Thoughts On The Education of Daughters - Overview

Overview

Addressed to mothers, young women, and teachers, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters explains how to educate a woman from infancy through marriage. Its twenty-one chapters are not arranged in any particular order and cover a wide variety of topics. The first two chapters, "The Nursery" and "Moral Discipline", offer advice on shaping the child's "constitution" and "temperament", arguing that the formation of the rational mind must begin early. These chapters also offer specific recommendations regarding the care of infants and endorse breastfeeding (a hotly debated topic in the 18th century). Much of the book criticizes what Wollstonecraft considers the damaging education usually offered to women: "artificial manners", card-playing, theatre-going, and an emphasis on fashion. She complains, for example, that women "squander" their money on clothing, "which if saved for charitable purposes, might alleviate the distress of many poor families, and soften the heart of the girl who entered into such scenes of woe". She contrasts this common but ineffectual education with one based on early childhood reading, benevolence, and love. Wollstonecraft also delves into a description of social issues, addressing the "Unfortunate Situation of Females, Fashionably Educated, and Left without a Fortune" in addition to the "Treatment of Servants". Religious faith plays a prominent role in Wollstonecraft's educational plan; she advocates Sabbath observance and describes the "Benefits which arise from Disappointments", that is, the benefits which arise from suffering sent by God.

In her later works, such as A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Wollstonecraft repeatedly returns to the topics addressed in Thoughts, particularly the virtue of hard work and the imperative for women to learn useful skills. Wollstonecraft suggests that the social and political life of the nation would greatly improve if women were to acquire valuable skills instead of being mere social ornaments.