Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres Memòria del Treball de Fi de Grau
“Stripping his dead wife naked”: William Godwin’s philosophy in Memoirs of the Author of a
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1798)
Mireia Sellas Vera Grau d’Estudis Anglesos
Any acadèmic 2020-21
DNI de l’alumne: 43204977Y
Treball tutelat per Eva María Pérez Rodríguez Departament de Filologia Anglesa
S'autoritza la Universitat a incloure aquest treball en el Repositori Institucional per a la seva consulta en accés obert i dif usió en línia, amb f inalitats exclusivament acadèmiques i d'investigació
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Paraules clau del treball: Candour, Jacobinism, Memoirs, perpetual improvement, Political Justice
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Abstract
After the death of Mary Wollstonecraft, her recently widowed husband and radical philosopher William Godwin published Memoirs of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1798), a biography of unprecedented frankness which narrates Wollstonecraft’s life from early childhood to the very moment of her death. The aim of this thesis is to argue that the Memoirs can be considered a Jacobin biography since Godwin seems to be disseminating his philosophy from Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) through his wife’s life narrative. The approach followed in this thesis is historic and aims to analyze how Godwin engages in the political sphere of the “Revolution Controversy” or “Pamphlet War” advocating for reform and political change. As it will be discussed in this essay, elements from Godwin’s Dissenting philosophy are echoed in the Memoirs, namely his belief in humans and institutions as capable of perpetual improvement and his faith in the power of sincerity or “Candour”. Nevertheless, Godwin’s adherence to the doctrine of sincerity and his failure to anticipate the negative reaction triggered by his narration of some of the most controversial events of his wife’s life, such as her suicide attempts and previous liaisons, rendered Wollstonecraft and Godwin the center of attacks from the conservative sectors of society. As a result, the Memoirs and Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman sank into obscurity during the nineteenth century until they were rediscovered in the second half of the twentieth century. Thus, Godwin’s intentions to achieve social change by means of Candour proved to be counterproductive.
Key Words: Candour, Jacobinism, Memoirs, perpetual improvement, Political Justice.
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Contents
1- Introduction ... 5
2- Individuals and Institutions are capable of Perpetual Improvement. ... 7
3- The Power of Sincerity. ... 11
4-Negative Reception of the Memoirs... 15
5-Conclusions ... 17
Works Cited ... 19
Annex ... 20
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1- Introduction
On the 10th of November of 2020, the unveiling of a silver female figure in London sparked a heated debate. The sculpture1, by artist Maggi Hambling, was the first one ever made in honor of the life and work of Mary Wollstonecraft (1797-1797), the feminist author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). The artist claimed that the monument was not an actual depiction of Wollstonecraft but, rather a symbolic representation of women (BBC 2020). Its detractors, nevertheless, found it inappropriate and questioned whether a naked female figure was the best way to celebrate Wollstonecraft’s intellect and contribution to the feminist cause (BBC 2020). This was not the first time that an attempt to vindicate Wollstonecraft’s character was met with a negative reaction. Following Wollstonecraft’s tragic death in childbed, William Godwin (1756-1836), her recently widowed husband and radical philosopher, published the Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1798) in which he revealed his wife’s unconventional lifestyle and unorthodox views on marriage and religion. His frank account of Wollstonecraft’s suicide attempts, previous liaisons and the fact that she had conceived two children out of wedlock rendered both Wollstonecraft and Godwin the center of attacks from the conservative sectors of society. The Memoirs were deemed scandalous since it was unthinkable for a husband to expose such controversial aspects of his wife publicly.
Leaving the controversial aspects of the Memoirs aside, it is a fascinating text that reveals how two of the most brilliant minds of the end of the eighteen-century, Wollstonecraft and Godwin, came together in a unique association that would challenge contemporary conventions about marriage.
Although there is a large body of research on the Memoirs, scholars fail to agree on the generic nature of the work. According to Stauffer, it is a romantic biography because Godwin
“distills the fine essence of eighteenth-century romantic biographies into one hundred and seventeen small pages” (1970, 192). In contrast, Pérez argues that, even though the biography shows a progression towards romanticism and a new interest in emotions and domestic affections, the work cannot be termed as romantic per se since its tone remains mostly didactic and philosophical (2001, 21). Mayers argues that they could also be considered Godwin’s autobiography because he is reflecting on his own experiences and feelings (1981, 300).
