Before the end of Women’s History Month, here are five facts about one of the most famous Georgian women and female rights activists, Mary Wollstonecraft. She pops up in so many Georgian set romances, but the truth is, after 1798, many ladies would have been afraid to admit to reading her works.
- Mary resented that her brother automatically received an extensive formal education, while she could not. So, she educated herself in mathematics, sciences, and philosophy. As an adult she became an advocate for improving female education and set up a girl’s school with the financial backing of her friend, Fanny Blood, in 1784. Unfortunately, Fanny died in childbirth and the money dried up, so the school closed.
- In 1789 Mary published her first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, after becoming involved with an intellectual circle of radical thinkers that included Thomas Paine, Anna Barbauld and William Godwin.
- In response to Whig MP Edmund Burke’s condemnation of the French Revolution, Mary wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Man in 1790, in which she defended the revolution’s egalitarian ideals. In 1792, she went a step further and wrote her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In it she outlined a vision of equality between the sexes and argued that if females were offered the same extensive education as males, they could make an equally valuable contribution to society.
- Mary was scandalously unconventional for the time. She had a child out of wedlock with American adventurer, Gilbert Inlay, but he abandoned her and she she attempted suicide. Mary later fell in love with William Godwin, who was also averse to the principle of marriage. Even so, they did marry in March 1797 when Mary fell pregnant. However, they lived in separate homes.
- Later that year, Mary died 11 days after the birth of their daughter, Mary, following a post-partum infection. As a pursuer of truth, William Godwin published a memoir of her unconventional life. Unfortunately, his good intentions backfired when conservatives seized upon the candid tales of her sexual history and unorthodox religious beliefs. Mary Wollstonecraft was branded as immoral, and her reputation was destroyed. Her name became synonymous with scandal and sin. For over a century after Mary’s death, advocates for female rights dared not acknowledged her existence, let alone admit sharing her views for fear of condemnation.
Sources:
Bluestockings and the Feminist Identity
