Wollstonecraft

**toc**

=**__Mary Wollstonecraft__** **__(1759-1797)__**=

=Major Works= //Thoughts on the Education of Daughters// (1787) //Mary: A fiction// (1788) //Original Stories from Real Life// (1788) //Of the Importance of Religious Opinions// (1788) **translation** //The Female Reader// (1789) //Young Grandison// (1790) //Elements of Morality// (1790) **translation** //A Vindication of the Rights of Men// (1790) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) //An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution// (1794) [|//Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman// (1798)]
 * (Several of these works are actually translations she did, so I would not count them as her "major works" including the one on religious opinions, not even sure if she translated young grandison, elements of morality...but they certainly are not her writing. She only edited the female reader.)**

=Biography=

Mary Wollsteoncraft was born on 27 April 1759 in London. Her father Edward was born into the upper middle class, and so tried to rise to the landed class but failed at this enterprise and wasted a lot of his inheritence. He drifted in and out of jobs and locations, never succeeding in establishing himself or his family on a stable basis. A failure on a professional level, he was also abusive as a person, particularly to his wife Elizabeth. Mary's youthful experiences of trying to shield and console her mother strongly colored her later writings against what she thought of as the bondage of marriage.

As an adolescent Mary Wollstonecraft befriended Fanny Blood with whom she formed an enduring bond. After the death of her mother in 1780, Mary left her own home and went to live with the Blood family where shes supported the family through her needlework and painting. Her sister Eliza escaped the home by marriage, but, when after the birth of a child she appeared to her husband to have suffered a nervous collapse, he summoned Mary to help in her recovery. The sister, instead, became convinced that the problem lay in her marriage, and she left eith Eliza, afterward arranging for a legal separation of husband and wife.

At this point (1784), facing the universal lack of professional opportunity for women, Wollstonecraft decided to set up a school, with Eliza and Fanny Blood, in Islington. They determined, however, that their prospects would be improved if they transferred it outside the city and thus moved to the northern suburb of Newington Green, where they were joined by the third of the Wollstonecraft sisters Everina. In this idyllic location Mary made the acquaintance of Samuel Johnson, also of the radical Dissenting minister Dr. Richard Price.

In 1785 Fanny Blood left the school to accept an offer of marriage in Lisbon, Portugal where the warmer climate would be easier on her illness. Soon after marriage, Fanny called Mary to be with her in Lisbon for the birth of her child. Mary was concerned abour Fanny's declining health and the inability of Fanny's husband to properly care for her. Fanny was the most important person in Mary's life. She died in Mary's arms, and the premature baby survived for only a short time after her. The despondency into which this episode drove Mary is rehearsed in the central chapters of her first novel, //Mary, A Fiction//, published in 1788.

Returning to England, Mary Wollstonecraft found her school in untenable financial condition and was forced to close it. She attempted to realize some income by writing a conduct book based on her experiences as a teacher, //Thoughts on the Education of Daughters//, which would be brought to the press in 1787 by the foremost liberal publisher of the time, Joseph Johnson. Robbed of her independent livelihood, however, she had no resources to support herself, and in 1786 she entered the household of Viscount Kingsborough of Mitchelstown, Country Cork, Ireland, where she served as governess to the two daughters. This position lasted a year and drove her to a detestation of the demeaning position of governess that can be seen in many of her later writings. She loved the children though and kept up correspondance with Margaret the oldest for many years. Margaret was profoundly influenced by Wollstonecraft and ended up dressing up as a man to attend medical school. After her great accomplishments, Margaret eventually settled in Pisa. This also led to Mary's second educational publication, a work that, with surprisingly dark colors, drew on her Irish experiences, following the reclamation of two spoiled sisters by a determinedly sober governess named Mrs. Mason, which was published by Johnson in 1788 as //Original Stories from Real Life: with Conversations Calculated to Regulate the Affections and Form the Mind to Truth and Goodness//. William Blake furnished illustrations for its second edition.