Interestingly, Monsam presents the theory that the Memoirs can be considered a biographical autopsy arguing that Godwin used the jargon of medical autopsy, typical at the end of the
1 For a picture of the sculpture, see annex.
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eighteenth century, in his portrayal of Wollstonecraft’s past life (2008, 110). All in all, there is no doubt that Memoirs is an intriguing and complex work that can be analyzed on several different levels following different approaches.
The approach of this thesis is historic and aims to evaluate how the work engages in the
“Revolution Controversy” and could, therefore, be considered a Jacobin biography. The term
“Jacobin Novel” was coined by the literary critic Gary Kelly in his book The English Jacobin Novel (1976). The Jacobins were originally the radical supporters of the French Revolution.
Kelly later used the term to classify a group of English authors, between 1780 and 1805, who espoused radical ideas usually related to the French Revolution. As Kelly explains, this group of authors, which included Godwin, Wollstonecraft and other intellectuals such as Thomas Holcroft, Robert Bage and Elizabeth Inchbald, advocated for social reform and saw the French Revolution as “the stimulus to extend the battle for liberties” (Kelly 1976, 4). They wanted to import the ideals of the French Revolution into England and used their novels to disseminate their revolutionary philosophy. Their interest in reform came from their shared Dissenting religious background; accordingly they followed the Dissenting method of truth-seeking, or
“Candour”, to reach conclusions about any aspects of society. They believed that, only through reason and truth, and not violent revolution, would “humanity [...] soon advance to the last age of moral, physical and social perfection” (Kelly 1976, 11).
The Memoirs can be considered a Jacobin biography since Godwin seems to be conveying some of his radical theory from Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) through the example provided by his recently deceased wife, whose life narrative could inspire social change. Nevertheless, instead of achieving social progress, his detailed description of intimate aspects of Wollstonecraft’s life ruined her reputation. The starting point of this thesis is the analysis of certain aspects of Godwin’s Dissenting philosophy which are reflected in the work, namely his theory about humanity’s perpetual improvement and his faith in the power of truth. After that, section four considers some of the controversial aspects of the memoirs and how Godwin’s choice of events for the narrative would damage both Wollstonecraft’s and Godwin’s reputation. The scope of analysis is Godwin’s account of his wife’s life in the Memoirs and how the work relates to Godwin’s philosophical treatise Political Justice. The first edition of the Memoirs is the one chosen for analysis since it is the one that is most faithful to his original intentions. Godwin made some corrections in a second edition in order to compensate for his mistake towards Wollstonecraft’s image, but he only did it in order to pacify
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public opinion after the backlash received from the first publication (Holmes 1987, 48). With regards Political justice, all three editions are considered since they were already published at the time of the publication of the Memoirs. Furthermore, in order to conduct this research several academic articles, literature manuals and biographies about both Wollstonecraft and Godwin have been consulted. For practical reasons, this essay does not focus on Mary Wollstonecraft’s philosophy from her Vindication of the Rights of Woman. It would be interesting to analyze the relationship between Wollstonecraft’s feminist principles and her life and in what aspects it could be considered that they are at odds with each other. For reasons of space and purpose, however, that should be left for a further research.
2- Individuals and Institutions are capable of Perpetual Improvement
William Godwin was brought up in the tradition of eighteenth-century English Radical Dissent.
Being an underprivileged religious minority at the time, Dissenters were not allowed to attend established universities. This came as an advantage to Godwin as he was, instead, allowed to go to one of the most prestigious Dissenting academies which “provided the most balanced and up-to-date education of the time” (Locke 1980, 17). The Hoxton Academy “tended naturally towards political radicalism” and this would clearly influence Godwin’s philosophy (Locke 1980, 18). In 1793, Godwin wrote his magnum opus Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, a work of philosophical anarchism in which he advocated for “the dissolution of political government” (Kramnick 1976, 16). He suggested that humans are able to govern themselves following their private judgment without the need for institutions to enforce order (Kramnick 1976, 19). One of the core aspects of Political Justice is the belief that humans are capable of perpetual improvement. That does not mean that humans aim towards perfection, but rather that they have the potential to improve themselves through their rational faculties (Kramnick 1976, 42). This evolution would lead to the reassessment of institutions and the modes of social living, which should develop and improve accordingly. However, as Godwin argues,
“government by its very nature counteracts the improvement of individual intellect” and, therefore, it should be gradually eliminated in what he calls “the euthanasia of government”
(Kramnick 1976, 69). Godwin had already used his novel Caleb Williams as a vehicle for his radical anarchism. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Godwin would try to disseminate his progressive philosophy from Political Justice in his wife’s biography.
