Well, duh, you're probably saying. This poem is called "The Rights of Woman." Naturally, the question of "women and femininity" is going to play its part. But it's not all as straightforward as you might think. This poem starts out as a call to arms for all women—the speaker asks women to stand up and fight for their rights. But by the end of the poem, she backs off, and asks why we can't all just get along. It's hard to know where she's being ironic, and where she's being serious… so read closely and try to sort it out for yourself.
Questions About Women and Femininity
- How do you think the speaker would describe a typical relationship between men and women? What about an ideal relationship between men and women? What evidence from the poem can you use to support your theory?
- Does that "ideal relationship" seem to change over the course of the poem? If so, where do you think the shift happens?
- What, exactly, are the "rights of woman" that the speaker wants women to fight for?
- Does the definition of "femininity" shift over the course of the poem, or does it stay consistent? How can you tell?
Chew on This
Although the speaker uses a lot of military and warlike metaphors, the women she calls on to fight are still idealized and stereotypically feminine: their only weapons are their "blushes" and "melting tones." Some revolution.
Although the speaker seems to be advocating the rule of women over men in this poem, the final two stanzas make it clear that she actually thinks that an ideal relationship would be between equal partners in "mutual love." That's the real goal here.