Question Details

Directions: Read the passage given below carefully and answer the question that follows:

Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneering feminist theorist and author who gained widespread recognition following the release of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. After Wollstonecraft passed away due to complications from childbirth, her husband William Godwin authored a biographical tribute detailing her romantic involvement with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay. This exposed her private history to the public eye, triggering significant scandal and damaging her posthumous reputation. Wollstonecraft's scholarship mounted a scathing critique of female subjugation within patriarchal social structures. Her writings represent an early wave of feminist thought, examining how systemic oppression conditions women to view their own servitude as a moral obligation. A core tenets of her philosophy was the necessity of female education. In her seminal treatise, Wollstonecraft forcefully repudiated contemporary views that framed women as inherently fragile or intellectually subordinate. She argued that proper intellectual training was the essential pathway for women to contribute meaningfully to civic life, contending that denying them equal education consigned them to perpetual dependency. However, her premise that women primarily influence the social order through their maternal role in raising future citizens was later sharply contested by Marxist-feminist theorists.



Based on the provided text, what is the primary focus of Wollstonecraft's early feminist scholarship?

Options

A

The process through which women internalize societal oppression and accept servitude as a moral duty

B

The economic disenfranchisement of female workers in modern industrial environments

C

The influence of religious institutions in maintaining patriarchal dominance and curbing women's agency

D

The statutory restrictions governing female inheritance rights and property ownership

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option A

The process through which women internalize societal oppression and accept servitude as a moral duty

Solution :

The correct option is The process through which women internalize societal oppression and accept servitude as a moral duty.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

Step 1: Understand the question objective
The task is to identify what the provided passage highlights as the primary focus of Mary Wollstonecraft's early feminist scholarship.

Step 2: Locate key evidence in the passage
Scanning the passage for mentions of her writings and early feminist thought, we find the following sentence:
"Her writings represent an early wave of feminist thought, examining how systemic oppression conditions women to view their own servitude as a moral obligation."

Step 3: Analyze the meaning of the passage evidence
- "Systemic oppression conditions women..." refers to the process through which societal oppression is internalized.
- "...to view their own servitude as a moral obligation" directly matches accepting servitude as a moral duty.

Step 4: Evaluate the options
- Correct Option: "The process through which women internalize societal oppression and accept servitude as a moral duty" directly paraphrases the key line from the passage.
- Incorrect Options: Economic disenfranchisement in industrial settings, the role of religious institutions, and statutory inheritance/property restrictions are never mentioned anywhere in the provided text.

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