The Feminist Papers: A Vindication of the Rights of Women

By the matriarch of feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women tackles womens-rights-as-human-rights decades before the women’s suffrage movement began. In what is widely considered the very first feminist manifesto, Wollstonecraft argues on behalf of women’s natural intellect and character - considered radical at the time, her writing has paved the way of progress for generations to come. AUTHOR: Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) was an educational, political and feminist writer who early in her life worked as a companion, teacher and governess. In 1788 she settled in London as a translator and reader for the publisher Joseph Johnson, becoming part of the radical set that included Paine, Blake, Godwin and the painter Fuseli. Her great work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was published in 1792. She lived in Paris during the French Revolution and had a child by the American Gilbert Imlay, who deserted her. She returned to London in 1795 and, following her attempted suicide, became involved with Godwin, whom she married in 1797, shortly before the birth (which proved fatal) of her daughter, the future Mary Shelley. She left several unfinished works, including Maria.