Victorian feminism and the ghost of Mary Wollstonecraft

Abstract

Victorian feminists rarely mentioned Mary Wollstonecraft and when they did attempted to distance themselves from her rather than to claim any connection with her. This avoidance did not mean that they knew nothing about her. On the contrary, private correspondence and the few published references to her suggest that she was well-known throughout the century, but more for her scandalous private life, as recounted by William Godwin, than for her ideas. This article explores nineteenth century responses to Wollstonecraft, arguing that while her ideas were not acknowledged, her life served as a constant and sometimes unwelcome reminder of the ways in which personal rebellion and feminist commitment were connected. It uses these responses to her in order to explore some of the difficulties involved in establishing a feminist tradition. Finally it looks at the rehabilitation of Wollstonecraft in the 1890s.