With her career as an educator frustrated, Mary Wollstonecraft determined to earn her living by her pen, translating from the French and reviewing for Johnson's periodical, the //Analytical Review//. At Joseph Johnson's weekly Tuesday dinners Mary Wollstonecraft met a number of radical thinkers. She then went on to join a radical group whose membership included: Thomas Paine, William Blake, William Wordsworth. Through Johnson, Mary met William Godwin in 1791. With Johnson's liberal circle of intellectuals Mary at last found her rightful place, and soon she found the opportunity to enlist her pen in controversy far beyond the range usually assumed by a female author. Her target was Edmund Burke's conservative //Reflections on the Revolution in France//, written ostensibly as an admonishing letter to Richard Price. Although there were some thirty responses to Burke's rambling diatribe against French democracy, including Thomas Paine's best-selling polemic, //Rights of Man//, Mary Wollstonecraft's //A Vindication of the Rights of Man// (1790) had the honor of being the first off the press. It is clear, however, that as Wollstonecraft honed her attack on Burke's defence of landed property over human rights she saw a larger issue on which Burke's entire argument depended: patriarchy. Two years later saw the publication of the work that made her famous and that survives the centuries for the depth and cogency of its analysis, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published by Johnson in 1792.

Late that year, in typically daring fashion, Mary Wollstonecraft traveled to France to witness the French Revolution firsthand and to collect material for her //Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution//, which Johnson published in 1794. While in Paris she met an American ship captain and businessman, Gilbert Imlay, and soon became his lover. Mary Wollstonecraft, like many of the foreign visitors in France, realized quickly that the Revolution was creating danger and chaos for everyone, and moved with Imlay to a house in the suburbs of Paris. A few months later, when she returned to Paris, she registered at the American Embassy as Imlay's wife, though they never actually married. As wife of an American citizen, Mary Wollstonecraft would be under the protection of the Americans during this rough time in history. Pregnant with Imlay's child, Wollstonecraft began to realize that Imlay's commitment to her was not as strong as she had expected. She followed him to Le Havre and then, after the birth of their daughter, Fanny, followed him to Paris. Never one to stick at proper female conventions, Mary with her infant daughter undertook an expedition to further Imlay's business interests, the account of which she published as one of her enduring contributions to English literature, //Letters Written during a Short Residence in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark// (1796). These letters end with a sense of impending disaster, which was, indeed, the case. Upon her return to London, Wollstonecraft discovered that, while she was working on his behalf, Imlay had deserted her. Distraught, she attempted suicide by jumping from Putney Bridge into the Thames.

Recovering from this near disaster, Mary Wollstonecraft renewed her acquaintance with William Godwin, and, though they kept their separate apartments and circle of friends, they soon became romantically involved. Although both had written against the prevailing notions of matrimony, when it became clear that Mary was pregnant they determined to marry: the wedding was performed in St. Pancras Church on 29 March 1797. On 31 August Mary Wollstonecraft gave birth to a daughter, who was given both their names as an intellectual inheritance, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. The child was robust, but there were complications with the afterbirth, and Mary Wollstonecraft quickly sickened from placental infection and died just eleven days after her daughter's birth, on 10 September.

Source: http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/Wollston/bio.html

