Gary Kelly

A Revolution in Female Manners

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, like most of Wollstonecraft’s work, was conceived and written quickly. She had it in mind by June 1791, began writing in the autumn, gave the manuscript to the printer as she wrote and corrected final proofs in early January 1792. Not surprisingly, she told William Roscoe: ‘I am dissatisfied with myself for not having done justice to the subject’, and complained that had she more time she ‘could have written a better book, in every sense of the word’; but, she adds, those who must write for pay have no choice but to write in haste, unlike ‘gentlemen authors’ such as Roscoe (Letters, p. 205). The book’s ‘Advertisement’ claims that a sequel will include ‘a full discussion of the arguments which … rise naturally from a few simple principles’, ‘the laws relative to women’ and ‘the consideration of their peculiar duties’, but admits that ‘fresh illustrations’ occurred as she wrote, so that ‘only the first part’ is now presented to the public.

The Matter of Spain in Romantic Britain

During the Romantic period, British representations of what could be called the “matter of Spain” responded to intensifying public interest in the fate of the Iberian Peninsula and its empires in relation to Britain’s ongoing struggle for global dominance.

The First of a New Genus

Wollstonecraft was released by the Kingsboroughs in the summer of 1787; at Michaelmas she moved into London lodgings that Johnson had found for her south of the Thames. She revealed her plan to Everina: Mr Johnson whose uncommon kindness, I believe, has saved me from despair, and vexations I shrink back from — and feared to encounter; assures me that if I exert my talents in writing I may support myself in a comfortable way. I am then going to be the first of a new genus. … This project has long floated in my mind. You know I am not born to tread in the beaten track — the peculiar bent of my nature pushes me on. (Letters, pp. 164–5) She was not of course the first woman to live on her writing; but the phrase indicates the way she always dramatized her situation. Yet professional women writers were rare enough and she had to lead a spartan life. She kept one servant — ‘a relation of Mr Johnson‘s’ — dealt with tradesmen herself, and when she ran out of housekeeping money had recourse to Johnson (Letters, p. 190). She received her sisters during the school vacation but preferred living alone.

Love, Marriage and the Wrongs of Woman

In the winter of 1795–6 Wollstonecraft faced social ostracism as a single woman with a child. She faced the possibility of public vilification, as reaction against the French Revolution was being orchestrated into an attack on radical wings of the professional cultural revolution in Britain, including advocates of the rights of women. She also faced the immediate task of recommencing her career. In January 1796 she wrote to the Irish revolutionary Archibald Hamilton Rowan, then in the United States: ‘I live, but for my child — for I am weary of myself.’ But she had resumed her professional career: ‘now I am writing for independence’ (Letters, p. 328). In a postscript she noted that the political reaction in England might make things more difficult for her — ‘The state of public affairs here are not in a posture to assuage private sorrow.’

A Solitary Wanderer

By the time An Historical and Moral View of the … French Revolution was published Wollstonecraft’s relationship with Imlay was disintegrating. She thought she had found with him a revolutionary domesticity and sexuality based on ‘mind’ and supporting her public identity and professional career. She could not believe that her revolution was over and continued to pursue the ideal and Imlay. Even her next book was a by-product of that pursuit.