In the Memoirs, Wollstonecraft can be seen as the embodiment of the philosophy of perpetual improvement since Godwin portrays her as an example of an individual who is
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constantly in evolution. After Wollstonecraft’s death, Goodwin took it upon himself to present the life of his beloved Mary to the world. The justification he gives for this endeavor is that “to give to the public some account of the life of a person of eminent merit deceased, is a duty incumbent on survivors” (M 204)2. He then proceeds to narrate her life from early childhood to the very moment of her death. As Rajan argues, Godwin does not idealize Wollstonecraft, but rather he presents her as a subject “in process” with flaws and weaknesses who, nevertheless, is always eager to expand her mind and improve her conditions (2000, 514).
Sadly, Wollstonecraft did not have an easy start in life since she was born to a troublesome middle-class family. “Her father was a man of a quick, impetuous disposition, subject to alternate fits of kindness and cruelty” and her mother had a rather passive attitude and would not show many signs of affection (M 206). Despite the lack of stimulus and affection in her household, Mary showed signs of a brilliant intellect and in her teens sought other nurturing environments outside her home. She would spend many hours in the company of Mr. Clare, a clergyman whom Godwin finds responsible for “the earliest cultivation of her mind” (M 209).
Mr. Clare would also introduce her to Frances Blood, with whom Wollstonecraft would develop a close friendship. Fanny, who was a few years older and had a better education, became her instructor and, as a result, Wollstonecraft improved her writing skills (M 211).
Godwin also focuses on Wollstonecraft’s determination: “whatever Mary undertook, she perhaps in all instances accomplished; and, to her lofty spirit, scarcely anything she desired, appeared hard to perform” (M 217). He narrates how she successfully founded a school for girls (M 214) and how some years later she embarked on a new career and started to make a living through writing thanks to the help of the publisher Joseph Johnson (M 226). Eventually, Wollstonecraft is wise enough to be aware of the injustices at the time and, at the onset of the French Revolution, “the prejudices of her early years suffered a vehement concussion [and]
her respect for establishments was undermined”. All in all, it can be argued that Wollstonecraft is in perpetual improvement as she undergoes a process of intellectual growth that encourages her to question the establishment and engage in the British political sphere to defend the ideals of the French Revolution.
As opposed to Wollstonecraft, some of her contemporaries are presented as flat characters who are not in perpetual improvement. As it has already been mentioned, Fanny was
2 M stands for Memoirs of the Vindication of The Rights of Woman (1798). The edition used for analysis is the one by Richard Holmes (1978). For more details, see Works Cited.
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originally more cultivated than Mary. However, after 10 years of friendship, Wollstonecraft’s understanding is greater than her friend’s and Fanny becomes passive and shows very little ambition (M 226). Another contemporary, who is accused of not revising his philosophy, is Fuseli the famous married painter with whom Wollstonecraft falls in love. “In early life Mr.
Fuseli was ardently attached to literature; but the demands of his profession have prevented him from keeping up that extensive and indiscriminate acquaintance with it, that belles-lettres scholars frequently possess. Of consequence, the favorites of his boyish years remain his only favorites” (M 233). Godwin explains that Fuseli looked at the attempts of the revolutionaries of improving society with contempt and suggests that it was because Fuseli “[had] not had leisure to bring the opinions of his youth to a revision” (M 233). Godwin is criticizing those who were not interested in social progress but there is an individual who clearly becomes the center of Godwin’s attacks — Edmund Burke.
The beginning of chapter six narrates the events of the so-called “pamphlet war” or
“Revolution Controversy” which was a British debate over the French Revolution. After a sermon given by the Dissenting minister and political radical Richard Price, Burke wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) which was a “bitter condemnation of English radicalism and its efforts to reform Parliament” (Kramnick 1976, 11). Edmund Burke was a supporter of the ancient regime and the established order: the church the monarchy, aristocracy, the hereditary principle and the chivalric code of honor. In his Reflections, Burke advocated for tradition rather than revolution (Kramnik 1976, 11). Wollstonecraft’s disappointment at Burke’s conservatism is reflected in the Memoirs. “Burke had been warmly loved by the most liberal and enlightened friends of freedom, and they were proportionably inflamed and disgusted by the fury of his assault, upon what they deemed to be its sacred cause” (M 230).
