Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

This poem is about more than it seems to be. Throughout the poem, it seems that Anna Barbauld is exaggerating on purpose and being sarcastic. The poem could even be in response to feminists at the time. 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