Wollstonecraft Effect Of Virtue

Another effect of virtue that Wollstonecraft illustrates is having a strict regard for what is morally right and having adherence to moral principles. In the beginning of her argument, Wollstonecraft immediately states that “the strong gained riches, the few have sacrificed the many to their vices; and, to be able to pamper their appetites, and supinely exist without exercising mind or body, they have ceased to be men” (211). She directly attacks the elite displaying that man has been so corrupt, taking from the poor and their sacrifices, slandering them by stating that they are not truly men but just merely weak beings. Wollstonecraft states this to illustrate that the problem of not having virtue is due to having immoral values and degrading the men who do so. God has made mankind in his image; having characteristics such as honesty and righteousness, and by doing sinful behavior, he or she are no longer in the image of God, offending the elite, in which Wollstonecraft successfully portrays. Wollstonecraft also depicts the idea that “customs were established by the lawless power of an ambitious individual; or a weak prince [who] was obliged to comply with every demand of the licentious barbarous insurgents” (212). She highlights that customs and laws, including during the primitive times, were created for selfish reasons. Because of the lack of virtue, these powerful people were greedy, sinful, and cruel to the poor and uneducated, due to their status. Wollstonecraft asks her readers, “I beseech you to ask your own heart, when you call yourself a friend of liberty, …show more content…
She explains that the path to virtue is through true education and reason and that there are effects when one is truly righteous and virtuous. One can obtain an enlightened mind, learn to desire to be morally upright, and most importantly live a pleasant