Bøker av Mary Wollstonecraft

A treatise of proto-feminism, that was written before the concept of equality between the sexes was even conceived. It argues for the rational education of women and for an increased female contribution to society.

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote these two novellas at the beginning and end of her years of writing and political activism. Though written at different times, they explore some of the same issues: crippling ideals of femininity celebrated in the cult of sensibility, unequal education, and domestic subjugation.

Paving the way for modern feminist thinking, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) dared to challenge traditional eighteenth-century attitudes towards women. First published in 1787, this book discusses how girls can best be educated to become valuable wives and mothers. It argues that women can offer the most effective contribution to society if they are brought up to display sound morals, character and intellect, rather than superficial social graces. Wollstonecraft later developed her ideas in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (also reissued in this series), in which she attacked the educational restrictions imposed upon women. Her writings formed a cornerstone of the battle for women's rights in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Prompting deeper reflection upon the role and status of women in modern society, the present work remains an instructive and provocative read for those seeking to learn about the roots of feminism in its social and historical context.

In this passionate reaction to Rousseau's pedagogical work Emile (1762) Wollstonecraft powerfully defends woman's ability to reason, given appropriate education. Her radical prescription was for girls to be educated alongside boys and to the same standard. Originally published in 1792, this is a foundational work of feminist political thought.

In the first printed response to Edmund Burke's attacks on the principles of the French Revolution, Wollstonecraft argues powerfully against hereditary privilege and political conservatism, instead proposing codified civil rights and political liberty. This 1790 pamphlet marked Wollstonecraft's entry into the public intellectual arena and assured her place in history.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) published this book, the last before her death in childbirth, in 1796. The twenty-five letters are an account of a daring wartime trip to Scandinavia to attempt to retrieve a stolen ship for her lover, the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay. Her letters describe the people and culture she encountered, as well as the beautiful natural surroundings she observed. But in addition to a travelogue these letters include political reflections on controversial topics such as prison reform, as well as revealing a very personal story of inner turmoil and dislocation. Wollstonecraft's letters were written at a difficult period in her life - she had recently attempted suicide - and their themes and emotional content influenced the Romantic poets of the following generation, even though the book's initial popularity waned after her death. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=wollma

Strongly autobiographical, Mary and The Wrongs of Woman powerfully complement Wollstonecraft's non-fictional writing, inspired by the French Revolution and the social upheavals that followed.

This volume brings together extracts of the major political writings of Mary Wollstonecraft in the order in which they appeared in the revolutionary 1790s. It traces her passionate and indignant response to the excitement of the early days of the French Revolution and then her uneasiness at its later bloody phase. It reveals her developing understanding of women's involvement in the political and social life of the nation and her growing awareness of therelationship between politics and economics and between political institutions and the individual. In personal terms, the works show her struggling with a belief in the perfectibility of human nature through rational education, a doctrine that became weaker under the onslaught of her own miserable experience and the revolutionary massacres. Janet Todd's introduction illuminates the progress or Wollstonecraft's thought, showing that a reading of all three works allows her to emerge as a more substantial political writer than a study of The Rights of Woman alone can reveal.