Mary Wollstonecraft
1
8.6
- proper noun
- In her book, Mary Wollstonecraft argued for the equal education of women, challenging the norms of her time.
Examples
-
No historical discussion of the dilemma of gifted women would be complete without mention of Mary Wollstonecraft, the first major feminist.
Academic text (1995) -
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and George Eliot, like Mary Wollstonecraft and Harriet Taylor Mill, were self-taught.
Academic text (1995) -
Learned women would undoubtedly develop deviant social or radical behavior, like the infamous Mary Wollstonecraft.
Academic text (1995) -
Mary Wollstonecraft's fate served as a potent lesson to all would-be reformers for the next two centuries.
Academic text (1995) -
Mary Wollstonecraft was a pioneering advocate for women's rights, inspiring generations of feminists with her writings.
-
As the mother of Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft greatly influenced both literature and the movement for gender equality.
Synonyms
1
9.5
An English writer who supported women's equal education and rights
1
9.2
An English writer who argued for women's equal rights and education
Surface Forms
Morphology
Mary + Wollstonecraft
This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person, and the biographical meaning (English writer, philosopher, early advocate of women's rights) is referential rather than compositional. Knowing the constituents 'Mary' (a common personal name) and the surname 'Wollstonecraft' does not allow a B1 learner to infer her identity or role, so the expression is not derivable from its parts.
Etymology
Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer and thinker in the late 1700s who argued that women should get the same education and rights as men, especially in her book 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'. That's why her name now stands for early support for 'women's rights' and equal education.