Who was Mary Wollstonecraft?
Q: Who was Mary Wollstonecraft?
A: Mary Wollstonecraft was a British writer who was born in Spitalfields, the daughter of a rich farmer. She is known for being an early feminist and social campaigner, writing books such as A Vindication of the Rights of Man (1790) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).
Q: What did her father do?
A: Her father was sometimes violent towards her, her four siblings, and their mother when his farms failed.
Q: What happened to Mary's sister Eliza?
A: In 1784 Mary experienced the near death of her sister Eliza who had been abused by her husband. She escaped with her sister to London to preserve her life.
Q: Who was Fanny Blood?
A: Fanny Blood was a good friend of Mary's who died from complications in childbirth. This event caused Mary to suffer depression and financial straits which led to the writing of Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, one of her first books.
Q: What did she argue for in A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman?
A: In A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman, Wollstonecraft argued that women should have equal rights and education as men, believing that education gives them the tools necessary to compete with men in public and economic life.
Q: Who did she marry?
A: She married William Godwin after meeting him again while travelling to Paris in 1792. They later had a daughter together named Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin who became wife of Percy Shelley and author of Frankenstein.
Q: How did she die?
A: Wollstonecraft died due to complications after giving birth due to a blood clot; this same fate also befell her best friend Fanny Blood whose death inspired much of Wollstonecraft's work advocating for women's rights.
