Currently I am in a Critical reading class at SUNY Fredonia. In which we have been looking at how particular lenses of writing, such as Marxism, Structeralism, Formalism, and psychological perspectives influence or are a product of their texts. As you probably know, Mary Wollstonecraft and her more contemporary as well as popular women's rights activist and author Jane Austen both advocated their styles in a different manner. Give it a read!  

Structuralism v. Formalism

           

            One of the reasons we can see a disconnect between the works of Jane Austen from Mary Wollstonecraft, is primarily a product of their works functioning under different schools of thought from a critics point of view. We should allow that Mary Wollstonecraft’s works drew largely from her own personal experiences i.e. religion, relationships, social experiences, degradations she faced, and familial history all are commented on by her(most pivotally in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman), thus causing the critic or reader to take a structuralism ideology. This is part play in contrast to Jane Austen who was hailed for ability to let the text speak for itself because it’s functioning (for example Pride And Prejudice) evokes from solely the pages, not from outside influence. The connections we make though Jane Austen from formalism criticism, and Mary Wollstonecraft from a structuralism evaluation, are what truly makes these two authors different but effectively idiosyncratic.

            Drawing from the works of Mary Wollstonecraft in “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, Wollstonecraft allows for interjections on a popular subject that trademarks her criticism values, and lenses in many a work of hers, religion. In reference to God she recollects her Catholic roots and supports her argument that men and women are created with the same virtues and equality and allows the reader insight that it is her own belief that conjures. Since we can conclude that religious contexts exist in other mediums of her work other than A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, we can attribute biographically its origin stems from Mary herself; she confesses that “- Thanks to that Being, who impressed them onto my soul, and gave me sufficient strength of mind to dare to exert my own reason, till, becoming dependent only on him for the support of my virtue, I view, with indignation, the mistaken notions that enslave my sex” (Vindication, 40). From a critical point of view e can attain that her personal biography is implicated onto the pages, deeming it a gathering from a structuralism analysis. Wollstonecraft’s well-roundedness in a A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, advises that her ideas cultivate truly from her letters, fictional pieces, and persuasive texts.

            To contend from a Formalism inquiry, the works of Jane Austen, while seen in a different light, operates effectively on a strictly text to author position the same way the biographical and fictional works are a lens for the reader to understand Wollstonecraft’s style in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. One of the ways that Austen “compensates” for lack of addition of alternate works or biographical snippets of inclusion in Pride And Prejudice, is her invocation of her creative style of description through character narration, something seemingly absent in the persuasive argument style convictions. The description of Mr. Darcy exemplifies Austen’s insightful descriptions at narration when he is described as being “looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a great disgust  which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud, to be above his company; and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend (Prejudice, 8).

            For lack of characterization and beautiful setting utilized by Austen, Wollstonecraft shows that powerful and moving writing can also come from command of language, biographical insight, and well-roundedness. From a critical evaluation, either author should not be confused for lack of the full appreciation in their own respective styles.

Works Cited:

Austen, Jane, and Donald J. Gray. Pride and Prejudice. New York: W.W. Norton, 1966. Print.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Print.