Historically, in the late 1700s and 1800s, many literary works as well as conduct books were written to demonstrate how conduct, how women women should introduce themselves and what a woman should do. education should involve. Mary Wollstonecraft delivered her powerful and groundbreaking thoughts on education in her famous article, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, where she deeply criticized societal obsession with women's superficial achievements rather than women as creatures rational people capable of both feeling as well as rational and logical thinking. She blames the flawed education system in which women do not have equal educational opportunities, as well as oppressive standards set by men and society. The goal of women's education was at the forefront of Wollstonecraft's argument, who asserted that the goal of women's education was very different from that of men's education. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned'?Get the original essayIn Mansfield Park, Jane Austen creates her heroine, Fanny Price, in a way that challenges the societal expectation that the purpose of women's education was to find a husband. Rather, Austen's heroine educates and improves herself through the social constructs of her environment in order to achieve virtue and morality instead of simply finding a husband. In this essay, I will look closely at how Austen subtly intended to make Mansfield Park a novelization of Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in order to demonstrate the purpose and effect of Fanny's education which is obtained through discovery of self and environment. Wollstonecraft profoundly rejected society's dominant belief that it was natural for women to be intellectually inferior to men. Rather, she attributed this inferiority to the lack of educational opportunities for women. She argues that rationality is natural to all and that men and women have the same capacity to reason and achieve virtue. However, virtue and morality can only be achieved through an intellectual exercise in the education of the mind. Austen presents a different and subtle argument to this idea that women's education and self-improvement is cultivated by the environment in which they are raised. The character of Fanny Price seems to be considered shy, stupid and intellectually inferior by her cousins. she has no formal education to match that of her cousins ​​when she first arrives at Mansfield Park. Her character is seen as shy, timid, and ignorant, as she is seen more as a listener and observer than an active participant in conversations. “She was not often invited to join in the conversation of others, nor did she desire to be.” (58). However, she has a rational mind that is closely aligned with Wollstonecraft's concept of a rational woman, as she observes the behavior and mannerisms of her family as she begins to understand the world. Women in this society were valued and praised for their achievements like music, drawing, and dancing rather than their intellect. The Bertrams had hoped in adopting Fanny that she would improve by association through Maria and Julia's superficial education. When Fanny first arrives at Mansfield Park, Mrs. Norris alludes to the idea that Fanny's mind will be educated through the association of her surroundings: "It will be aeducation for the child, I say, by being only with his cousins; If Miss Lee didn't teach her anything, she would learn from them to be good and intelligent” (10). However, Fanny did in fact closely observe the behavior of her wealthy family, particularly that of the women. Wollstonecraft discusses the idea that from childhood, women are conditioned to believe that they must make themselves attractive and desired by men in order to obtain marriage. "Women are informed from their childhood, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, rightly called cunning, gentleness of character, outward obedience, and a scrupulous attention to a sort of childish propriety , will obtain for them the protection of man” (394). In this way, she argues that mothers perpetuate this cycle of faulty parenting by cultivating their daughter's minds to elevate superficial achievements at the expense of improving the mind to find a husband. Ms. Norris views marriage as a business and as a way to achieve financial and societal security. She also considers the education of women as a way to “settle well” (7). This view supports the idea that Austen and Wollstonecraft aimed to challenge the fact that the purpose of women's education is not just to find a husband. On the other hand, at the end of the novel, Sir Thomas Bertram regrets the superficial education that his daughters, Maria and Julia, had received, in that their goal was not self-discovery: "There is had serious mismanagement here; but, serious as it was, he gradually began to feel that this had not been the most serious error in his educational plan. To distinguish themselves by elegance and achievement – ​​the authorized object of their youth – could thus have had no useful influence, no moral effect on the mind” (314). In this way, Sir Thomas admits that formal education may have had no moral effect on his daughter's mind regarding her conduct and virtue. Furthermore, he attributes his daughters' impropriety to the environment in which they grew up: “He had wanted them to be good, but his care had been directed to understanding and manners, not to disposition; and the necessity of self-denial and humility, he feared that they had never heard of any mouth that could benefit them” (314). At the same time, it could be argued that Fanny received a formal education similar to that of Maria and Julia; however, Edmund's character and influence were crucial in Fanny's education through self-discovery and virtues. At the beginning of the novel, the narrator gives an overview of the difference in education that Fanny receives. “Miss Lee taught him French and heard him read the daily part of History; but he recommended to her the books which delighted her leisure time, he encouraged her taste and corrected her judgment; he made reading useful by talking to her about what she was reading, and increased its appeal with judicious praise” (18). Edmund cultivates his mind because he serves as a moral figure for Fanny who must admire and embody the example he set for her. Wollstonecraft raises the point about women's dependence on men's affection. She does not believe that women's primary purpose in life is to secure and attract the affection of a man and to submit as an obedient wife. Rather, she views marriage as a friendship between a virtuous man and a virtuous woman. “The woman who strengthens her body and exercises her mind will become, by managing her family and practicing various virtues, the friend and not the humble dependent of her husband” (396). Throughout the novel, Edmund alludes to the dear friendship that developed between him and Fanny. The ideal marriage.