Say it Once, Say it Twice

Looking at Appendix A, Mary Hays writes an Appeal to the Men of Great Britain in Behalf of Women in 1798, a year before she publishes The Victim of Prejudice. I find this interesting because her appeal addresses the problems she has with society’s treatment of women in a direct manner, while her novel addresses the same problems, but through fiction. Publishing both of these works within a year of each other implies that Hays was unhappy with the reaction to her first address and had to make a second one.

The Victim of Prejudice uses Sir Peter as a dramatized example of a man “vested with authority over women” (Ty 217). He bursts into Mary’s life repeatedly and always unannounced, until finally he takes her “honor” (Ty 118). Though Sir Peter’s character seems overly dramatic in his construction, he embodies everything Hays intends her audience to recognize about men and their seemingly unlimited power over women. Sir Peter says, “Who would support you against my wealth and influence,” asserting that his power in a court of law is far greater than hers (Ty 119). Hays addresses this same idea in her Appeal stating, “the female sex ought to be protected by explicit and indisputable laws, from insult and oppression” (Ty 218). The repetition of these thoughts in works that were publish within a year of each other, displays the importance of the topic Hays is trying to address. She wanted change in her society for the betterment of women, and she was willing to dramatize the actions of men to demonstrate how terrible their actions were toward women.