Wollstonecraft, Mary
Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759–97). Author and early feminist writer. Mary Wollstonecraft worked for a London publisher, James Johnson, until leaving England for Paris in 1792 to study the French Revolution. Returning to London, she became part of a group of radical and progressive thinkers who included William Godwin, Thomas Paine, William Blake, and William Wordsworth. In 1796 she became Godwin's lover, and they married the next year—only six months before her death, which followed the birth of their daughter Mary (future wife of Shelley and author of Frankenstein).
Mary Wollstonecraft wrote four books, the most influential of which was Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). This was the first major statement of feminism by an English writer, and in it Wollstonecraft argued that the French revolutionary principles of liberty and equality applied to women as much as to men. Though rambling and ill organized, it captured the public imagination by its verve and optimism for a future egalitarian society.
Mary Wollstonecraft wrote four books, the most influential of which was Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). This was the first major statement of feminism by an English writer, and in it Wollstonecraft argued that the French revolutionary principles of liberty and equality applied to women as much as to men. Though rambling and ill organized, it captured the public imagination by its verve and optimism for a future egalitarian society.
Tim S. Gray
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Wollstonecraft, Mary