and Tyranny
Wollstonecraft critiques the systematic subjugation of women through arguments that justify male tyranny.
- Women's Education and Reason
She insists women must be educated to develop reason and virtue, not merely to please men.
- False Femininity and Sensuality
Attacks the ideal of women as merely charming, coquettish, or sensual beings designed for male pleasure.
Characters to notice
- Mary Wollstonecraft
Author and narrator; argues for women's rational and moral equality.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Criticized for advocating that women be governed by fear and made coquettish slaves.
- John Milton
Quoted for his depiction of Eve's submissive obedience; his inconsistency is noted.
- Dr. John Gregory
Disapproved for advising dissimulation and a fondness for dress in his Legacy to his Daughters.
- Alexander Pope
Quoted for a line suggesting women are most attractive when on the brink of being hated.
- Adam
Referenced in Milton's Paradise Lost, expostulating about inequality in society.
Key passages
“Rousseau declares, that a woman should never, for a moment feel herself independent, that she should be governed by fear to exercise her natural cunning, and made a coquetish slave in order to render her a more alluring object of desire, a sweeter companion to man, whenever he chooses to relax himself.”
Rousseau says women must never be independent; they should be ruled by fear to develop cunning and become pleasing slaves to attract men.
Wollstonecraft summarizes Rousseau's view to criticize its absurdity.
“Probably the prevailing opinion, that woman was created for man, may have taken its rise from Moses’s poetical story; yet, as very few it is presumed, who have bestowed any serious thought on the subject, ever supposed that Eve was, literally speaking, one of Adam’s ribs, the deduction must be allowed to fall to the ground.”
The idea that women were made for men likely comes from the biblical story of Eve, but few thoughtful people take it literally, so the argument collapses.
Wollstonecraft dismisses the biblical justification for female subordination.
“The amiable Dr. Gregory fell into a similar error. I respect his heart; but entirely disapprove of his celebrated Legacy to his Daughters. He advises them to cultivate a fondness for dress, because a fondness for dress, he asserts, is natural to them.”
Dr. Gregory, though well-meaning, wrongly tells his daughters to cultivate a love of dress, claiming it is natural to women.
Wollstonecraft rejects the notion that such tastes are innate.
