Within Brazil, Floresta has long been and continues to be considered the forerunner of women's emancipation, and her early works to be founding texts of Brazilian feminism. Whilst her position in Brazil's feminist canon owes much to her supposed adaptation of the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft, it is also based on her own lifetime of writing on women. Since Direitos can no longer be considered her own work, we must turn to the many discussions of women's condition, behaviour and role in society to be found in her own subsequent writing in order to assess her feminist positioning and the space that she comes finally to advocate for her fellow women. In looking at Floresta's writings on women, I will outline the main themes that emerge from her increasing adherence to the discourse of separate spheres, and consider the intellectual, cultural and social influences which may have helped to shape her work. I shall also continue to note those instances in which the influence of Floresta's early translation can still be perceived in her own writing, despite its fundamentally different approach and conclusions.

It is possible to identify two basic roles at the heart of Floresta's vision of womanhood: the duties of motherhood, in particular the notion of the mother-educator, and the role of moral guardian and regenerator of men. Both are portrayed as a means by which women can secure a position of greater value in society, since these roles are expressed in terms of their benefit to society and the nation.