Burke was a friend of Mary and originally a supporter of the American Revolution. Therefore, after his attack on their liberal cause Wollstonecraft felt betrayed by Burke. “Mary, full of sentiments of liberty, and impressed with a warm interest in the struggle that was now going on, seized her pen in the first burst of indignation, an emotion of which she was strongly susceptible. She was in the habit of composing with rapidity, and her answer, which was the first of the numerous ones that appeared, obtained extraordinary notice” (M 229). The answer that Godwin is talking about is The Vindication of The Rights of Men (1790) in which she mocked Burke’s nostalgia and defended the principles of the revolution (Locke 1980, 45). The applause she received for that work (M 230) encouraged her to write her most famous political
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treatise The Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). In this work, she urged women to avoid excessive sensibility and cultivate their reason, which, in turn, would encourage the progress of society because half of the population would become enlightened (Todd 2000, 63).
Wollstonecraft was not the only one disappointed at Burke’s Reflections, Godwin also voices his discontent in the Memoirs. He describes Burke as being “attached[ed] to musty creeds and exploded absurdities” (M 229), which reflects Godwin’s rejection of Burke’s conservatism. In fact, Godwin’s Political Justice was also a response to Burke’s Reflections.
As Godwin claims in Political Justice, “nothing must be sustained because it is ancient, because we have been accustomed to regard it as sacred or because it has been unusual to bring its validity to question” (Kramnick 1976, 139). In his novel Caleb Williams, Godwin also criticizes Burke’s love for chivalry and the hereditary principle since the noble Falkland is corrupted by his love for honor. In both novel and biography, Godwin engages in the revolution controversy and it can be argued that Godwin is trying to convey the idea that Burke is working against the perpetual improvement of society since he is against reform and the advancement of humankind. Burke is not looking towards an ideal future, like Godwin does, but rather, using Godwin’s words, to a musty past.
Godwin also seems to provide a metaphor for how the dissolution of governments would be beneficial for the improvement of society. In 1786, Wollstonecraft worked as a governess to the daughters of Lord Viscount Kingsborough in Ireland. Godwin narrates how the young ladies had been hitherto ungovernable, but Wollstonecraft restores order in the house by allowing the girls the freedom to explore their own will.
Lady Kingsborough, from the best motives, had imposed upon her daughters a variety of prohibitions, both as to the books they should read, and in many other respects. These prohibitions had their usual effects; inordinate desire for the things forbidden, and clandestine indulgence. Mary immediately restored the children to their liberty and undertook to govern them by their affections only. The consequence was, that their indulgences were moderate, and they were uneasy under any indulgence that had not the sanction of their governess. The salutary effects of the new system of education were speedily visible. (M 222)
Godwin’s reflection on Wollstonecraft’s experience as a governess can be understood as a metaphor for the negative impact of hierarchy and coercion on individuals. Wollstonecraft stands for established government and the ladies for the subordinate citizens. Only when
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Wollstonecraft ceases to govern the girls by coercion, are the girls able to use their private judgment according to the dictates of their own reason. As Godwin claims in Political Justice,
“man is not originally vicious. He would not refuse to listen to, or to be convinced by, the expostulations that are addressed to him, had he not been accustomed to regard them as hypocritical” (Kramnick 1976,553). This fragment seems to be intended to illustrate that, only when individuals are allowed to govern themselves following the natural flow of perpetual improvement, without the constraints of government, will “the whole species become reasonable and virtuous” (Kramnick 1976,553).
On top of that, not only do the Memoirs exemplify Godwin’s revolutionary ideas, but they are also intended to be a catalyst for social improvement. As Clemit argues, Godwin
“aimed to foster gradual social change by transforming the moral consciousness of his readers”
through the analysis of Wollstonecraft’s life (Clemit 2001, 13). A year before Wollstonecraft’s death, Godwin had written Of History and Romance (1797) an essay in which he explained biography’s potential for reform:
For Godwin, the reformist potential of biography lies in its ability to depict the individual in a social context, and the best subjects for biography are historical individuals who contributed to moral and social improvement in their own time.
By demonstrating how social forces act on such individuals, and how they in turn, had an impact on society, Godwin argues, biography has the power to inspire the reader with an analogous spirit of reform. (Clemit 2001, 13)
In this light, it can be assumed that Godwin intended the readers to be inspired by Wollstonecraft’s revolutionary character. In the eighteenth century, reading biographies, such as The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), for educational purposes was common. As Stauffer explains in his book The Art of Biography in Eighteen Century England (1970), “the belief in the power of biography to teach by means of example was widely and sincerely held” (1970, 315).
Therefore, it can be assumed that Godwin intended audiences to extract a message from the Memoirs. What Godwin seems to have wanted to convey with the Memoirs is that individuals should use their reasoning faculties and question institutions and that truth, as it will be discussed in the following section, is omnipotent.
