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Day 31 - Mary Wollstonecraft
Mar. 31st, 2018 06:46 pmMary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman far before her time. She was an author and a feminist though both were obscured in her life by her free spirited lifestyle.
Born to a wealthy family who soon became impoverished, she left home in 1778 and became a lady’s companion to a lady that she could not get along with, where she wrote her first work, On the Education of Daughters. she returned home in 1780 to care for her mother then moved in with her friend, Fanny Blood’s family. She and blood opened a school but it failed when Blood’s health failed.
She worked as a governess then as an author and translator. Aided by publisher Jospeh Johnson, she was able to make a living for herself. She met artist, Henry Fuseli, and pursued a relationship but as he was married, it did not work out. She fled to France and wrote Vindication of the Rights of Men in response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, criticizing the French Revolution. She wrote: "Time many show, that this obscure throng knew more of the human heart and of legislation than the profligates of rank, emasculated by hereditary effeminacy.”
During this time, she wrote her most influential work: A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which served as inspiration to women such as Susan B. Anthony.
She ended up stranded in France when France and Britain went to war and some of her friends met their end at the guillotine. She met an American adventurer, Gilbert imlay, and lived as his wife for some time, flaunting convention.
After being rejected by Imlay, she tried suicide and eventually married Williams Godwin and died giving birth to her namesake Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. Her husband wrote a memoir about her in which he revealed her love affairs, her illegitimate children and her suicide attempts and by doing that, he created the scandalous reputation that followed her for many years.
Though her name is not well known, she was an influence on many who changed the world for women. With the call for women’s rights and suffrage in the 1800s, her works were given life again. Her works feature prominently in feminism literature and she has influenced women to the present.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman far before her time. She was an author and a feminist though both were obscured in her life by her free spirited lifestyle.
Born to a wealthy family who soon became impoverished, she left home in 1778 and became a lady’s companion to a lady that she could not get along with, where she wrote her first work, On the Education of Daughters. she returned home in 1780 to care for her mother then moved in with her friend, Fanny Blood’s family. She and blood opened a school but it failed when Blood’s health failed.
She worked as a governess then as an author and translator. Aided by publisher Jospeh Johnson, she was able to make a living for herself. She met artist, Henry Fuseli, and pursued a relationship but as he was married, it did not work out. She fled to France and wrote Vindication of the Rights of Men in response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, criticizing the French Revolution. She wrote: "Time many show, that this obscure throng knew more of the human heart and of legislation than the profligates of rank, emasculated by hereditary effeminacy.”
During this time, she wrote her most influential work: A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which served as inspiration to women such as Susan B. Anthony.
She ended up stranded in France when France and Britain went to war and some of her friends met their end at the guillotine. She met an American adventurer, Gilbert imlay, and lived as his wife for some time, flaunting convention.
After being rejected by Imlay, she tried suicide and eventually married Williams Godwin and died giving birth to her namesake Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. Her husband wrote a memoir about her in which he revealed her love affairs, her illegitimate children and her suicide attempts and by doing that, he created the scandalous reputation that followed her for many years.
Though her name is not well known, she was an influence on many who changed the world for women. With the call for women’s rights and suffrage in the 1800s, her works were given life again. Her works feature prominently in feminism literature and she has influenced women to the present.
