Mary Wollstonecraft
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Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft was born on April 27, 1759 in Spitalfields market near London. She was the second of six children in a family of master silk weavers. Mary suffered a difficult home life during her youth. Mary was not a favorite of either of her parents. Her father described himself as a gentleman but in actuality was a very brutal man who often took out his anger violently on his wife and children. Her mother favored her eldest son Edward (Ned) and was often harsh with Mary. Mary’s youth was also characterized by a great amount of moving and financial instability. Mary’s father had inherited a large sum of money from his grandfather. Instead of following the prudent path of investing the money, he decided to try a hand at living the life of a gentleman and started an estate in the country. Mary’s father lacked the training to manage the estate and consequently the family ended up traveling from town to town as his successive business endeavors failed. It was in one of these towns, Beverly in Northern England, that Mary met the first of the two figures in her youth that would end up shaping her life, Jane Arden. Through Arden, Mary was introduced to literature that at the time was only accessed by the upper middle class. The second and more important figure was Frances, or Fanny, Blood, who has been credited with opening Mary’s mind. |
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797 |
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Eventually the Wollstonecraft family returned to London and Mary worked in Bath as a female companion to a widow, Mrs. Dawson, who was known for a temper. Mary worked at this job until she was called home to care for her sick mother and remained with her family until her mother died. After helping her sister, Bess, escape her brutish husband, Mary was without a source of income. She came into contact with a widow named Mrs. Burgh. Mrs. Burgh encouraged Mary to start a school outside London. In 1784, Mary established a school at Newington Green with her two sisters and Fanny Blood. Mary’s school helped her to draw ideas for her first published book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787). Fanny eventually left the school for Lisbon, Portugal to recover from illness and marry. Fanny accelerated her illness after her pregnancy and thus Mary left for Portugal to take care of her friend. After Fanny’s death Mary returned to England, where she found that the school had failed in her absence and decided to close it down. Mary then went to work as a governess for the Kingborough family in Ireland. It was here that gained many of the experiences that she would later apply to her children’s stories, Original Stories from Real Life (1788). Also during this period, Mary became acquainted with the works of Rousseau, of Locke, and other classic political philosophers. The ideas that Mary gained from these thinkers would be applied to many of Wollstonecraft’s most important works. After the end of her work as a governess in 1787, Mary went to work for Joseph Johnson as a literary advisor and book reviewer for his monthly publication The Analytical Review and began her career as a professional writer. While in London, Mary became very actively involved in the same social circles as Joseph Johnson. Within this circle Mary met several of the day’s most forward thinkers and artists. One of these people was a married artist named Henry Fuseli. Historians’ accounts differ on the relationship between Fuseli and Wollstonecraft. One account states that Mary actively pursued the married man and was subsequently rejected. Following the “rejection” Fuseli did everything he could to slander Wollstonecraft and she fled to France to escape embarrassment. The second account states that Fuseli had actually pursued Wollstonecraft and he was rejected. After being rejected Fuseli slanted the story against Wollstonecraft. Mary’s trip to France is also explained in this version. Mary had unsuccessfully planned to go to France earlier to participate in the revolution she had praised in Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790), a response to Edmund Burke’s conservative Reflections on the Revolution in France, and the trip was merely an extension of this desire. Mary continued to pursue revolutionary ideas in Vindication of the Rights of Woman, her most famous and influential work. While in France, Mary met an American named Gilbert Imlay, and fell in love with him. However, Imlay, who often was disloyal to Wollstonecraft, became frustrated with Mary’s maternal nature and left her to go to London. Mary was forced to stay in France to give birth to her first child, Fanny Imlay, on May 14, 1794. Mary returned to London in April of 1795 to find Imlay but was rejected by him. After rejection from Imlay, Mary attempted to commit suicide, but was rescued. Mary attempted suicide a second time following a trip to Scandinavia during which Mary wrote Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (1796) but again was unsuccessful. Mary then rejoined the circle of writers she had previously been involved in and began a courtship with William Godwin. Mary became pregnant and the couple decided to marry to legitimize the birth. On August 30, 1797, Mary gave birth to her second daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. Although the birth seemed without problem at first, Mary died several days later from infection. Mary’s death had a profound effect on her daughter and may have been part of her fascination with death during her literary career. Wollstonecraft was very influential in increasing the power and role of women in literature. Not only was Mary the first person to respond to Burke’s criticism of the French revolution but she was also the first woman to produce a major political work on a grand scale. Mary began a new era of self-sufficient and social more powerful women.
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