3- The Power of Sincerity
The word “truth” can be found almost four hundred times in Political Justice, which means that it virtually appears in all pages of this political treatise. The reason being is that Godwin
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strongly believed that the synthesizing agent for social improvement was the principle of sincerity. As he claims in Political Justice, "the road to the improvement of mankind is in the utmost degree simple, to speak and act the truth” (Kramnik 1976, 490). In this aspect, Godwin is also drawing from his Dissenting background. As Clemit explains, “this belief in the duty of truth-telling was based on the Dissenting principle of ‘Candour,’ which might best be described as the disposition to form impartial judgments in all affairs. Such principle was central to Godwin’s theory of anarchism, in which the exercise of rational judgement will lead to individual men and women gradually becoming wiser, until government withers away because it is no longer necessary” (Clemit 2001, 14). Godwin believed that truth should be told regardless of its consequences and that is why he openly discloses some of the most unorthodox aspects of his wife’s life, such as Wollstonecraft’s two suicide attempts, the fact that she had conceived two children out of wedlock and their unconventional cohabitation arrangements during their relationship.
Wollstonecraft’s suicide attempts were a consequence of the emotional turmoil caused by the mistreatment received from Gilbert Imlay, with whom she had a love affair in the France of Robespierre’s Terror. Wollstonecraft had moved to France after the realization that she would never be able to establish a relationship with the already married Fuseli. “She conceived it necessary to snap the chain of this association in her mind; and, for that purpose, determined to seek a new climate, and mingle in different scenes” (M 237). In France, she fell in love again with American entrepreneur Imlay and, even though they did not marry, Wollstonecraft adopted Imlay’s surname (M 240). After a few months, she became pregnant and the baby would be named Fanny Imlay in honor of her friend Fanny Blood (M 244). Imlay soon became cold and distant and, to her dismay, she discovered that he had been unfaithful (M 247). As Godwin narrates, due to Imlay’s estrangement, “life became an intolerable burthen” to Wollstonecraft and “she formed a desperate purpose to die” but she did not accomplish her purpose (M 248).
After this first suicide attempt, Imlay convinced Wollstonecraft to travel to Norway to conduct some of his business as an excuse to remove Wollstonecraft from his life (M 249).
This trip would be the inspiration for her Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796). After her experience in Scandinavia, she returned to London to find Imlay being unfaithful again and showing little sympathy towards their child . Once more, her life became a torment and she determined to commit suicide by jumping into the Thames.
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She “leaped from the top of the bridge, but still seemed to find a difficulty in sinking, which she endeavored to counteract by pressing her clothes closely round her. After some time, she became insensible; but she always spoke of the pain she underwent [...] and after having been for a considerable time insensible, she was recovered” (M 250). The coldness and amount of detail of this incident, must have appalled contemporary readers and, even from a twenty-first- century perspective, it can be displeasing to learn about the horrible sensations she experienced while she was drowning. Godwin, nevertheless, did not consider what other people’s reactions might be. He was determined to tell the truth he knew about his wife because, as he argued in Political Justice, “if every man to-day would tell all the truth he knows, three years hence there would be scarcely a falsehood of any magnitude remaining in the civilized world” (Kramnik 1976, 315).
Another controversial aspect of the Memoirs is that they reveal that Mary had premarital relationships not only with Imlay but also with Godwin himself. Godwin and Wollstonecraft had met at a dinner party at their friend Joseph Jonhson’s house before she left for France. At this meeting, however, they parted “displeased with each other” (M 236). A few months after Wollstonecraft had ceased to be in contact with Imlay, she and Godwin renewed their acquaintance. This time they found pleasure in the company of each other. As Godwin proclaims, “It was friendship melting into love” (M 258). Despite sharing a strong affection for each other they decided not to marry for various reasons. The most important of these was that they both were against the institution of marriage and held the opinion that it was not necessary to be officially recognized as wife and husband in order to consummate their love.
We did not marry. It is difficult to recommend any thing to indiscriminate adoption, contrary to the established rules and prejudices of mankind; but certainly nothing can be so ridiculous upon the face of it, or so contrary to the genuine march of sentiment, as to require the overflowing of the soul to wait upon a ceremony, and that which, wherever delicacy and imagination exist, is of all things most sacredly private, to blow a trumpet before it, and to record the moment when it has arrived at its climax. (M 258)
On top of that, Godwin also discloses their unconventional cohabitation arrangements. Initially, they lived in separate apartments. After seven months, Wollstonecraft became pregnant, and they decided to move together and get married. The reason behind this change of opinion was to spare the baby from suffering criticism for being an illegitimate child. Nonetheless, they led
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relatively independent lives and Godwin rented an apartment where he could concentrate on his literary career; “for the most part, [they] spent the latter half of each day in one another’s society, yet [they] were in no danger of satiety. [They] seemed to combine, in a considerable degree, the novelty and lively sensation of visit, with the more delicious and heart -felt pleasures of domestic life” (M 236). Besides, they sometimes went out and socialized without each other
"condemning the notion, prevalent in many situations in life, that a man and his wife cannot visit in mixed society” (M 236).
