Defoe vs. Twain: The Best fight that never happened?

While a cursory reading will reveal these mens opinions, they are each much deeper than that brief examination will show. A bit of digging reveals that their opinions may in fact be the opposite of what their faade is saying. While Twain does this with obvious sarcasm and satire, Defoes is much more subtle, and much more insidious. While outwardly pro-woman, Defoes essay illuminates his prejudices and thought processes that make up his argument. His sexism is quite evident with even a small amount of analysis of his arguments. While he supports the education of women, What is the reason? Is it for the betterment of mankind as a whole? Is it to right the injustices of the past ans restore equality to half the earthly population? No, it is because Defoe is tired of talking to stupid women, and because of how irritating intelligent women are when they arent educated. He even compares uneducated intelligent women to the devil. While saying how women deserve education, Defoe reveals his stunning sexism and hypocrisy, for if women are to be equal to men,. Why shouldnt they have a say in governance? This pandering to the current social mores betrays Defoes purpose and leaves an acrid taste in the readers mouth. Defoes sexism pervades the essay; He compares women to dogs, albeit indirectly, by referring to them as creatures and their breeding as if a woman could be a mutt or a pure bred, and as if that had any effect on them as a human being.

Defoe also suffers from hasty generalizations; he often lumps all women together, and makes a baseless assertion, such as the whole sex are generally quick and sharp. These statements make Defoes arguments seem fanciful and nave. But perhaps the greatest wrong in this essay is that Defoe doesnt seem to realize his own chauvinism. His exalted language is intended to elevate and respect women, but all it does is alienate and offend them. It separates them from their most important quality: not education, not equality, not even womanhood. Their most important quality is humanity. Being a human being is far more important. Looking at a person as anything other than a person leads to discrimination and bigotry, as Defoe so expertly demonstrates. Twains essay is a wonderful contrast to Defoes. While ostensibly a horrible and smallminded chauvinist, Twain reveals himself as a hater of the bigotry against women. Twains use of satire lampoons the ridiculous arguments against women in governments, and mocks the fallacies they use. His doom and gloom pronouncements really serve to show just how absurd the antifeminist were. The statement at the end serves to reinforce the fact that Twain was just joking, and he didnt really think women should be barred from public office. On a deeper level, Twains essay is imploring people to view women as people, though it is obfuscated by the humor and satire. The ridiculousness of the essay forces the reader to reconsider their own vies, if only to make sure they dont coincide with the absurdity of Twains supposed viewpoints. This fact alone makes Twain far more effective at starting a conversation than Defoe. Likewise, Twains obvious fallacies are much better at sparking thought than Defoes subtle intimations. When a fallacy is immediately clear the reader is forced to stop and think

about why the statement if fallacious, whereas the more subtle a fallacy is the less effective it is in a satirical work. While the intentions are the same, the results are different. Both works achieve the opposite effect than first read-throughs might indicate. While twains reversal is intentional, Defoe seems to be more a product of his time. Although hed like to be progressive, Defoe cant seem to escape the traditions he grew up with; he simply lacks Twains iconoclasm, and as a result, his essay not only fails to be an effective persuasion, it achieves an entirely different meaning altogether.