Establishing Mary Wollstonecraft as the mother of feminist literature, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. This 1792 volume is a powerfully fierce rebuttal against eighteenth-century educational and political theorists who maintained that women should not be granted the right to education. Mary Wollstonecraft posits the essential nature of women's education to the strength of a nation and argues...

Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on...