Lamentably, their happiness was brief. Wollstonecraft died ten days after giving birth to her second baby daughter Mary Godwin who would grow to become the famous author of the Gothic novel Frankenstein (1818) and would marry Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The last chapter of the Memoirs narrates Mary’s illness and decay and, once more, Godwin leaves nothing to the imagination. He provides gynecological details about the birth; “the placenta was not yet removed” and he required the services of a doctor in order to “proceed[...] to the extraction of the placenta, which he brought away in pieces, till he was satisfied that the whole was removed” (M 266). Despite the doctor’s attempts to improve her condition, “the loss of blood was considerable, and produced an almost uninterrupted series of fainting fits”.
Furthermore, Godwin seems to be obsessed with documenting the exact day and timing; “In the evening she had a second shivering fit, the symptoms of which were in the highest degree alarming. Every muscle of the body trembled, the teeth chattered, and the bed shook under her.
This continued probably for five minutes” (M 267). He gives a precise description of Wollstonecraft’s health evolution for each day up until the tenth of September of 1797 when
“she expired at twenty minutes before eight” in the morning (M 271).
As Holmes explains, “Godwin's Frankness and sincerity were of course nothing less than revolutionary at the time. They arise directly from the anarchist principles of sincerity and plain-speaking which he enshrined in Political Justice. In literary terms his biography was as courageous an act as his early intervention [in Political Justice]” (Holmes 1987, 64). Thus, the Memoirs are an attempt to portray Wollstonecraft candidly with the dissenting method of truth- seeking. Godwin was not trying to justify all aspects of Wollstonecraft’s life, as some of his contemporaries thought, but rather he was enacting the principle of sincerity that he had advocated in Political Justice and, therefore, aiming towards a more just society.
However, the defender of truth is not actually being completely honest or, at least, he is not revealing all the truth he knows. Even though Godwin claims to be candid, he avoids some
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of Wollstonecraft’s life events. For instance, he refuses to narrate a very important incident involving her sister Eliza. Wollstonecraft saw her sister, who was suffering from postpartum depression, as a victim of an unhappy marriage and helped her escape abandoning her baby and husband (Todd 2000, 50). Godwin knew about this incident but he deliberately omits it from the narrative. In contrast, Godwin includes other incidents, such as the encounter with the French vessel, which, in comparison, do not seem as relevant as assisting a sister in distress.
In 1785, Wollstonecraft went to Portugal to attend her best friend Fanny Blood who was sick and pregnant. After Fanny Blood died giving birth, Wollstonecraft returned to England . In her journey, the ship encountered a sinking French vessel, and she convinced the captain of her ship to rescue everybody despite not having enough food on board to feed everybody (M 220).
According to Myers, Godwin omits incidents that do not reflect his thematic purpose and suggests that Godwin only included those events that he believed would contribute to the improvement of society (1981, 309). Taking Myers’ hypothesis into account, it could be argued that Godwin is praising Wollstonecraft for not letting the captain of her ship commit an injustice, but that, nevertheless, was opposed to the fact that Wollstonecraft fought for her sister’s independence. Godwin preferred to talk about Wollstonecraft’s placenta than letting the world know that she was responsible for Eliza’s abandonment of her husband. In the Rights of Woman Wollstonecraft claimed that women should be able to fight for their independence and that is why she felt the need to help her sister Eliza. Godwin could have used this incident as a vehicle to illustrate her feminist philosophy. However, as Holmes explains, Godwin shows little interest in commenting on Wollstonecraft’s feminist philosophy (1987, 47). All in all, Godwin seems to be constructing a narrative that allows him to disseminate ideas from Political Justice but, nevertheless, makes little effort to explore his wife’s feminism. It is precisely Godwin’s choice of events in the Memoirs and the fact that he prioritized narrating intimate aspects of Wollstonecraft’s life, rather than her philosophy, that would damage her reputation.
4-Negative Reception of the Memoirs.
