Question 6

Kara makes some excellent points in discussing the differences between the thoughts proposed by Wollstonecraft and the character created by Maria Edgeworth. Mrs. Freke does make fun of Belinda for her studies, thereby disagreeing with the basic principle set forth by Wollstonecraft that women can advance their positions in society through an acquirement of knowledge. Sticking with education, after Mrs. Freke makes fun of Belinda's studies, she states that a course of the woods would be better for her; specifically stating hunting. This type of knowledge represents practical use whereas it seems knowledge through scholarly books would not. Hannah More raised a similar point in her piece, so I wonder what Wollstonecraft would say in regards to this. Should women look to advance their postions in society by learning things that will directly affect their functions in the world or stick to that which seems only to stimulate abstract thought?