여권의 옹호: 여성 교육과 공화국의 미래

Abstract

Sohn, Young-mi. “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: Female Education and the Future of Republic.” Studies on English Language & Literature. 32.1(2006): 33-47. The Vindication of the Rights of Woman was intended as an improvement on the legislation for national education Talleyrand submitted to the National Assembly after the Revolution. She of course does not confine her discussions to France; she argues that any civilized nation should open its school systems, especially the elementary level, to both boys and girls because only then men and women will develop a genuine understanding of each other, and thereby will be able to form a balanced and truly healthy relationship and become good parents for their offsprings. In the first section of the essay, I examine how the gender gap, was deepened and reinforced in the process of Industrial Revolution and the expansion of the middle class. In the second section, I look at the dire consequences of the misguided education Wollstonecraft describes in the Vindication. She then argues for a state-funded national school system for children of both sexes and describes how such a system will result in healthier and more enlightened society in the long run. Like many intellectuals of various political orientations in her time, Wollstonecraft felt education is one of the surest and most important means of social change, and her high expectations for it is reflected most clearly in her description of properly educated women and what they can do for the community. (Wonkwang University)