The Memoirs were published in January 1798, together with her Posthumous Works, which included her unfinished novel Maria; or The Wrongs of Woman and her letters to Imlay and Johnson. Before that, Godwin had claimed in Political Justice that “truth, delivered in a spirit of universal kindness, with no narrow resentments or angry invective, can scarcely be dangerous” (Kramnik 1976, 251). However, he seems to have been wrong. The publication of the Memoirs was met with a general backlash and it was considered a work of “unparalleled
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insensitivity and immorality” (Locke 1980, 135). For The Anti-Jacobin Magazine, the Memoirs became an example of an “unholy alliance – atheism, anarchism, feminism, French Revolutionary politics and free love all brought together in one unseemly bed” (Holmes 1987, 15). On top of that, some of her admirers thought that it was a “disgrace to her memory” (Locke 1980, 136). For instance, the poet Robert Southey who was friends with Wollstonecraft
“lamented that Godwin showed ‘a want of all feeling in stripping his dead wife naked’” (Locke 1980, 136). The result was that Mary Wollstonecraft, who had hitherto enjoyed a good literary reputation for her two Vindications, became synonym with adulterous love. Therefore, it can be argued that Godwin’s intentions to achieve social change by means of candour became counterproductive. Godwin’s adherence to the doctrine of sincerity rendered Wollstonecraft the center of attacks instead of becoming a role model for society.
As Locke explains, the Memoirs damaged Wollstonecraft’s reputation and, as a result, her philosophical feminism was rejected (1980, 136). The Fraser’s Magazine even thanked Godwin as “‘he had done more good unintentionally than it could ever have, intentionally or otherwise, done evil. We shall not have any such lady in our literature again’” (Locke 1980, 136). The Memoirs and Wollstonecraft’s works sank into obscurity and they were only rediscovered in the second half of the twentieth century (Clemit 2001, 36). Regardless of the literary qualities of the Memoirs and Godwin’s noble intentions, the work seems to have caused more damage than good to the improvement of society at the time.
Godwin believed Wollstonecraft’s honor could never be damaged. "There are no circumstances of her life, that, in the judgment of honor and reason, could brand her with disgrace. Never did there exist a human being, that needed, with less fear, expose all their actions, and call upon the universe to judge them” (M 257). Nevertheless, it can be argued that it was Godwin himself who contributed to the downfall of her reputation the most. Once it was known that she had committed suicide twice, she was judged not only for having attempted an immoral act but also for not taking into consideration her daughter Fanny (Locke 1980, 135).
Furthermore, as it told of her premarital relationships, with both Godwin and Imlay, it was suggested that Wollstonecraft was more promiscuous than what the Memoirs disclosed and her biography was dubbed as a “‘A convenient Manual of speculative debauchery’” (Locke 1980, 135). Ironically, Godwin’s attempts to vindicate her wife’s character damaged her honor.
It is difficult to understand that a person of such intellect could not have anticipated the consequences that would follow from disclosing such intimate and controversial aspects of
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Wollstonecraft’s life. As it has been commented in the previous section, Godwin was omitting some of his wife’s past events from the narration so he could have also omitted those aspects that were going to be more criticized about her wife. What was Godwin thinking? Pérez suggests that Godwin might have been considering the commercial aspect of publishing the Memoirs. Godwin had financial struggles after Wollstonecraft’s death, and he might have intended to capitalize on Wollstonecraft’s popularity (2001, 243). Perhaps, Godwin included polemical aspects as a means to attract more readership and, therefore, more financial gains.
Whatever his intentions were, it was clearly counterproductive since his popularity diminished after the publication of the Memoirs and he never fully recovered the favorable opinion that he had once enjoyed as the author of Political Justice. Not only did Godwin strip his wife naked, but he also stripped himself.
5-Conclusions
The Memoirs of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman can be considered a Jacobin biography since Godwin’s Dissenting philosophy is echoed throughout Wollstonecraft’s biography and his aim was to achieve social change by transforming the conscience of the readers. The biography has been analyzed within its historical context in order to understand how Godwin was engaging in the revolutionary discourse triggered by the French Revolution. In order to prove this thesis, the relationship between Memoirs and Political Justice has been explored. To begin with, Godwin’s theory of perpetual improvement has been discussed. According to Godwin, humans were capable of perpetual improvement and they could achieve new modes of social living if they used their intellectual capacities. Godwin conveys this idea through his representation of Wollstonecraft, who is portrayed as the embodiment of the theory of perpetual improvement. Godwin presents her as an individual who is constantly in evolution, emphasizing her intellectual development and her determination to achieve social change. This evolution leads to her reassessment of the establishment and reaches its culmination with the publication of her two Vindications. As opposed to Wollstonecraft, other individuals are presented as flat characters who seem to work against the perpetual improvement of society.
