Both Wollstonecraft and Blake are concerned with social reform generally and wit

Question

Both Wollstonecraft and Blake are concerned with social reform generally and with the liberation of women in particular.  In Unit 1 we contrasted their arguments in terms of “Enlightenment” and “Romanticism.”  Further consider their respective positions.  In what ways are they similar or different?  Can you make any assertions about the extent to which either Enlightenment or Romanticism is (or is not) an effective vehicle of social justice and liberation?  What are the advantages or disadvantages, promises and dangers of each position?  Which pose do you think is most relevant to our own time and place?  Which has the most genuinely liberating implications?

Explanation / Answer

Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792 through his work 'a vindication for the rights of women' focuses on the rights of education for women in both political and social sphere. Since she herself was living in a male dominated society make strong arguments for the education of women. After a year William Blake also published his poems 'Visions on the daughter of Albion' which was based on rape and sexual possession as well as mistreatment of women in the partriarchal society. Both these writers though focuses on the rights of women but their approach was quite different from each other. Mary Wollstonecraft mostly speaks about the importance of education for women for a number of reasons. First women without an education as equal to men are useless members of the society. Both men and women should be educated as moral beings. She also argued that the current state of education were written by the men which consider women as female and not as human creatures. This is the reason that they allure mistress rather than their affectionate wives and their mothers.

At the beginning of the industrial revolution and the during the time of romanticism art, William Blake was one of the artist which focuses on gender equality. He believed that because of the older generations that the children play a specific role. They cut their wings and their sexual freedom. Some of Blake's books were Songs of experience, The marriage of heaven and hell, Songs of innocence, Book of Thel and vision of the daughters of the Albion. The Tyger which was his most famous poem urges people to revolt in order to create a new nation. In his poetic story one of the daughter of Albion was tied to a rapist which represents that all men to be treated as potential rapist and women as the frail seductress who are trapped in a position they do not want but are equally strong as willed as the men. Rapist and oothon who is one of the daughters of Albion also represent slavery of both men and women.

The idea of Wollstonecraft was revolutionary that marked a new era of feminism and this reached peak during the British suffragettes movement whereas the idea of William Blake focuses more on slavery which is not widespread in the modern world. But the importance of education for women cannot be ignored. There are some rural women which are not getting proper education and hence they are not independent and depend on their husband or others for their living. If their husband leaves them they have no option to feed their children and are forced to live a miserable life. Also working women in different positions secure a good position in the society as well as their family. So according to me Wollstonecraft idea was genuinely liberating.

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