Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
Perhaps the seeds of false-refinement, immorality, and vanity, have ever been shed by the great. Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and defections of their race, in a premature and unnatural manner, undermine the very foundation of virtue, and spread corruption through the whole mass of society!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns against the dangers of artificial elevation and how it can corrupt society.
Mary Wollstonecraft critiques the consequences of raising individuals in a way that separates them from common human experiences, suggesting that such elevation can lead to immorality and vanity. By highlighting how those who are artificially distinguished from their peers may become corrupting influences, she emphasizes the need for grounded virtues that are essential for the health of society as a whole.
Themes
SocietyVirtueCorruptionImmoralityElevation
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a political rally might use this quote to argue against elitism and promote social equality.
More from Mary Wollstonecraft
All quotes →Make women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will quickly become good wives; - that is, if men do not neglect the duties of husbands and fathers.
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But what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an hypothesis!
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The divine right of husbands, like the divine right of kings, may, it is hoped, in this enlightened age, be contested without danger.
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Women are degraded by the propensity to enjoy the present moment, and, at last, despise the freedom which they have not sufficient virtue to struggle to attain.
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It would be an endless task to trace the variety of meannesses, cares, and sorrows into which women are plunged by the prevailing opinion that they were created rather to feel than reason, and that all the power they obtain must be obtained by their charms and weaknesses.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
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