A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Penguin Classics) Book

Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity, and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal education for girls and boys, an end to prejudice, and for women to become defined by their profession, not their partner. Mary Wollstonecraft's work was received with a mixture of admiration and outrage - Walpole called her 'a hyena in petticoats' - yet it established her as the mother of modern feminism.

First published in 1792 Wollstonecraft's book attacked the prevailing view of docile decorative femininity and laid out the principles of emancipation - an equal education for girls and boys an end to prejudice and for women to become defined by their profession not their partner.

'I do not wish them to have power over men; but over themselves' Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792.