Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
Contact
ehunt@nd.edu
574-631-5051
2171 Jenkins and Nanovic Halls, Notre Dame, IN 46556.
Photo Credit: Robin Weinstein/SUNY New Paltz
Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Professor of English
SUNY New Paltz
Biography by Anne Crafton
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an English writer and philosopher known primarily for her advocation for women's rights. She is best known for two works of political theory, A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790) - a response to Edmund Burke's critique of the French Revolution, Reflections on the Revolution in France - and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) - a work which advocates for the rights of women, the poor, the working class, and the enslaved - though Wollstonecraft also published numerous literary, epistolary, and autobiographical works (see below).
Wollstonecraft was born in England in 1759, where she lived and worked as a lady's companion, educator, governess, writer, and translator until 1792. During this time, Wollstonecraft published several educational works, including Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787), Original Stories from Real Life (1788), and The Female Reader (1789), wrote for the periodical the Analytical Review, translated several texts from French and German for an English audience, and kept company (and debated) with some of the most famous political philosophers of the time (including Thomas Paine and William Godwin). In 1790, Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Men in direct response to Edmund Burke's conservative critique of the French Revolution and defense of constitutional monarchy - Reflections of the Revolution in France (1790). Wollstonecraft's strong defense of republicanism and individual and civic liberties, as well as her critique of Burke's rhetoric and defense of traditional social hierarchies (which, she notes, condones slavery), soon made her an internationally-recognized name.
In 1792, Wollstonecraft published her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which developed many of the ideas outlined in the Rights of Man and argued for equal educational opportunities for women and men. Later that year, Wollstonecraft traveled to France to witness the ongoing French Revolution, where she eventually found herself disappointed by the Jacobins' continued dismissal of women's rights and outright brutality. During her time in France, Wollstonecraft developed a romantic attachment to the American Gilbert Imley, with whom she had her first daughter, Fanny. The following year was particularly dark for the philosopher. Between 1794-1795, Wollstonecraft published An Historical and Moral View of the French Revolution (1794), was abandoned by Imlay, survived a once-in-a-century winter, attempted suicide, traveled to Scandinavia on business for Imlay, and attempted suicide a second time at Imlay's continued rejection. In 1796, Wollstonecraft published Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, a series of letters on varied subjects and an autobiographical memoir.
Upon her return to London, Wollstonecraft eventually fell in love with the philosopher William Godwin, who had in turn fallen in love with her while reading her Letters. When Wollstonecraft became pregnant, the two decided to marry - a decision which drew significant criticism, as it both revealed that Wollstonecraft and Imlay had never married and stood in contrast to Godwin's own public critique of the institution of marriage. Mary Wollstonecraft died in 1797 due to complications after the birth of her second daughter, Mary (later Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein).
Today, Wollstonecraft is considered a founding feminist philosopher and anti-slavery pro-revolutionary. Her works influenced international abolitionist, suffragist, and republican movements alike and was at the heart of the Enlightenment's political, social, and philosophical debate.