When talking about Burke, for example, Godwin is voicing his own opinions about the revolution controversy and criticizing Burke for the conservatism showed in Reflections on the revolution in France, which appalled both Godwin and Wollstonecraft. Subsequently, this essay has analyzed some of the most controversial aspects of the Memoirs, namely Wollstonecraft’s suicide attempts, her premarital relationships, her rejection of the institution
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of marriage and her tragic death. As it has been argued, Godwin narrated those incidents in detail following the dissenting method of truth-seeking as he believed that candour was one most important elements in order to achieve social change. Therefore, his frank narration of intimate aspects of Wollstonecraft’s life reflects his adherence to the doctrine of sincerity he had advocated in Political Justice. However, Godwin omits some aspects of Wollstonecraft’s life and therefore contradicts himself. Finally, this essay has explained the backlash towards the Memoirs after the publication. As it has been argued it was precisely Godwin’s strict adherence to his doctrine of sincerity and his narration about controversial events that triggered the negative response from the audience, which, in turn, hindered Godwin’s aim to achieve social progress.
All in all, Memoirs is a very interesting work that provides insights into Godwin’s revolutionary thought. Godwin might have been right in claiming that, in order to achieve a virtuous society, truth must be defended. However, there is a difference between being honest and revealing private aspects of one’s wife that should better remain private. He had no necessity to explain in such detail, for example, how the doctor removed the placenta from Wollstonecraft’s womb or the fact that Mary had fallen in love with an already married man in order to disseminate his Dissenting philosophy.
Like the artist of Wollstonecraft’s sculpture should have known that some people might be appalled to see Wollstonecraft naked, Godwin should have anticipated the negative reaction to the Memoirs. Even from a twenty-first-century perspective, it is difficult to comprehend why a husband would be willing to write about his wife’s previous affairs. It is generally considered distasteful to talk about one’s partner’s previous relationships. Thus, it is more than understandable that some eighteen-century readers would be offended at the Memoirs. It would be interesting to know what Wollstonecraft would have thought about it. How would she have reacted to Godwin’s narration of her life? According to Holmes, “Mary Wollstonecraft would have forgiven William Godwin, and the Feminist would have made peace with the Philosopher” (1987, 55). Nevertheless, that is something that shall remain unknown.
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Works Cited
BBC. 2020. “Mary Wollstonecraft statue: 'Mother of feminism' sculpture provokes backlash.” Accessed April 10. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-54886813.
Clemit, Pamela and Walker, Gina Luria, eds. 2001. William Godwin. Memoirs of the Author of the Rights of Woman [1798]. Letchworth: Broadview Literary Press.
Holmes, Richard, ed. 1987. William Godwin. Memoirs of the Author of The Rights of Woman [1798]
with Mary Wollstonecraft. A Short Residence in Sweden [1796]. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Kelly, Gary. 1976. The English Jacobin Novel, 1780-1805. Oxford: Carlendon Press.
Kramnick, Isaac, ed. 1976. William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice [1793, 1796, 1798].
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Locke, Don. 1980. A Fantasy of Reason: The Life and Thought of William Godwin. London: Routledge
& Keegan Paul.
Monsam, Angela. 2008. “Biography as Autopsy in William Godwin's Memoirs of the Author of 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'.” Eighteen-Century Fiction 21, No. 1 (Fall), pp.109-130.
Myers, Mitzi. 1981. “Godwin’s "Memoirs" of Wollstonecraft: The Shaping of Self and Subject.”
Studies in Romanticism 20, No. 3 (Fall), pp. 299-316.
Pérez Rodríguez, Eva Maria. 2001. “William Godwin’s progression to his Memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft.” PhD diss., University of Oviedo.
Rajan, Tilottama. 2000. “Framing the Corpus: Godwin’s “Editing” of Wollstonecraft in 1798.” Studies in Romanticism 39, No. 4 (Winter), pp. 511-531.
Sanders, Andrew. 2004. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stauffer, Donald. 1970. The Art of Biography in Eighteen Century England. New York: Russel &
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Todd, Janet. 2000. Mary Wollstonecraft. A Revolutionary Life. London: Weidenfeld Nicolson.
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Annex
© copyright 2020 BBC
Mary Wollstonecraft’s memorial by Maggi Hambling on display at Newington Green, near the site of the school Mary Wollstonecraft founded3.
3Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-54886813.
