In this passage
In this passage, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu explains her beliefs on the education that her granddaughter is receiving. Lady Montagu accomplishes this using rhetorical and stylistic device, such as diction, tone, and allusions, to express her views about the role of knowledge in women’s laws. By appealing to the specific audience of her daughter and controlling diction and tone, Montagu’s emphasis of the knowledge of women in a male dominant society is conveyed. Using allusions, she is able to accentuate the key details of the views about the role knowledge played in the lives of women of her time. Also, using these techniques she conveys the importance of her ideas on how women should be educated and how they should use their knowledge in the real world. Throughout the entire passage Lady Mary caters the specific audience and through this she defines her purpose and presents it for the audience.
Montagu uses diction and selection of detail to stress her opinion that knowledge for a woman is needed to “moderate the passions and learn to be contented with a small expense. As being one of “universal reading”, Montagu enjoys the advantages she receives, and feels that it is her responsibility to project this wisdom for the beneficence of others, specifically, in the passage, her granddaughter. Through this Montagu establishes her authority through her strikingly confident attitude, diction, and detail.
