Brown

= Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797  = = Romantic Era Literature  = = Jessica Brown Student, University of Wisconsin-Rock County  =



Mary Wollstonecraft encountered a difficult life from the early years of her childhood. In return as a young girl, she decided that she would grow up to be a strong, independent woman. The men that negatively influenced her life as a child and into her adulthood contributed to Wollstonecraft’s morph into the strong willed woman she became. Her father was an abusive alcoholic whom spent all of the families’ savings and had many failed attempts at farming. Due to her father’s lack of commitment to the family his wife and children, Wollstonecraft had to take on the role as caregiver to her brothers and sisters while trying to financially provide for the family. During her youth, Wollstonecraft developed a unique independence which she carried throughout her life. She again endured more emotionally difficult times and then left her country in pursuit of employment in London. While working abroad, she met Joseph Johnson, a local publisher, and her writing career took off. Johnson gave her a chance to write analytical reviews and soon some of her most famous works were published. These include //“A Vindication of the Rights of Women//” and “//Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark”.//// With Johnson’s help, Wollstonecraft was able to get her name out to the public but it was her rebellious words and subject matter which gave her vast recognition. Wollstonecraft’s most favorite subject matter was equality in many forms; mostly between the sexes, education for women, and women’s right for intimate desires. She thought women deserved educational equality and they should no longer be kept in a state of ignorance and mindless reliance on the male gender. Mary Wollstonecraft believed that women should have the same fundamental rights as men do within society. For instance, women should no longer be looked at as a prize in the eyes of men. Women should be their own human beings with their own minds, emotions, and desires. Marriage should no longer feel like “legal prostitution” in which the man has total control over the women mentally, physically, and sexually ( //Simkin 1// ). Wollstonecraft, herself, said it best in her publication of “The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria” with “Men who are inferior to their fellow men, are always most anxious to establish their superiority over women” (95). This meaning that when men feel like “less than a man;” they have to degrade the life of a woman. Society during the eighteenth century placed upon woman a very demining and unfair life in which they must be perfect and pure. //Wollstonecraft incorporated her radical thoughts into her writings using character. Character is a person represented within a work where the author may portray their personal thoughts threw the character. Wollstonecraft’s, //A Vindication of The Rights of Woman// she states that //“//Meanwhile strength of body and mind are sacrificed to libertine notions of beauty, to the desire of establishing themselves,- the only way women can rise in the world,-by marriage.” “Weak, artificial beings, raised above the common wants and affections of their race.” And “..Sink us sill lower, merely to render us alluring objects…” (1460-1461). These quotes were based on a personal authorial opinion and were presented within the text. Wollstonecraft writes in first person in order to reveal how she believes a woman is portrayed within a male’s thoughts and actions. She was a stubborn, bias author with radical thoughts and it both negatively and positively influenced her societal popularity during the Eighteen Century French Revolution and for many years to come.

** Monographs **
[|Mary Wollstonecraft: A 'Speculative and Dissenting Spirit']

Janet Todd’s bibliography and analysis of Mary Wollstonecraft provides great viewpoint on her life and written works. Wollstonecraft knew from a young age who she wanted to be and she played that out in her everyday life. She spent her time writing books and vocally presenting her drastic perspectives. Todd commemorates Wollstonecraft for her strong willed-voice among politics; the French Revolution; equality, education; and the right to be presented as females and our sexual desires. As Todd states Wollstonecraft could be modern American Feminists with thoughts well beyond her time. I believe anyone looking for more information about Wollstonecraft, as a person and about her literary works, should review this article. Todd explains hard times, purposes, reasons, and thoughts about Wollstonecraft experiences throughout her lifetime and the influences of her literary works.

[|Mocking The Mothers of The Novel: Mary Wollstonecraft, Maternal Metaphor, And The Reproduction of Sympathy]

Tegan’s article demonstrates how Mary Wollstonecraft uses her feminist views within her texts. Wollstonecraft expresses opinions regarding the lack of modern enjoyment and fake emotions received from men as well as the inequalities between the sexes. Tegan also discusses //Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman// written by Wollstonecraft and how she strongly demonstrates her feminist views using characters; other contributing factors include detailed imagery and realism. This article is a review of one of Mary Wollstonecraft’s most famous works and how her ideas were fused within the written words and can be easily accessed and use by information seekers. The text is well written, clear, and thorough in regards to Wollstonecraft’s involvement in the introduction of the feminist movement of the 18th century.

** Scholarly Articles **
[|Mary Wollstonecraft: A 18th Century Thinker with Revolutionary Ideas for the 21st century]

Mary Wollstonecraft endured a violent and hard life. She had great ambitions and made it a point in her life to become an independent woman. Wollstonecraft was disliked in many ways due to her radical thoughts and writings; dead or alive however she did not care. What mattered to her was freedom and equality. Wollstonecraft was truly a child of the French Revolution with the thoughts and actions she demonstrated. In Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” she argues educational opportunities and how they should be accessible to women. Women’s education had been a topic for some time but Wollstonecraft’s arguments, words, and pen is what took her to the top of the Feminist writers list.

