Mary Wollstonecraft

1. Mary Wollstonecraft Portrait by John Opie, 1797

2. Biography • Born in London, 1759, the second of six or seven children. • Her father squandered family finances and constantly moved the family in various places around England. • Her father was also abusive to her mother; Mary was known to step in and protect her.

3. Biography • Mary had little formal education because her older brother was the favored one. Her father made sure he went to school. • At sixteen years of age, Mary met Frances Blood, a woman only two years her senior. Fanny was an intellectual influence in Mary’s life.

4. Independence • At 19, Mary left her family to earn her own livelihood and become independent. Most of her income went to supporting her family. • She opened up a school in 1783 with her sister Eliza and her friend Fanny. • Fanny married and moved to Portugal, where she also died. • Mary left the school to be with her friend, and the school suffered. It had to close down.

5. Politics • Mary’s goal was to earn her livelihood through writing. Joseph Johnson became her publisher and editor. • Through Johnson, she began translating works for a newsletter, where she became exposed to political writings and ideas. • Johnson hosted gatherings for intellectuals of the Revolutionary Era, in which Mary also met Thomas Paine.

6. Pamphlet Wars • Several writers and politicians began debating about the validity of the French Revolution by publishing brochures and pamphlets for the public.

7. A Vindication on the Rights of Man, 1790 • Rights of Man was a response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, where he defended constitutional monarchy. • Burke claims that people have no right to fight against an oppressive government (yet he supported the American Revolution). • He believed that monarchy was a divine right (Marie-Antoinette should not have been killed).

8. A Vindication on the Rights of Man, 1790 • In Rights of Man, Mary points out his inconsistent politics. • She claims that privileged aristocracy would only lead to further enslavement of the people because they blindly follow ancestral traditions. • She advocates that reason and rationality should be a driving force for true political progress. • She also uses his own previous works against him.

9. A Vindication on the Rights of Woman, 1792 • Rights of Woman was written in response to Talleyrand’s and Rousseau’s writings. • Talleyrand wrote documents asserting that women need only a domestic education. • Rousseau wrote documents asserting that women need only be educated for the pleasure of men.