Wollstonecraft and Defoe's Effective Use of Rhetorical Devices

Through their works of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Education of Women, writers Mary Wollstonecraft and Daniel Defoe, respectively, have become two of the most significant figures in the movement for women’s rights. Their feminist philosophies, more specifically in terms of women being allowed to pursue an education, are clearly reflected in each of their works. However, the effectiveness of both A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Education of Women is not solely attributable to each writer’s claim in his/her essay. Rather, what ultimately strengthens each writer’s purpose is the means by which they express such arguments — the use of various rhetorical devices.

One of the first rhetorical devices evident in both essays is the use of rhetorical questions. Both writers effectively ask a question for which an answer is not expected, more than likely because they suppose readers will be able to agree with the opinion being expressed through such questions. In A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft criticizes how marriage — the only way women could establish a social status at the time — made women seem as mere animals and children who belonged in a harem. She then continues with a rhetorical question, asking “can they be expected to govern a family with judgment, or take care of the poor babes whom they bring into the world?” (Wollstonecraft). Thus, Wollstonecraft not only points out and criticizes the fact that a woman’s main ambition in life revolves around perfecting her beauty in order to get married, but also further strengthens her argument by a rhetorical question — a question from which readers could agree that such a woman would be unfit for raising a family.

Similarly, in The Education of Women, Defoe’s central claim is founded upon the fact that women are denied the advantages of learning, even in such a civilized and Christianized country. He then continues with a set of rhetorical questions, through which he dismisses a few of the supposed reasons why women are kept in ignorance. For example, he asks “Does she plague us with her pride and impertinence? Why did we not let her learn, that she might have had more wit?” (Defoe). Thus, he not only addresses the suppositions that an educated woman would be all the more arrogant, disrespectful, and witty, but also essentially dismisses the same assumptions, as they are rendered indefensible reasons for keeping women in ignorance.

Another rhetorical device that creates effective pieces of arguments in A Vindication of the Right’s of Woman and The Education of Women is the use of analogy. In her Introduction, Wollstonecraft stresses that women are denied proper educations and render them to be in an unhealthy state of mind. She builds up her argument through an analogy, as she states that “the conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state; for, like the flowers which are planted in too rich a soil, strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty; and the flaunting leaves, after having pleased a fastidious eye, fade, disregarded on the stalk, long before the season why they ought to have arrived at maturity” (Wollstonecraft). Thus, through such an analogy, Wollstonecraft successfully indicates how women, like flowers, are cultivated to rely on their beauty alone. However, just as the leaves which were once pleasing to the eye will soon wilt and be unnoticed on the stalk, so too will a woman’s beauty soon fade with age. Thus, in arguing by analogy, Wollstonecraft is able to point out the parallel that exists between the beauty of a flower and the beauty that women revolve their whole life upon — a parallel that creates an even more effective argument as it unravels the sole fact that the same beauty soon diminishes.

In the same way, Defoe argues that women are denied the advantages of learning, and he too uses an analogy to advance his argument. He asserts that “the soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. And ‘tis manifest, that as the rational soul distinguishes us from brutes; so education carries on the distinction, and makes some less brutish than others” (Defoe). Through his analogy, Defoe allows readers to imply that polish is to diamond as educate is to man. He is able to strengthen his argument and purpose all the more as he efficiently reveals the parallel that exists between polishing a diamond and the education of all men, regardless of gender; for just as a diamond must be polished in order to shine and hence increase in value, so too must mankind be educated in order to attain more significance than just a mere creature.

In the end, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Education of Women have become two of the most effective pieces of works with regards to the movement for women’s rights. Ultimately, Mary Wollstonecraft and Daniel Defoe’s writings were able to set the spark that kindled the fire in the rise of the feminist movement — an effectiveness that not only resulted because of what each writer said, but even more because of how they got their arguments across. The use of rhetorical devices, including rhetorical questions and argument by analogy, allowed Wollstonecraft and Defoe to create effective languages, reinforce their main points, and — slowly but surely — win their readers over to their point of view.

Works Cited: 

Defoe, Daniel. "The Education of Women". Elements of Literature. Literature of Britain with World Classics. 6th ed.  Austin: Holt, Rinehard, and Winston, 2000. 647-649. Print

Wollstonecraft, Mary. "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." Elements of Literature. Literature of Britain with World Classics. 6th ed. Austin: Holt, Rinehard, and Winston, 2000. 639-643. Print.