The fearless, direct, and unaffected way in which the subject is handled, especially the questions of sex and education, discloses the dawn of a new era of discussion. More clearly than ever before the liberation of woman appears as a sociological problem of the greatest moment to mankind. True, much space is devoted to combating objections which may now seem trivial; but to the average mind of Mary Wollstonecraft's day they were by no means trivial, and they had to be cleared away before the full light could come in. [802] ASTELL, _An Essay in Defense of the Female Sex_ (London, 1696; 3d ed., 1697). _Cf._ her _Serious Proposal to the Ladies_ (London, 1694; 3d ed., 1697); and her _Reflections upon Marriage_ (London, 1700; 4th ed., 1730). [803] DEFOE, _An Essay upon Projects_ (London, 1697). [804] _The Hardships of the English Laws in relation to Wives_ (London, 1735), 4 ff. [805] "SOPHIA," _Woman not Inferior to Man; or, A short and modest Vindication of the natural Right of the Fair-Sex to a perfect Equality of Power, Dignity, and Esteem with the Men_ (London, 1739; 2d ed., 1740). This tract was answered by a "GENTLEMAN," _Man Superior to Woman; or, a Vindication of Man's Natural Right of Sovereign Authority over the Woman_ (London, 1739), insisting that woman was not created at all, but is "a sort of after-produced being" who must not "presume to call in question the great duty of vassalage" to man, under penalty of the withdrawal of his heart from her power. To this "SOPHIA" rejoined in _Woman's Superior Excellence over Man_ (London, 1740). [806] A new edition of this book, with an introduction by MRS. FAWCETT, appeared in London in 1890. _Cf._ PENNELL, "A Century of Women's Rights," _Fort. Rev._, XLVIII, 408 ff.; RAUSCHENBUSCH-CLOUGH, _A Study of Mary Wollstonecraft and the Rights of Woman_; OSTROGORSKI, _The Rights of Women_, 40; RICHTER, _Mary Wollstonecraft die Verfechterin der "Rechte der Frau."_ The foundations were thus laid upon which, chiefly during the last half-century,[807] a vast literary superstructure--controversial, historical, and scientific--has been erected; a many-sided literature worthily embodying the thought of a great transitional stage in social progress. The opponents of woman's liberation have been forced to choose new weapons. Satire and mockery are no longer in vogue. Both sides are very much in earnest. The tone of present discussion is nothing if not serious. Moreover, while the battle for sexual equality in the family and in the state is very far from being yet fought out, the ultimate victory seems already assured.