[|The Body of Her Work, the Work of Her Body: Accounting for the Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft]

This article by Cynthia Richards Mary Wollstonecraft’s life from her literary works as an author up to her death from Puerperal Fever. Wollstonecraft’s book “The Vindication of the Rights of Woman” and the educational and equality values portrayed in her writings. Memories of the author of “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” written by William Godwin, her husband, was a blunt biography. Within this article is an explanation of the reasoning behind words he said about his wife and how her current social image may not have been entirely true.

[|Review of: Ashley Tauchert, Mary Wollstonecraft and the Accent of the Feminine; The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. Claudia L Johnson; and The Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. Janet Todd.]

This article by Eleanor Ty reviews and compares three books written about Mary Wollstonecraft about her life and ambitions for writing. Each book is unique and helps give perspective on Mary Wollstonecraft and what events helped mold her as a strong feminist writer during the 18th Century. Ashley Tauchert’s “Mary Wollstonecraft and the Accent of the Feminine” takes a major focus into male and female roles and equality referring Wollstonecraft’s “Vindications”, “Letters written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and Denmark” and “Wrongs of Woman: or Maria”. Claudia L. Johnson took a different approach with “The Cambridge Comparison to Mary Wollstonecraft”. Her book focuses on Wollstonecraft’s life as a whole and touches on her publications. “The Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft” is a collection of every thought and feeling she every put on paper. All three of these books give relative information on Mary Wollstonecraft as a writer and individual.

** Websites **
**[]**

**http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wollstonecraft/**

** Timeline **


April 27, 1759 born in London to Edward John Wollstonecraft and Elizabeth Dickson; 2nd born out of 6; Best friend: Fanny Blood

1787-Opened school with sisters in Islington; closing just a few years later

1791-Meets Godwin

1793-Meets Gilbert Imlay

May 14, 1794-Fanny, daughter to Imlay and Wollstonecraft is born

1795-Two attempts at suicide that were interrupted and not successful

1796-Wollstonecraft and Godwin become lovers

Late 1796- Johnson published her letters written during a short residency in Sweden, Norway, and Demark

March 29, 1797-Godwin and Wollstonecraft are wedded quickly due to a pregnancy

August 30, 1797- Mary Wollstonecraft-Godwin

September 10, 1797-Mary Wollstonecraft-Godwin dies

** Published Works **
”Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: With Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life”

“Vindication of the Rights of Man”- An analytical response to Edward Burke’s “Reflections on the Revolution in France”

“Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman”

"Letters written during a short residency in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark"

"Original Stories from Real Life: With Conversations Calculated to Regulate the Affections and Form the Mind to Truth and Goodness"

** Study Questions **


**﻿** In “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” how does Wollstonecraft describe male intentions?

How does Wollstonecraft portray marriage?

Wollstonecraft stated in “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” “I do not wish them to have power over men; but over themselves. List some women’s rights that the author is referring to in the previous quote.

Why does Wollstonecraft believe that women succumb too means negative attention?

What does Wollstonecraft believe will always govern in a women while trying to please their male relatives?

**Works Cited**
Amymckie. “Review: Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft.” Rev. of //Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman//, by Mary Wollstonecraft. //Amy Reads//. N.p., 6 May 2010. Web. 13 May 2011. .

DeVito, Denise. “Mary Wollstonecraft: A Blueprint for Human Change.” //The University of Maine//. N.p., 9 Nov. 2005. Web. 13 May 2011. .

Richards, Cynthia. “The Body of Her Work, the Work of Her Body: Accounting for the Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft.” //Eighteenth Century Fiction// 21.4 (2009): 565-592. //EBSCO MegaFILE.// Web. 13 May 2011. .

Simkin, John. “Mary Wollstonecraft.” //Spartacus Educational//. N.p., 2003. Web. 13 May 2011. .

Stillinger, Jack, and Deidre Shauna Lynch. “Mary Wollstonecraft.” //A Vindication of The Rights of Woman//. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print. Excerpt from //The Norton// //Anthology of English Literature//. New York: Norton, 2006. 1459-1484.

Tegan, Mary Beth. “Mocking The Mothers of The Novel: Mary Wollstonecraft, Maternal Metaphor, And The Reproduction of Sympathy.” //Studies in the Novel// 42.4 (2010): 357-376. //EBSCO megaFILE//. Web. 13 May 2011. .

Todd, Janet, Professor. “Mary Wollstonecraft: A ‘Speculative and Dissenting Spirit.’” //British History//. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 13 May 2011. .

Tomaselli, Sylvana. “Mary Wollstonecraft.” //Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy//. Stanford U, 29 Jan. 2010. Web. 13 May 2011. .

Ty, Eleanor. “Mary Wollstonecraft and the Accent of the Feminine/‌The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft/‌The Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft.” //Eighteenth Century Fiction// 17.2 (2005): 294-298. //EBSCO megaFILE//. Web. 13 May 2011. .