This reading hits close to home. Mary Wollstonecraft does a brilliant job laying out the plethora of reasons why women need to be educated in the same capacity as men, and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her words. It's kind of surreal to me to read this book with the knowledge that without women like her, I would not have the opportunities that I have today to sit in a classroom and pursue knowledge to my heart's content (and I quite enjoy the pursuit of knowledge and strive to learn daily and actively). Not only has my right to education provided me with opportunities to build a life for myself independently from a man, which I have found in my own life to be necessary for my survival, but it is the avenue by which I've found my most meaningful relationships and the ability to walk out the calling the Lord has placed on my life. So my thanks to women like Mary are abundant. My heart aches for the women worldwide who have yet to receive the same opportunities as me, both in education and in basic human rights.
Before I get all emotional and passionate, let's look at something else that really interested me.
Mary makes a connection to Paradise Lost in chapter two that I didn't see coming and that pleasantly surprised me. She says, "Thus Milton describes our first frail mother; though when he tells us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace, I cannot comprehend his meaning, unless, in true Mahometan strain, he meant to deprive us of souls, and insinuate that we were beings only designed by sweet attractive grace, and docile blind obedience, to gratify the senses of man when he can no longer soar on the wing of contemplation." Milton's depiction of Eve really rubbed me the wrong way when we studied Paradise Lost, and it was because she was a paper-thin character. She had no personality, no faculties of reason, and no real function in the plot except to be led astray. I know my God and I know that He would not give the first woman absolutely no capacity to think for herself, because I am a woman who can think for myself and I am made in the image of the same God that Eve was. So for Milton to depict Eve like that is problematic, and Mary does a fantastic job explaining why. We discussed in class that Milton was more than likely not overtly sexist, at least not in the context of his time period, but intention does not equal impact. His goal may not have been to depict women in a poor light, but any light that illuminates women as an entity to simply be beautiful vessels with hollow minds is one that is not based in reality, and therefore is ineffective in presenting truth.
I'm not really sure what point I'm trying to prove here. This was just something I noticed while I was reading and I wanted to get my thoughts out as coherently as possible, so saying them out loud was out of the question. I just can't help but wonder what Milton's specific goal was in portraying Eve as such a shallow individual, and if Mary and I are correct in assuming that this is because that is all women were to men in his time. If this is the case, I would say that as women of thought, our frustration is incredibly justified.
stephen & hailey
Before I get all emotional and passionate, let's look at something else that really interested me.
Mary makes a connection to Paradise Lost in chapter two that I didn't see coming and that pleasantly surprised me. She says, "Thus Milton describes our first frail mother; though when he tells us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace, I cannot comprehend his meaning, unless, in true Mahometan strain, he meant to deprive us of souls, and insinuate that we were beings only designed by sweet attractive grace, and docile blind obedience, to gratify the senses of man when he can no longer soar on the wing of contemplation." Milton's depiction of Eve really rubbed me the wrong way when we studied Paradise Lost, and it was because she was a paper-thin character. She had no personality, no faculties of reason, and no real function in the plot except to be led astray. I know my God and I know that He would not give the first woman absolutely no capacity to think for herself, because I am a woman who can think for myself and I am made in the image of the same God that Eve was. So for Milton to depict Eve like that is problematic, and Mary does a fantastic job explaining why. We discussed in class that Milton was more than likely not overtly sexist, at least not in the context of his time period, but intention does not equal impact. His goal may not have been to depict women in a poor light, but any light that illuminates women as an entity to simply be beautiful vessels with hollow minds is one that is not based in reality, and therefore is ineffective in presenting truth.
I'm not really sure what point I'm trying to prove here. This was just something I noticed while I was reading and I wanted to get my thoughts out as coherently as possible, so saying them out loud was out of the question. I just can't help but wonder what Milton's specific goal was in portraying Eve as such a shallow individual, and if Mary and I are correct in assuming that this is because that is all women were to men in his time. If this is the case, I would say that as women of thought, our frustration is incredibly justified.
stephen & hailey
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