"Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison"

Mary Wollstonecraft draws attention to the way women are conditioned from the earliest stages of life to view beauty as their central source of power and worth. The metaphor of the sceptre, a symbol of authority, shows how the value of beauty is instilled as a tool of agency for women, but its very nature is restrictive. When beauty becomes the sceptre, the mind is directed to prioritize the physical self, molding individual identity around appearance. The phrase "the mind shapes itself to the body" underscores this inward transformation, suggesting that a woman's intellectual and emotional faculties are compelled to conform to the external standards of attractiveness imposed by society.

The metaphor of the "gilt cage" further encompasses the confinement experienced by women. The cage, ornate with gold, implies that the socially constructed roles and expectations may appear desirable or rewarding on the surface, but are nonetheless restrictive and limiting. Women's lives and thoughts, Wollstonecraft argues, are confined by a cage that society decorates with praise for beauty and accomplishment within prescribed boundaries. The mind "roaming round" within this cage evokes a sense of restlessness and unrealized potential: the intellect, spirit, and curiosity are not permitted to fully explore or expand beyond the gilded bars of socially sanctioned femininity.

Rather than striving for freedom and self-actualization, women "only seek to adorn [their] prison", devoting their energy to enhancing the outward beauty of their confinement. In effect, the process of self-adornment becomes an exercise in reinforcing the very limitations placed upon their autonomy. Wollstonecraft’s insight highlights how powerful and insidious societal conditioning can be: women internalize their own subjugation, focusing on self-presentation instead of personal development and broader intellectual or moral pursuits. Through these lines, Wollstonecraft advocates for the liberation of the female mind, warning against the perils of conflating worth with beauty, and urging women, and society at large, to dismantle the golden bars that constrain their potential.