Woman in Early Modern Europe Pettinato 1
Woman in Early Modern Europe
In their times, both Catherine Zell and Mary Wollstonecraft had very forward and
progressive thought about the roles of woman. They both felt that woman demanded and had
earned respect, although in different aspects of life. Nevertheless, they both believed woman
deserved better, and during each of the periods they lived this was a radical thought.
To begin with, Catherine Zell believed woman had earned their rights in the eyes of God.
Zell understood the time period she lived in. She knew that proclaiming that women deserved all
these rights was for too radical for everyone to accept. Instead, she made it clear that God
accepted women, and if no one else wanted to that was okay because she knew God’s opinion
was what mattered. In her letter she makes this clear to the Lutheran Minister who criticized her
