The Wrongs of Woman

1798, published posthumously by husband William Godwin
Mary Wollstonecraft
The Wrongs of Woman: Or, Maria
B-

Although this is in some ways as depressing as Mary, A Fiction, it has more raw emotion and a stronger sense of the, well, wrongs of woman.  The intervening decade between her two novels had both politicised Wollstonecraft and put her through a lot of emotional drama.  This novel was not quite finished (there's at least one subplot left conspicuously dangling), but as it stands it's a promising tragedy.  My favorite moment is at the end, when the hypocritical judge worries that it would set a bad precedent if women had more say in divorce.

Overall, weighting the shorter works less, this collection averages out to a B-.

Lessons

1798, as part of Posthumous Works
Mary Wollstonecraft
Lessons
B-

Starting with the very basic Lesson I ("Cat.  Dog.  Cow.  Horse...."), this moves on to the more personal advice of a mother to her young daughter.  Mary's own firstborn daughter, Fanny Imlay, herself committed suicide at 22, while the namesake baby that Mary died giving birth to of course wrote Frankenstein, more on that in a few weeks.

Letters Written...in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark

1796
Mary Wollstonecraft
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
B-

Interesting observations on late 18th-century Scandinavia, including of course the women, by a well-traveled but still very British writer.  The letters were written to Mary's lover Gilbert Imlay, the one whose rejection made her suicidal, but the excerpts here are not especially personal, more anthropological.

1

An Historical and Moral View...of the French Revolution

1794
Mary Wollstonecraft
An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution and the Effect It Has Produced in Europe
C+


Wollstonecraft makes the point that the "ferocity" of the French Revolution was nothing compared to the oppression that the French aristocrats inflicted on the commoners.  She also insults the king, as fat, crude, and disgusting, and the queen, as spoiled and actress-like.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

1792
Mary Wollstonecraft
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
B

Wollstonecraft's most famous work still holds up.  Society has of course changed dramatically in the last two centuries, and yet her insights into women's hearts and minds are timeless.  In fact, while I've never read Women Who Love Too Much and suspect that that author comes to very different conclusions, the part about how women are encouraged to think only of love, usually with negative results, is definitely about "women who love too much" of any era.  Although Wollstonecraft is mostly writing to and of middle-class women, she has good insights into upper-class ladies (whom she amusingly compares to soldiers).  Also, some of her suggestions, like coed schools, abolition of the double standard, and medical training for women, seem surprisingly modern.  The title is interesting, since her earlier work was about "the rights of men."  I think with this one she was trying to convey something general, Woman in the abstract, rather than the total rights of all women.

A Vindication of the Rights of Men

1790
Mary Wollstonecraft
A Vindication of the Rights of Men
B-

Wollstonecraft's response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France is her first radical (as opposed to liberal) work.  With a more vivid subject than education, her writing becomes livelier, while still showing her love of reason.  Although she does address the French revolution, she also weighs in on such side topics as early marriages (pro) and primogeniture (anti).

Preface to "The Female Reader"

1789
Mary Wollstonecraft
The Female Reader:  Or Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose and Verse Selected from the Best Writers and Disposed under Proper Heads:  For the Improvement of Young Women, By Mr. Cresswick, Teacher of Elocution, to Which is Prefixed a Preface, Containing Some Hints on Female Education
C

The main notable thing here is that Wollstonecraft was the actual editor, using the "Cresswick" pseudonym.  Also, it's nice that she was encouraging the skill of elocution in young women.  However, the preface isn't that interesting in itself.

Original Stories from Real Life

1788
Mary Wollstonecraft
Original Stories from Real Life; with Conversations Calculated to Regulate the Affections, and Form the Mind to Truth and Goodness
C

Not terribly original or realistic, a governess tells her charges stories to regulate etc.

Mary: A Fiction

1788
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary: A Fiction
C

Although this is "a fiction," the main character shares Wollstonecraft's first name, and the parents are named after Wollstonecraft's.   Also, some of the fictional Mary's life resembles the author's.  As with most of the works in MWR, this is just an excerpt, but it's enough to give a taste of a sad, almost plotless tale.

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters

1786, New American Library edition of A Mary Wollstonecraft Reader 1983
Mary Wollstonecraft
Thoughts on the Education of Daughters
Original price $3.95, bought used for unknown
Paperback in not bad condition
B-

Wollstonecraft's first published work offers advice on bringing up girls, some of it reasonable (like breastfeeding) and some of it dubious (like discouraging platonic friendships with men).  An interesting glimpse into 27-year-old Mary's mind, before most of the dramatic events of her adulthood.