Mary Wollstonecraft set out an early age to prove her independence. This may not shocking by today's standards but for her time women were not seen, let alone heard outside of the home. She began her protests for women's rights at a young age by protecting her mother from her father's abuse and also speaking up against her father's tendency to favor her brothers.
At the age of nineteen she took her first job as a companion, as she vowed she would never marry. She claimed that by marrying you were giving your husband complete ownership of yourself and after seeing how her mother had been treated she wanted no part of that. Her stand against marriage was far ahead of her time. In the 1700's a women's main goal was a good husband and family.
She went on to work as a governess, which bored her due to her high intelligence. She began writing and wrote a semi autobiographical novel called Maria. She soon moved to London were she hoped to be a full time writer specializing in the liberation of women and children.
Mary was not originally interested in politics but with the start of the French Revolution she found herself full of a desire to make a place for women in this biased mans world. Her following was small at first, mostly just radicals and a few educated women but over time it would grow. At the age of thirty-four she went back on her claim of not getting involved with men. She began an affair with a rakish American frontiersman, Gilbert Imlay. When the war broke out he claimed her as his wife to save her from prison or death. Although they never did marry they did produce a daughter.
By 1796 her passion began to grow dim and she returned to England were she fell in love with William Godwin. They were married, this marriage shocked many because they assumed that she had married the father of her first child and divorce was not permitted. So it was made clear that she was not as moral of a women as many had assumed. She lost some followers over this but most stood by her side over looking her personal life and focusing on the many advances she made for women. Soon after her marriage she became pregnant and while carrying her second daughter developed an infection and passed away shortly after her daughters birth.
Mary was very highly influenced by Thomas Paine. She oozed strength and independence to those around her. She firmly believed that girls should have the same access to education as boys and domestic life imposed ignorance on a women's mind.
I found the articles that I read about her life very interesting, I also read some of her works which had a great deal of insight as well. I found it interesting that unlike the women's liberation of today she was not trying to prove men and women equal but she was striving for equal benefits for both. Her desire was to see that women be recognized as an intelligent part of the human race and worthy of an education. She felt that we all would benefit from the education of women, our society as a whole would function better if all involved benefited from the opportunities available to them, even the housewife and mother. Although I had not heard about her before I found her life to be very interesting and intriguing. She certainly stood out from what was expected from women of her time.
She took some risks and made some mistakes but in the long run it appears she did us all a great service.
Work Cited:
The Famous Feminist- Mary Wollstonecraft.
http://www.desert-fairy.com/feminist.html
Philosopher All Stars- Wollstonecraft.
http://www.worldmedia.com/manucon/card/wolls.htm