Question

Lines 114–136: Identify an example of analogy and an example of antithesis in these lines. Explain how each device strengthens Wollstonecraft’s counterargument? Let me reason with the supporters of this opinion who have any

knowledge of human nature, do they imagine that marriage can
eradicate the habitude of life? The woman who has only been taught
to please will soon find that her charms are oblique sunbeams, and
that they cannot have much effect on her husband’s heart when they
are seen every day, when the summer is passed and gone. Will she
then have sufficient native energy to look into herself for comfort, and
cultivate her dormant faculties? or, is it not more rational to expect
that she will try to please other men; and, in the emotions raised by the
expectation of new conquests, endeavor to forget the mortification her
love or pride has received? When the husband ceases to be a lover—
and the time will inevitably come, her desire of pleasing will then grow
languid, or become a spring of bitterness; and love, perhaps, the most
evanescent of all passions, gives place to jealousy or vanity.
I now speak of women who are restrained by principle or
prejudice; such women, though they would shrink from an intrigue
with real abhorrence, yet, nevertheless, wish to be convinced by the
homage of gallantry that they are cruelly neglected by their husbands;
or, days and weeks are spent in dreaming of the happiness enjoyed
by congenial souls till their health is undermined and their spirits
broken by discontent. How then can the great art of pleasing be such
a necessary study? it is only useful to a mistress; the chaste wife, and
serious mother, should only consider her power to please as the polish
of her virtues, and the affection of her husband as one of the comforts
that render her talk less difficult and her life happier. But, whether
she be loved or neglected, her first wish should be to make herself respectable, and not to rely for all her happiness on a being subject to
like infirmities with herself.

Answer 1

The analogy of oblique sunbeams and the antithesis of a woman's desire to please versus the emotions of jealousy or vanity both contribute to strengthening Wollstonecraft's counterargument against prioritizing the art of pleasing in marriage. These rhetorical devices serve to illustrate the limitations and potential negative consequences of relying solely on external attractiveness and pleasing others for a woman's happiness and fulfillment.

In the given lines, an example of analogy can be found in the comparison between a woman's charms and oblique sunbeams. This analogy strengthens Wollstonecraft's counterargument by suggesting that a woman who has only been taught to please will eventually realize that her charms, like oblique sunbeams, lose their effectiveness when seen every day. It emphasizes the fleeting nature of relying solely on external attractiveness or pleasing others, thereby reinforcing Wollstonecraft's argument against prioritizing the art of pleasing in marriage.

Furthermore, an example of antithesis can be seen in the contrast between a woman's desire to please her husband and the emotions of jealousy or vanity that may arise when the husband ceases to be a lover. This antithesis strengthens Wollstonecraft's counterargument by presenting opposing ideas and contrasting the potential consequences of a woman's sole focus on pleasing her husband. It highlights the possibility that when a husband's love diminishes, a woman's desire to please may turn into bitterness or be replaced by negative emotions such as jealousy or vanity. This reinforces Wollstonecraft's argument that the pursuit of pleasing others can lead to unhappiness and a loss of self-worth.