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Essay / In The Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft, or in The Natural Daughter of Maria and Mary Robinson, women are subject to many economic hardships, simply because they are women. Women do not have enough opportunities, as is the case for men, to earn a living. Even if she is a woman of taste and morality, she may be treated like a criminal and have no means to protect herself. For a woman to support herself, she must marry and become a slave, disgrace herself by doing unsavory work, or be fortunate enough to be properly educated and given appropriate credentials. In The Natural Daughter and The Wrongs of Woman, it is the societal norm for the protective woman through marriage. However, both novels depict marriage as a state of oppression. I hate the idea of forced subordination! (Robinson 130). Martha, an intelligent and free-thinking woman, will not just follow her husband's orders and will do so blindly. This non-respect characterizes her as a woman who goes against a wife's duty to cater to her husband's every whim. Maria also tends to view her marriage as negative. She regrets this effort and laments that, "in my haste to escape temporary dependence and spread my new wings, into an unknown sky, I was caught in a trap and caged for the rest of my life" (Wollstonecraft 233). Martha's parents' marriage shows how cruel a man can be to his wife regarding her opinion. When confronted by his wife, he responds, “[you] never have to talk” (Robinson). Through these efforts, she is further treated poorly because she is a woman. Martha is treated like a beggar. The housekeeper greets her condescendingly, suggesting that “my lady is very kind; for she knows that people come with their books as a kind of genteel begging, and she generally pays them generously for their trouble" (Robinson 230) is not taken seriously and is offered money for her sufferings rather only for his artistic abilities. Even when a publisher accepts Martha's work, she receives a small fee and is fired. Martha later discovers that the publisher has made sufficient profit from her novel, which she has ensured. none
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