Mary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth-century British writer and philosopher whose work championed women's rights and equality. Despite a tumultuous personal life that often overshadowed her literary contributions, Wollstonecraft left a lasting legacy. In her most renowned work, she argued that women are not naturally inferior but merely disadvantaged by a lack of education. Her vision centered on reason and the rational treatment of both sexes, establishing her as a foundational feminist philosopher.
Mary: A Fiction is the only complete novel by the 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. It tells the tragic story of a heroine's successive "romantic friendships" with a woman and a man. Composed while Wollstonecraft was a governess in Ireland, the novel was published in 1788 shortly after her summary dismissal and her momentous decision to embark on a writing career, a precarious and disreputable profession for women in 18th-century Britain.
Focusing on preserving cultural heritage, this hardcover book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS series, which revives classical literature from over two millennia. Many of these timeless works have been unavailable for decades, and the series aims to prevent them from fading into obscurity. By choosing a TREDITION CLASSICS title, readers contribute to the mission of reintroducing thousands of international literary masterpieces in print, ensuring their accessibility for future generations.
The book focuses on the revival of classic literature from the early 1900s and earlier, emphasizing the scarcity and rising costs of these works. It offers affordable, high-quality modern editions that preserve the original text and artwork, making these timeless pieces accessible to contemporary readers.
Set against a gothic backdrop, this radical feminist novel delves into the struggles of a resilient woman confronting gender inequality and social injustice. Through its compelling narrative, it highlights the themes of empowerment and the fight against societal constraints, offering a profound commentary on the challenges women face.
“Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman” is an unfinished novelistic sequel to her revolutionary political treatise “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”. The book is widely considered to be her most radical feminist work. “Maria” is a philosophical as well as a gothic novel that revolves around the story of a woman imprisoned in an insane asylum by her husband.
For many years the victim of smear campaigns by notable male writers, and dismissed as being merely 'the mother of Mary Shelley', Mary Wollstonecraft has claimed her rightful title as one of the founders of feminist thought, a movement anchored in her Vindications, which went on to change the course of history.
First published in 1792, this book was written in a spirit of outrage and enthusiasm. In an age of ferment, following the American and French revolutions, Mary Wollstonecraft took prevailing egalitarian principles and dared to apply them to women.
The book is a faithful reproduction of an original work, preserving the content and style of the initial publication. It offers readers a chance to engage with the text as it was originally presented, maintaining the integrity of the author's vision and the historical context in which it was created. This reproduction serves as a valuable resource for those interested in the original material, providing insights and a connection to the past.
“The art of travelling is only a branch of the art of thinking,” Mary Wollstonecraft wrote in one of her many reviews of works of travel writing. A Short Residence is her own travel memoir. In a series of letters addressed to an unnamed lover, the work narrates Wollstonecraft’s journey through Scandinavia in 1795, on much of which she was accompanied by her infant daughter. Passionate and personal, A Short Residence is at once a moving epistolary travel narrative, a politically-motivated ethnographic tract, a work of scenic tourism, and a sentimental journey. It is both as much a work of political thought as Wollstonecraft’s better known treatises, and a brilliant, innovative, and influential work in the genre. This Broadview edition provides a helpful introduction and extensive appendices that contextualize this remarkable text in relation to key political and aesthetic debates. It also includes a significant selection from Wollstonecraft’s travel reviews.