A Vindication of the Rights of Woman vs. the Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Introduction

The late 18th and 19th century was the beginning of a phenomenon which now is referred to as the Enlightenment period. The concept of feminism is both a political and intellectual movement. It is a form of seeking justice and equality in genders of all form. The issue of feminism was introduced by philosophers and theorists in the early 18th-19th century. It began to be widely recognised as an issue in society with the introduction of Mary Wollstonecraft theories in her book titled 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman which first was published in 1792. Similarly the ideas of contradictions are predominant throughout Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In fact contradictions are the core of human life: Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence. In this paper we compare A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and the Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

Analysis

Initially Wollstonecraft sets out to discuss Rousseau's influential theory of human development, specifically his ideas relating to women. By discussing the flaws in Rousseau's argument, Wollstonecraft is able to set up her own theory of how society needed to change in order to become more productive. Rousseau argued that women are innately weaker than men are, as well as being less prone to rational thought, and less inclined to explore, create or analyze. Their prescribed role is one of servant to their male partners or family members (Wollstonecraft, 13).

Wollstonecraft's exploration of sexuality is more equivocal than Rousseau's however. She insists that women must have a chance through education to develop their rational virtue, and disputes Rousseau's ideals of special coquettish tricks, flirtation, and charming deceptions as important for women. She maintains that “A mistaken education, a narrow, uncultivated mind, and many sexual prejudices, tend to make women more constant than men” (Wollstonecraft, 30). Wollstonecraft acknowledges that women have a need for sexual passion as well. She believed that passion should be kept for marriage and instead of acting on attraction to find a suitable husband, intellectual stimulation should be the main basis on which a marriage should develop in order to maintain feminine virtue. Wollstonecraft maintains that sexual passion doesn't belong as a major priority. Sexual passion is unreliable, and love, in the passionate sense of the term, will not last; therefore, these should not take their place as the important priorities of life (Jump, pp 34-89).

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, started in 1790 but probably not completed until 1793, represents for many critics William Blake's finest achievement and certainly his most innovative work both thematically and stylistically. In The Vanity of Angels section of William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, the speaker is speaking from a perspective of experience which comes from rethinking opinions he has previously held and speaking out against the ideas which he once enbrace. The importance of this piece is about having the ability to ...