Mary Wollstonecraft in Context

Offers indispensable interdisciplinary contexts for reading the wide-ranging philosophical, critical, and literary works of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Nancy E. Johnson (Edited by), Paul Keen (Edited by)

9781108404235, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 January 2022

392 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.526 kg

'The book offers a cogent narrative for understanding Wollstonecraft's thinking as historically grounded …' Ashley Cross, European Romantic Review

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was one of the most influential and controversial women of her age. No writer, except perhaps her political foe, Edmund Burke, and her fellow reformer, Thomas Paine, inspired more intense reactions. In her brief literary career before her untimely death in 1797, Wollstonecraft achieved remarkable success in an unusually wide range of genres: from education tracts and political polemics, to novels and travel writing. Just as impressive as her expansive range was the profound evolution of her thinking in the decade when she flourished as an author. In this collection of essays, leading international scholars reveal the intricate biographical, critical, cultural, and historical context crucial for understanding Mary Wollstonecraft's oeuvre. Chapters on British radicalism and conservatism, French philosophes and English Dissenters, constitutional law and domestic law, sentimental literature, eighteenth-century periodicals and more elucidate Wollstonecraft's social and political thought, historical writings, moral tales for children, and novels.

Part I. Life and Works: 1. Biography Kate Chisholm
2. Correspondence Andrew McInnes
3. Family Julie Carlson
4. Joseph Johnson David Fallon
Part II. Critical Fortunes: 5. Early critical reception Nancy E. Johnson
6. Nineteenth-century critical reception Eileen Hunt Botting
7. 1970s critical reception Julie Murray
8. Recent critical reception Eliza O'Brien
Part III. Historical and Cultural Contexts: 9. Writing the French Revolution Mary A. Favret
10. Radical societies David O'Shaughnessy
11. Radical publishers Jon Mee
12. British conservatism Paul Keen
13. Jacobin reformers Mary Fairclough
14. Liberal reformers Michelle Levy
15. Conservative reformers Claire Grogan
16. French philosophes Sylvana Tomaselli
17. Dissenters Andrew McKendry
18. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Laura Kirkley
19. Edmund Burke Frans de Bruyn
20. William Godwin Pamela Clemit
21. Political theory Lena Halldenius
22. Feminist theory Jane Moore
23. The constitution Ian Ward
24. Property law Catherine Packham
25. Domestic law Rebecca Probert
26. Slavery and abolition Katie Donington
27. The Bluestockings Betty Schellenberg
28. Conduct literature Vivien Jones
29. Theories of education Frances Ferguson
30. Sentimentalism and sensibility Alex Wetmore
31. English Jacobin novels April London
32. Anti-Jacobin novels Gary Kelly
33. Children's literature Andrew O'Malley
34. Gothic literature Michael Gamer
35. Travel writing Pamela Perkins
36. History writing Jonathan Sachs
37. Periodicals Jacqueline George
38. Translations Alessa Johns
Suggested further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Political activism [JPW], Philosophy [HP], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Children’s & teenage literature studies [DSY], Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Literary theory [DSA], Literature & literary studies [D]