One of the earliest works of feminist philosophy, ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ argues that women should receive a rational education. A response to the educational and political theorists of the 18th century at the time, Wollstonecraft’s essay invites readers today to peak behind the scenes at the early fight for rights for women. Whilst the term ‘feminist’ did not emerge until years after the publication – and death of Wollstonecraft - ‘A Vindication’ remains today an influential step in the advocacy for women’s education and equal social status. A must-read for fans of Helena Bonham Carter and Carey Mulligan in Netflix’s acclaimed ‘Suffragette’ film. The founding feminist philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights. Whilst her unconventional relationships attracted more attention that her writing at the time, Wollstonecraft is best known for ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’; a ground-breaking work arguing that women are not naturally inferior to men. Despite her posthumously published ‘Memoir’ overshadowing her writing career for almost a century, Wollstonecraft remains today an influential figure in the advocacy for women’s rights following the feminist movement at the turn of the 20th century. She died giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Shelly, the accomplished author of ‘Frankenstein’.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (1792), written by the 18th-century British proto-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th century who did not believe women should have an education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men. Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published. The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression. The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.

Arguably the earliest written work of feminist philosophy, Wollstonecraft produced this manifesto of woman's rights in the time of the American and French Revolutions. This era induced many to reconsider not only the rights of men, but also of women, and none argued for female emancipation more eloquently or effectively than Wollstonecraft. Her strong use of analogy and philosophical language compared women of her day to both slaves and soldiers, forced to be docile and decorative. Wollstonecraft is passionate and candid as she lays out the principles of feminine freedom, stating that education should be equal, there should be an end to the prejudices that proved so restrictive, and that women should be defined, not by their partner, but by their profession. Having been received with both approval and anger when first released, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" is a book that was ahead of its time, which continues to be a foundational and influential work of feminism. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, written by British philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the eighteenth century who did not believe women should receive a rational education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men. Wollstonecraft was prompted to write the Rights of Woman after reading Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord's 1791 report to the French National Assembly, which stated that women should only receive domestic education. From her reaction to this specific event, she launched a broad attack against double standards, indicting men for encouraging women to indulge in excessive emotion. Wollstonecraft hurried to complete the work in direct response to ongoing events; she intended to write a more thoughtful second volume but died before completing it. While Wollstonecraft does call for equality between the sexes in particular areas of life, especially morality, she does not explicitly state that men and women are equal. Her ambiguous statements regarding the equality of the sexes have made it difficult to classify Wollstonecraft as a modern feminist; the word itself did not emerge until decades after her death.