Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Elizabeth Tollet’s Hypatia touches on several controversial gender-related issues. Although the poem was published in 1724, much of its content is still very relevant today not only to young women, but to all people. In lines 31-40 Tollet speaks of the tragedy of lost “wit” due to neglect. By “wit” Tollet means intellect, or the potential for intellectual thought. During Tollet’s time, women were mostly regarded as ornaments to their men. They were condemned to a life of servitude to their husbands. Although she refuses to beli