The Importance Of Education In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Wollstonecraft, and her daughter, Mary Shelly, are two important authors who were pioneers in the feminist movement at a time when women were expected to marry and dedicate themselves to their husbands and families. Mary Wollstonecraft, the author of A Vindication of The Rights of Woman, states the importance of the natural right of freedom. She specifically advocates for the universal right of the education of women as rational human beings who have been given the ability to reason. Mary Shelley, is the author of Frankenstein, which includes two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the monster. Through this fictional novel, Shelley uses these characters to show the importance of the natural right for obtaining knowledge. Victor is extremely fascinated in modern science after …show more content…
Based on her reasoning, I believe this commonality shows their equality and directly supports her claim that they have a natural right to be educated. I disagree with some of her specific reasonings for why women should be educated, because her logic focuses on the argument that the purpose is to be better wives and mothers. In my opinion there is a greater purpose for women’s education then to solely be better spouses or to develop motherly instincts. Education is to become knowledgeable on various subjects that create the world and to discover one’s interests and passions. I do believe that education allows a person to develop a greater sense of who they truly are, while Wollstonecraft argues that education only enhances women’s skills to be better mothers and wives. Women should have control over who they want to become, not men. Women’s right to gain power is a critical aspect to their personal empowerment and equality. This power of control is extremely important in the belief that women and men are equal and that reason grounds this natural