Mary Wollstonecraft
Pioneering feminist philosopher and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher, most famous for arguing that women deserved equal rights. For much of the time after her death, people focused more on her unusual personal life than on her ideas. Today, she is considered a key early feminist thinker, and both her life and work are seen as influential by feminists.
In her short career, Wollstonecraft wrote novels, essays, a travel book, a history of the French Revolution, a guide to conduct, and a children’s book. Her most famous work, *A Vindication of the Rights of Woman* (1792), claims that women are not naturally less capable than men—they only seem that way because they are denied education. She believed both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagined a society built on reason.
After two difficult relationships—with the artist Henry Fuseli and the American Gilbert Imlay, with whom she had a daughter, Fanny Imlay—she married the philosopher William Godwin, a founder of anarchist thought. Wollstonecraft died at 38, just eleven days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Shelley, who would later write *Frankenstein*. She left several unfinished manuscripts.
Her husband published a memoir of her life in 1798, which revealed her unconventional choices and unintentionally ruined her reputation for nearly a century. But with the rise of the feminist movement in the early 1900s, her arguments for women’s equality and her criticism of traditional femininity became increasingly important.
**Early life**
Wollstonecraft was born on 27 April 1759 in Spitalfields, London, the second of seven children of Elizabeth Dixon and Edward John Wollstonecraft. Though the family was comfortable at first, her father wasted the money on risky ventures, leaving them financially unstable and forcing them to move often. Things got so bad that he made her hand over money she was due to inherit. He was also violent, often beating his wife when drunk. As a teenager, Wollstonecraft would lie outside her mother’s bedroom door to protect her. She played a similar protective role for her sisters, Everina and Eliza. In a key moment in 1784, she persuaded Eliza—who was likely suffering from postpartum depression—to leave her husband and baby. Wollstonecraft arranged the escape, showing her willingness to defy social norms. But the cost was high: Eliza faced public shame and, unable to remarry, lived in poverty and hard work.
Two friendships shaped her early years. The first was with Jane Arden in Beverley. They read together and attended lectures by Jane’s father, a self-styled philosopher. Wollstonecraft loved the intellectual atmosphere and was emotionally intense, once writing, “I have formed romantic notions of friendship… I must have the first place or none.” Her letters to Arden reveal the mood swings and depression that would follow her. The second, more important friendship was with Fanny Blood, introduced by a couple in Hoxton who became like parents to her. Wollstonecraft said Blood opened her mind.
Unhappy at home, she left in 1778 to work as a lady’s companion to a difficult widow in Bath—an experience she later used in her book *Thoughts on the Education of Daughters* (1787). She returned home in 1780 to care for her dying mother. After her mother’s death, she moved in with the Bloods. Over two years, she realized she had idealized Fanny, who was more traditional than Wollstonecraft. Still, she remained loyal to Fanny and her brother, often giving them money.
Wollstonecraft dreamed of living in a female utopia with Fanny; they planned to rent rooms together and support each other, but money problems killed the plan. To earn a living, she, her sisters, and Fanny started a school in Newington Green, a Dissenting community. Soon Fanny married and moved to Lisbon, Portugal, hoping the climate would improve her poor health. Instead, pregnancy worsened it. In 1785, Wollstonecraft left the school to nurse her, but Fanny died. The school collapsed without her. Fanny’s death devastated Wollstonecraft and inspired her first novel, *Mary: A Fiction* (1788).
- born
- 27 April 1759, Spitalfields, London
- died
- 10 September 1797, London
- field
- Writer, philosopher
- nationality
- English
- known_for
- Advocacy of women's rights; A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
Lore & Background
During her brief career she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men but appeared to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. After two ill-fated affairs, with Henry Fuseli and Gilbert Imlay (by whom she had a daughter, Fanny Imlay), Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin. Wollstonecraft died at the age of 38, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts. She died 11 days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Shelley, who became an accomplished writer and the author of Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft's widower published a Memoir (1798) of her life, revealing her unorthodox lifestyle, which inadvertently destroyed her reputation for almost a century. However, with the emergence of the feminist movement at the turn of the twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's advocacy of women's equality and critiques of conventional femininity became increasingly important.
Reader's Guide
Wollstonecraft was born on 27 April 1759 in Spitalfields, London. She was the second of the seven children of Elizabeth Dixon and Edward John Wollstonecraft. Although her family had a comfortable income when she was a child, her father gradually squandered it on speculative projects. Consequently, the family became financially unstable and they were frequently forced to move during Wollstonecraft's youth. The family's financial situation eventually became so dire that Wollstonecraft's father compelled her to turn over money that she would have inherited at her maturity. Moreover, he was apparently a violent man who would beat his wife in drunken rages. As a teenager, Wollstonecraft used to lie outside the door of her mother's bedroom to protect her. Wollstonecraft played a similar maternal role for her sisters, Everina and Eliza, throughout her life. In a defining moment in 1784, she persuaded Eliza, who was suffering from what was probably postpartum depression, to leave her husband and infant; Wollstonecraft made all of the arrangements for Eliza to flee, demonstrating her willingness to challenge social norms. The human costs, however, were severe: her sister suffered social condemnation and, because she could not remarry, was doomed to a life of poverty and hard work. Two friendships shaped Wollstonecraft's early life. The first was with Jane Arden in Beverley. The two frequently read books together and attended lectures presented by Arden's father, a self-styled philosopher and scientist. Wollstonecraft revelled in the intellectual atmosphere of the Arden household and valued her friendship with Arden greatly, sometimes to the point of being emotionally possessive. Wollstonecraft wrote to her: 'I have formed romantic notions of friendship ... I am a little singular in my thoughts of love and friendship; I must have the first place or none.' In some of Wollstonecraft's letters to Arden, she reveals the volatile and depressive emotions that would haunt her throughout her life. The second and more important friendship was with Fanny (Frances) Blood, introduced to Wollstonecraft by the Clares, a couple in Hoxton who became parental figures to her; Wollstonecraft credited Blood with opening her mind. Unhappy with her home life, Wollstonecraft struck out on her own in 1778 and accepted a job as a lady's companion to Sarah Dawson, a widow living in Bath. Howev
Did You Know?
- Wollstonecraft's first child was a daughter named Fanny Imlay, born from her affair with Gilbert Imlay.
- Her second daughter, Mary Shelley, was born 11 days before Wollstonecraft's death and later wrote Frankenstein.
- Wollstonecraft's widower William Godwin published a Memoir of her life in 1798, which inadvertently damaged her reputation for nearly a century.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"You know I am not born to tread in the beaten track — the peculiar bent of my nature pushes me on." — Mary Wollstonecraft "Virtue can only flourish amongst equals." — Mary Wollstonecraft "Undated letter to Joseph Johnson (October? 1792), published in The Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft (2004), edited by Janet Todd, p. 206." — Mary Wollstonecraft "Every political good carried to the extreme must be productive of evil." — Mary Wollstonecraft
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