As I mentioned in my introduction I love politics and the essays written by Burke, Wollstonecraft, and Paine were so informative and fun to read. I would like to focus this blog on Wollstonecraft and her disagreements with Burke’s essay on the French Revolution. Wallstonecraft used simple and understandable language in her essay and I think this allowed her opinions to spread and be understood by the masses.
In Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Men”, she stood up for the uneducated lower classes around the world. She also stood up for the people in France and their noble revolutionary cause. Her simple but powerful writing allowed the common man to read and understand what she was saying. In her essay she wrote a powerful passage in her section about sensibility.
"The civilization which has taken place in Europe has been very partial, and, like every custom that an arbitrary point of honour has established, refines the manners at the expense of morals, by making sentiments and opinions current in conversation that have no root in the heart or weight in the cooler resolves of the mind. -- And what has stopped its progress?-- hereditary property--heredity honours."
This passage stood out to me right away because she talked about two critical issues with her society. The first is how people did not say what they are truly thinking and feeling. They did this in fear of looking different or being criticized. Also Wallstonecraft brings up how most of the lower class as well as women were not even given the education they truly deserve. Since many were left uneducated it is very possible that articulating their opinions in an intelligent manner would have been difficult. Burke was shocked and disappointed with the fact that people in France were actually speaking their minds as well as doing something to make their lives better. He believed that the lower class should do what their told and just wait to die, so that they can gain blessings in heaven. Wallstonecraft stood up for freedom of speech and what a powerful gift it is.
The second critical issue Wallstonecraft covered is the fact that their society cannot progress when every single person has to follow the life path that they were born into. Monarchs did not earn their power they are given it and the poor stayed poor because they were not given the opportunity to change their path. Burke preached that people should follow their forefathers because their system “works”. But in reality it only worked for those who were in the aristocratic class. Wallstonecraft wrote how hereditary honours and property stop the world from progressing.
The French were being criticized by Burke and others because they were going against the monarchy. They are criticized and their actions are considered “unnatural”. Wallstonecraft used Burke’s words against him to prove her point. An example of this is when Burke called some of the French women vile and made claims that their acts were abominations of hell. Wallstonecraft rebukes him for calling these women vile since they were never given the privilege of education and gained their livelihoods through hard work. By using fact against Burke’s argument in a simple and lively way, Wallstonecraft was able to prove her point and get her message out there for the common man.
