Feminism in Austen's Northanger Abbey

Abstract

In the excerpt from Mary Wollstonecraft's “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” she responds to Dr. John Gregory's “A Father's Legacy to His Daughters,” where he discusses his view of proper womanly behavior. Wollstonecraft echoes Austen's view that women are individuals with intellectual and creative capacities equal to that of men's. In both Northanger Abbey and “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” the two female authors question common social customs and assert that women should act rationally for themselves instead of simply attempting to impress the opposite sex.