=Timeline of Wollsontecraft's Life=

April 27, Wollstonecraft was born in London to John Edward Wollstonecraft and Elizabeth Dickson. She had an older brother, Edward and four other children, James, Charles, Eliza and Everina were born after her. The Wollstonecraft family moves frequently during this time. John Edward attempts farming in Epping, Whalebone, and Essex. The Wollstonecraft family moves to a farm in Yorkshire. Mary's education followed the common course of day-school. But, she also becomes friends with a neighboring clergyman, Mr. Clare. It is at Mr. Clare's home where she begins to develop intellectually. Wollstonecraft meets Francis (Fanny) Blood, who became her closest friend and companion until Blood's death. The Wollstonecraft family moves again to a farm in Wales. The Wollstonecraft family returns to London. Mary, at eighteen was able to exert some pressure upon her father to live in the village of Walworth which was near London and her friend, Fanny Blood. She also insisted upon a room of her own for quiet and study. Wollstonecraft leaves the family home to become a companion to Widow Dawson of Bath. Wollstonecraft is called home to be with her failing mother. Elizabeth Dickson Wollstonecraft dies. Mary's sister, Eliza marries Meredith Bishop. Mary moves in with Fanny Blood. Wollstonecraft is called to nurse her sister Eliza who is apparently suffering from problems after the difficult birth of her daughter and some sources say, the abuse of the husband. Wollstonecraft, Fanny Blood, and Eliza open a school in Islington where they are joined by the other Wollstonecraft sister, Everina. Wollstonecraft becomes acquainted with Dr. Richard Price and other liberals. 24 of February, Fanny Blood marries Hugh Skeys in Lisbon. She becomes pregnant and sends for Wollstoncraft. 29 of November, Fanny dies in Wollstonecraft's arms of complications from premature birth. Her child dies as well. Wollstonecraft returns to England to find the school had suffered from her absence. She closes the school and writes her first work, a pamphlet entitled //Thoughts on the Education of Daughters.// She then accepts the position of governess to the daughters of Lord Viscount Kingsborough and moves to Ireland to fulfill her duties. Wollstonecraft spends the summer with the Kingsborough family at Bristol Hot-Wells. She writes her first book, //Mary, a Fiction//, a children's book, Original Stories from Real Life, and translates Jacques Necker's //On The Importance Of Religious Opinions//. She also becomes involved in her publisher, Joseph Johnson's monthly periodical //The Analytical Review// as well as beginning translation of Christian Gotthilf Salzmann's //Elements Of Morality For The Use Of Children.// Her work with Salzman's book led to correspondence and a later reciprocation when Salzmann translated her //A Vindication of The Rights of Woman.// Johnson publishes Wollstonecraft's //The Female Reader//, no copies of which have apparently survived. Wollstonecraft completes and publishes her translation of Salzmann's Elements..., writes //A Vindication Of The Rights Of Men// in response to Edmund Burke's //Reflections on The Revolution In France.// Wollstonecraft establishes a comfortable home on Store Street and begins writing //A Vindication of The Rights of Woman.// She meets William Godwin several times over the course of the year, but neither party is impressed with the other. A Vindication of The Rights of Woman is published by Johnson. Leaves for France. Meets Gilbert Imlay, an American businessman. Moves to the suburbs of Paris for safety. By the end of the year, Wollstonecraft is attached to Imlay yet does not marry him, preferring instead to simply register as his wife at the American Embassy in Paris for protection purposes **(Im not sure this was her explicit preference)**. Wollstonecraft and Imlay move back into Paris together. Wollstonecraft becomes pregnant. Imlay leaves for Le Havre on a business trip. Wollstonecraft travels to Le Havre to join Imlay. Daughter Fanny is born May 14. Imlay returns to Paris and is followed by Wollstonecraft and Fanny a short time later. Imlay leaves Wollstonecraft and Fanny and travels to London. Johnson publishes her //Historical and Moral View Of The Origin and Progress of The French Revolution.// Wollstonecraft takes her daughter and follows Imlay to London. On discovering his infidelity, she begins to contemplate suicide. Imlay thwarts her first attempt. Wollstonecraft leaves on a business trip for Imlay with her child and a nurse to Sweden Norway and Denmark. She returns to find Imlay involved with an actress and attempts suicide by jumping off Putney Bridge. //Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark,// is published by Johnson. Wollstonecraft meets William Godwin again and the two become lovers. 29 March, Wollstonecraft and Godwin marry in a private ceremony due to Wollstonecraft's pregnancy. They announce their marriage in April. The two maintained separate quarters to work in during the day, but entertained guests in the evening at No. 29 The Polygon. 30 August Mary Wollstonecraft Goodwin is born. 10 September, Wollstonecraft dies of "childbed fever". Goodwin's book //Memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft// is published. Source: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/wollstonecraft.html
 * 1759**
 * 1759-1768**
 * 1768**
 * 1775**
 * 1776**
 * 1777**
 * 1778**
 * 1780**
 * 1782**
 * 1784**
 * 1785**
 * 1786**
 * 1788**
 * 1789**
 * 1790**
 * 1791**
 * 1792**
 * 1793**
 * 1794**
 * 1795**
 * 1796**
 * 1797**
 * 1798**