I chose the poem “The Rights of Woman” as my topic because I am a feminist, so naturally the poem is intriguing to me. In the poem, Barbauld says that women were born to rule with men. She says women should make man the subject instead of a friend. I think she is exaggerating what feminists of the time were saying. I doubt that anyone suggested that women rule over men. That is not what feminists want; that would make them hypocrites.

In the poem, the speaker is addressing women, obviously. It seems that the speaker is a feminist and could be giving a speech. Barbauld is sarcastic in the poem. This could mean that Barbauld disagreed with the feminists at the time or just didn’t understand them.

I think Barbauld is exaggerating and even being sarcastic when she says “Yes, injured Woman! rise, assert thy right!” (p.130, line 1) and “That angel pureness which admits no stain” (p.130, line 6). “Angel pureness” and the like are the supposed reas

on that women aren’t in power. They are too “weak” and “delicate” and should only say in the house to cook and clean and tend to the children.

The last line of the poem is “That separate rights are lost in mutual love” (p.131, line 32). I think this line might mean that perhaps in men and women’s “mutual love” of the world or the country or nature, griping over rights has no place because they both want what is best for whatever it is that they have mutual love for. Apparently what is best is that men rule and women are the subjects because this is somewhat functional.

However, there is another possible way to read the ending. One could take it to mean that men and women, when they fall in love (“mutual love”), share equal rights at last.

At the end of the poem, the tone changes, and Barbauld expresses that women can’t rule for long and will eventually have to back down again and give way to men. She implies that it is natural for men to lead and that women should accept this truth for their mutual love of the world.

In the fifth stanza, Barbauld says “Try all that wit and art suggest to bend

In the beginning “The Rig

Some topics in this essay:
Rights Woman”, Anna Barbauld, p131 line, , mutual love, barbauld exaggerating, “the rights woman”, p131 line 31, “the rights, line 31, equal rights, rights woman”, p130 line, women subject, rule women,