Symbol Analysis
The speaker of "The Rights of Women" isn't just interested in warfare and conquest. She also wants to emphasize that the "rights" that women are fighting for are given to them by God. They are natural rights. These are the kinds of rights that get outlined in the Bill of Rights. The speaker uses lots of religious imagery to make that point.
- Line 5: As they march off to wage war against the guys, the women put on their "panoply divine." Panoply can either mean armor or ceremonial religious clothes. But either way, we're told that their panoply is "divine," or sacred. The speaker might be using this religious metaphor to suggest that God is on the women's side—after all, their armor is divine.
- Line 6: The speaker uses another metaphor when she says that women have an "angel pureness." Of course she's not talking about literal angels. And a literal angel is obviously going to be way more pure than a regular person, so the speaker is also using a hyperbole, or a poetic exaggeration.
- Lines 15-16: The speaker compares the rights of women to "sacred mysteries," or something sacred that you're not allowed to talk about, through a simile. Wait, does this mean that none of this is even open for debate? Is it blasphemous to question any of this? Again, the speaker is suggesting that women's rights are given by God, so if you question their rights, you're questioning all of religion, so you better watch yourself.
- Lines 25-26: The speaker uses another metaphor here when she says that women are up on an "eminence," or a high place. Women are like "idols" that are put up on pedestals to be worshipped. But who wants to be on a pedestal, anyway? The view might be nice, but then you're stuck on a pedestal and aren't allowed to move around. This religious imagery is getting out of hand… but that's precisely the point. The speaker uses this new extreme to make the point that women shouldn't be trying to rule over men, anyway.