A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

Parents demand blind obedience, Wollstonecraft argues, because they don’t discharge their duty on a reasonable basis, and “a mysterious sanctity” attaches to their arbitrary claims. Her view of the reciprocal duty between parent and child is simply that “The parent who pays proper attention to helpless infancy has a right to require the same attention when the feebleness of age comes upon him.” No child should be subjugated to the mere will of a parent once he or she is old enough to answer for themselves.

A parent who strives to form his child’s heart and understanding merits the lifelong respect and friendship of the child. Most of the time, however, respect is demanded on the basis of a blind natural right. But the demand of implicit respect, Wollstonecraft holds, is unjust, because the reasonableness of moral demands should always be transparently clear to all.

When a “slavish bondage to parents” prevails, girls are harmed more than boys, because they are “prepared for the slavery of marriage,” or else they become “tyrants” in their own households. The parent who simply sets a good example and lets that example take effect, by contrast, will receive the rightful devotion of their child. The habit of submitting to reason should be instilled early, since it is simply “to submit to the nature of things,” and to God.

When women are taught from an early age to act on the basis of “mere whims and customs,” it is difficult to undo the damage, because even if virtue is successfully instilled later in life, they look back and scorn their parents’ folly. Children should not be put in the position of having to make excuses for their parents’ failings; esteem for their parents’ virtues, as well as natural affection, should ideally be blended from the start. However, Wollstonecraft fears that until society is better constituted, parents will continue to insist on obedience by divine right.