Mary Wollstonecraft
Born 27 April 1759 · Died 10 September 1797
Mary Wollstonecraft (pronounced /ˈwʊlstən.krɑːft/; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason.
Quotes
“Independence I have long considered as the grand blessing of life, the basis of every virtue; and independence I will ever secure by contracting my wants, though I were to live on a barren heath.”
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman “Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.”
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 3 “We reason deeply, when we forcibly feel.”
Letters Written in Sweden, Letter 19 “It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world.”
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Chapter 4 “You know I am not born to tread in the beaten track — the peculiar bent of my nature pushes me on.”
Letter to Everina Wollstonecraft 7 November 1787
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0), chosen with AI.
Books by Mary Wollstonecraft in order
Books by Mary Wollstonecraft in the order they were published, from Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, with Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life (1787) to Vindicación de los derechos de la mujer (2020).
- 1Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, with Reflections on
Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, with Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life1787 - 2Mary
Mary1788 - 3Political Writings
Political Writings1790 - 4A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman1792 - 5An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of t
An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution and the Effect It Has Produced in Europe1794 - 6Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway,
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark1796 - 7Mary and the Wrongs of Women
Mary and the Wrongs of Women1799 - 8Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft1879 - 9The Love Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft to Gilbert Imlay
The Love Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft to Gilbert Imlay1908 - 10The Rights of Woman
The Rights of Woman1929 - 11A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)
A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790)1960 - 12Vindication of Rights of WomenVindication of Rights of Women1974
- 13A Wollstonecraft Anthology
A Wollstonecraft Anthology1977 - 14The Female Reader
The Female Reader1980 - 15The Works of Mary Wollstonecraft
The Works of Mary Wollstonecraft1989 - 16Works of Mary Wollstonecraft Vol. 1Works of Mary Wollstonecraft Vol. 11989
- 17A Vindication of the Rights of Men ; with, A Vindication of
A Vindication of the Rights of Men ; with, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and Hints1995 - 18Ahead of Her Time
Ahead of Her Time1995 - 19The Vindications
The Vindications1997 - 20Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft
Collected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft2004 - 21Great Ideas Vindication of the Rights of Women
Great Ideas Vindication of the Rights of Women2005 - 22The Feminist Papers
The Feminist Papers2019 - 23Vindicación de los derechos de la mujer
Vindicación de los derechos de la mujer2020