The lifetime of British writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) encompassed most of the second half of the eighteenth century, a time of great political and social upheaval throughout Europe and America: political reform movements in Britain gained strength, the American colonists successfully rebelled, and the French Revolution erupted. Wollstonecraft experienced only the headiest of these days, not living to see the end of the democratic revolution when Napoleon crowned himself emperor. Although Britain was still revelling in its mid-century imperial conquests and its triumph in the Seven Years' War, it was the French revolution that defined Wollstonecraft's generation. As poet Robert Southey later wrote: "few persons but those who have lived in it can conceive or comprehend what the memory of the French Revolution was, nor what a visionary world seemed to open upon those who were just entering it. Old things seemed passing away, and nothing was dreamt of but the regeneration of the human race."Southey, Robert. The Correspondence of Robert Southey with Caroline Bowles, ed. Edward Dowden. Norton Anthology of English Literature: Norton Topics Online. Retrieved 27 August 2007.

Part of what made reform possible in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century was the dramatic increase in publishing; books, periodicals, and pamphlets became much more widely available than they had been just a few decades earlier.Kelly, Gary. English Fiction of the Romantic Period, 1789–1830. London: Longman (1989), 2. This increase in available printed material helped facilitate the rise of the British middle class. Reacting against what they viewed as aristocratic decadence, the new professional middle classes (made prosperous through British manufacturing and trade), offered their own ethical code: reason, meritocracy, self-reliance, religious toleration, free inquiry, free enterprise, and hard work.Kelly, 10. They set these values against what they perceived as the superstition and unreason of the poor and the prejudices, censorship, and self-indulgence of the rich. They also helped establish what has come to be called the "cult of domesticity", which solidified gender roles for men and women.Kelly, 10-11. This new vision of society rested on the writings of Scottish Enlightenment philosophers such as Adam Smith, who had developed a theory of social progress founded on sympathy and sensibility. A partial critique of the rationalist Enlightenment, these theories promoted a combination of reason and feeling that enabled women to enter the public sphere because of their keen moral sense.Kelly, 13. Wollstonecraft's writings stand at the nexus of all of these changes. Her educational works, such as her children's book Original Stories from Real Life (1788), helped inculcate middle-class values, and her two Vindications, A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), argue for the value of an educated, rational populace, specifically one that includes women. In her two novels, Mary: A Fiction and Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman, she explores the ramifications of sensibility for women.

The end of the eighteenth century was a time of great hope for progressive reformers such as Wollstonecraft. Like the revolutionary pamphleteer Thomas Paine and others, Wollstonecraft was not content to remain on the sidelines. She sought out intellectual debate at the home of her publisher Joseph Johnson, who gathered leading thinkers and artists for weekly dinners,Todd, Janet. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Revolutionary Life. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2000), 152-53 and she traveled extensively, first to be a part of the French revolution and later to seek a lost treasure ship for her lover in what was then exotic Scandinavia, turning her journey into a travel book, Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. After two complicated and heart-rending affairs with the artist Henry Fuseli and the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay (with whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Fanny Imlay), Wollstonecraft married the philosopher William Godwin, one of the forefathers of the anarchist movement.Todd, 417ff. Together, they had one daughter: Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft died at the age of 38 due to complications from this birth, leaving behind several unfinished manuscripts.Todd, 452ff. Today, she is most often remembered for her political treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and is considered a foundational feminist philosopher.Kaplan, Cora. "Mary Wollstonecraft's reception and legacies". The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft. Ed. Claudia L. Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2002).

Timeline

1750s YearWollstonecraftLiteratureHistory 1756 Marriage of Edward John Wollstonecraft (born 1736) and Elizabeth Dickson (born c. 1740) (Wollstonecraft's parents)"Mary Wollstonecraft: A Brief Chronology". The Vindications: The Rights of Men and The Rights of Woman. Eds. D. L. Macdonald and Kathleen Sherf. Peterborough: Broadview Press (1997). 3 March – Birth of William Godwin, philosopher and future husband of Mary Wollstonecraft, in Wisbech, CambridgeshireLynch, Jack. Eighteenth–century Chronology. Retrieved 5 August 2007."William Godwin: A Brief Chronology". Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Eds. Pamela Clemit and Gina Luria Walker. Peterborough: Broadview Press (2001). May – Beginning of Seven Years' War"Timeline". The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century. 7th ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co. (2000).BBC British History Timeline. Retrieved 5 August 2007. 1757 Birth of Edward (Ned) Wollstonecraft (brother to Mary) Publication of Edmund Burke's treatise A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful 23 June – Indian province of Bengal passes into British control after the Battle of Plassey 1759 27 April – Birth of Mary Wollstonecraft in Spitalfields, London"Mary Wollstonecraft: A Brief Chronology". The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft. Ed. Claudia L. Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2002). Publication of Samuel Johnson's novel Rasselas Publication of Voltaire's novel Candide Publication of Adam Smith's treatise The Theory of Moral Sentiments

