The KJB and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Location
Room B
Start Date
1-10-2011 2:45 PM
End Date
1-10-2011 4:00 PM
Abstract
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), in writing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Moral and Political Subjects (1792), incorporated over 300 references to the King James Bible. Wollstonecraft is well known as the mother of feminism, even though the term "feminism" was not coined until the 1850s. Her work had an extreme impact on women, especially in America, giving them a biblical basis to insist upon better education and occupational opportunities as well as legal and political independence. During the first wave of the woman's movement, Wollstonecraft's Vindication was quoted in numerous speeches, pamphlets, essays, and novels to advocate women's rights, although in Britain the quotes were used defamatorily. Vindication enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in America during the 1970s in support of the woman's liberation. One cannot underestimate the importance of Wollstonecraft's book, but what is often overlooked in literary scholarship, is that she draws her authority for women's equality from the King James Bible.
The KJB and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Room B
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), in writing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Moral and Political Subjects (1792), incorporated over 300 references to the King James Bible. Wollstonecraft is well known as the mother of feminism, even though the term "feminism" was not coined until the 1850s. Her work had an extreme impact on women, especially in America, giving them a biblical basis to insist upon better education and occupational opportunities as well as legal and political independence. During the first wave of the woman's movement, Wollstonecraft's Vindication was quoted in numerous speeches, pamphlets, essays, and novels to advocate women's rights, although in Britain the quotes were used defamatorily. Vindication enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in America during the 1970s in support of the woman's liberation. One cannot underestimate the importance of Wollstonecraft's book, but what is often overlooked in literary scholarship, is that she draws her authority for women's equality from the King James Bible.
Comments
Dr. Brenda Ayres is Professor of English Literature at Liberty University who has published sixteen books and over one hundred articles primarily in nineteenth-century English literature. She is also Assistant Director of Liberty's Honor Program.