Reference no: EM133580853

Question: Like most radical thinkers of the time, many of Wollstonecraft's hopes for a more egalitarian future centered on the French Revolution. As a result, when the French minister of education proposed in 1791 a national system of schools that gave boys a comprehensive education in the humanities, social, and natural sciences, while only teaching girls sewing and home economics, Wollstonecraft was outraged. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was her response, offering an alternative mode of educating women to be full citizens in a revolutionary state. The complicated role of religion in Wollstonecraft's work and time are noteworthy: her own beliefs were, put simply, that all people could pursue virtue, a divine gift, through use of reason. Yet her arguments also drew on more traditionally Christian thinkers, such as Dr. Richard Price, a leader of the Dissenter community, who argued that all souls were equal before God and, consequently, needed equal education in order to avoid becoming overly dependent on the esteem of others.

1.What is the goal of education according to Wollstonecraft? For Wollstonecraft, how does socialization prevent women from developing their minds and character to the fullest extent?