1760s

YearWollstonecraftLiteratureHistory 1760 June – James Macpherson allegedly translates, but himself actually writes, poems by Ossian; published as Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland Publication of the first volume of Laurence Sterne's novel Tristram Shandy (1760–1767) April – Tacky's Slave Revolt in Jamaica 25 October – George III (pictured) ascends to the throne of Britain 1761 Birth of Henry Woodstock Wollstonecraft (brother to Mary) Publication of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie, or the New Heloise 1762 Publication of Rousseau's treatise Emile Publication of Rousseau's treatise The Social Contract Publication of Lord Kames's treatise Elements of Criticism 1763 Birth of Elizabeth (Eliza) Wollstonecraft (sister to Mary) The Wollstonecraft family moves to Epping ForestTaylor, Barbara. "Chronology". Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2003). February – Seven Years' War ends with the Treaty of Paris April – Radical journalist John Wilkes is arrested for criticizing George III 1765 Birth of Everina (Averina) Wollstonecraft (sister to Mary) The Wollstonecraft family moves to Barking Publication of Johnson's collected works of Shakespeare Publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, widely considered the first Gothic novel Publication of William Blackstone's treatise Commentaries on the Laws of England March – Riots erupt in American colonies after the British parliament levies the stamp tax 1766 Publication of Rousseau's autobiography, Confessions Publication of Oliver Goldsmith's novel The Vicar of Wakefield 1768 Birth of James Wollstonecraft (brother to Mary) October – The Wollstonecraft family moves to Beverley, YorkshireTodd, 8. Wollstonecraft meets Jane Arden, her first intimate friend Publication of Laurence Sterne's novel A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy James Cook voyages to Australia and New Zealand (1768–1771) Joshua Reynolds founds the Royal Academy in Britain 1769 David Garrick's Shakespeare Jubilee celebration at Stratford-on-Avon

1770s

YearWollstonecraftLiteratureHistory 1770 Birth of Charles Wollstonecraft (brother to Mary) Publication of Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village Publication of Part I of Goethe's play Faust January – Frederick, Lord North becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain (1770–1782) 1771 Publication of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica Richard Arkwright opens the first cotton mill in Cromford, Derbyshire, England 1772 December – Publication of Anna Laetitia Barbauld's Poems December – Publication of Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose by Barbauld and her brother, John Aikin 22 June – Slavery is effectively outlawed in England 1773 16 December – American colonists protest British policies by dumping tea into Boston Harbor 1774 The Wollstonecraft family moves to Hoxton Wollstonecraft meets Mr. and Mrs. Clare, who provide a second home for her and educate her Through the Clares, Wollstonecraft first meets Fanny Blood, for whom she will develop deep feelings Publication of Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther May – Louis XVI (pictured) ascends to the throne of France Warren Hastings becomes the first Governor-General of India 1775 18 April – The American Revolution (1775–1783) begins with the Battle of Lexington James Watt invents the steam engine 1776 The Wollstonecraft family moves to Laugharne, Wales Publication of Adam Smith's treatise Wealth of Nations Publication of the first volume of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–1788) 1777 The Wollstonecraft family moves to Walworth, London Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The School for Scandal opens at Drury Lane Theatre 1778 Wollstonecraft's first job – paid companion to Mrs. Sarah Dawson in Windsor and Bath Publication of Frances Burney's novel Evelina Publication of Barbauld's (pictured) reading primer Lessons for Children 1779 Publication of Johnson's Lives of the Poets (1779–1781)

1780s

YearWollstonecraftLiteratureHistory 1780 Wollstonecraft's parents and younger siblings move to Enfield 2–11 June – Gordon Riots in London, protesting the Catholic Relief Act Major John Cartwright founds the radical Society for Constitutional Information 1781 Autumn – Wollstonecraft returns home to nurse her ill motherTodd, 39. Publication of Barbauld's Hymns in Prose for Children 19 October – French and American forces defeat the British at the Battle of Yorktown, effectively ending the American War of Independence 1782 19 April – Wollstonecraft's mother dies Wollstonecraft's father remarries and moves to Wales Wollstonecraft moves to Walham Green to live with Fanny Blood and her family 20 October – Eliza, Wollstonecraft's sister, marries Meredith BishopTodd, 43. Publication of Burney's (pictured) novel Cecilia 1783 10 August (?) – Eliza gives birth to a daughter and develops postpartum depression Wollstonecraft's second job – starts school in Islington 3 September – Treaty of Versailles signed, formally ending the American Revolution 21 November – The Montgolfier brothers of France launch the first manned hot-air balloonBalloons (1700–1900). ALLSTAR. Retrieved 6 August 2007. December – William Pitt becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain 1784 At the instigation of Wollstonecraft, Eliza leaves her husband and child (who dies later in the year) Wollstonecraft's school moves from Islington to Newington Green; Eliza, Everina, and Fanny help teach Wollstonecraft becomes friends with the minister Richard Price (pictured)