One cannot address Feminism without mentioning Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights, who has been called the "first feminist" or "mother of feminism." Though she was born before the Romantic Period, in The Age of Enlightenment, which
Romanticism opposed, she paved the way for many who built on her idea that the only thing that stood in the way of women being equal to men was education. Wollstonecraft’s notions, at the time, were revolutionary, but also considered an abomination decried by both men and women following the publication of her widower’s memoir, revealing her scandalous lifestyle. Almost a century went by before Wollstonecraft became a synbol of Feminism. Today, her life and her work is re-interpreted in ways depending on the writer’s own affinity towards women's equality, or to fit political or social agendas.
In her work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft discusses women's rights and their education, and is a must-read for those who want to understand the history of feminism.
Wollstonecraft was born on April 27th, 1759 in Spitalfields, London. She was the second of seven children of Edward John Wollstonecraft and Elizabeth Dixon. Her father, an abusive and violent man, depleted the family’s fortune on failed speculative ventures, and ultimately strained the family’s finances. Early on,
Wollstonecraft showed protective and maternal instincts, even lying in front of her mother’s bedroom door to protect her from her father’s drunken rage. This instinct was repeated in 1784, when she convinced her sister, Eliza, to leave behind her infant and her brutal husband. However, in the long term, these actions, condemned her sister to social discrimination, and a life of poverty.
In 1778, unhappy at home, Mary set out to earn her own livelihood, and met Fanny Frances Blood while she worked as a lady's companion to a widow, in the town of Bath. Instead of returning to her employ after her mother’s death, in 1780, she moved in with Fanny and her family. Though Blood and Wollstonecraft had different values, they fed on dreams of being emotionally and financially supportive of each other.
Along with her sister Eliza and her best friend, Fanny, Mary established a school in Newington Green. It was a short-lived project as Fanny married soon after, and her husband took her to Lisbon, Portugal, to help with her precarious health. Blood’s health further deteriorated during her pregnancy, and she died in 1785, with Wollstonecraft by her side. The school's failure, and now Fanny’s death led to Mary’s devastation.
She tried her hand at being a governess, though she was dismissed after one year, in 1787. That same year, drawing on her experiences teaching, Wollstonecraft wrote the pamphlet Thoughts on the Education of Daughters With Reflections on Female Conduct, and her only children's book, Original Stories from Real Life (1788), in which books she was already discussing the subject of educating women. Then, tapping into the memory of her best friend, Fanny, for inspiration, she
The First Feminist
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft in 1790–1, by John Opie. Oil on canvas. PD.
31 | Ceres Magazine | Spring 2016