As I am an avid fan of Wollstonecraft's other works, mainly philosophical writings, I was very excited to read her first novel. After reading this piece though, is clear this is one of her early writings and not as mature or eloquent as her later works. That being said, when placing this work in the context of when it was written during the late eighteenth century and the perspective it offers about marriage, charity, sensibility, friendship and the expectations of women at that time it becomes

Summary: The main character, who the writer named after herself, is superior to everyone. There are long long long passages about how crappy everybody is, even her best friend.5 paragraphs describing people who have no importance in the story whatsoever, and are only really talked about in these 5 paragraphs: "When I mentioned the three ladies, I said they were fashionable women;and it was all the praise, as a faithful historian, I could bestow onthem; the only thing in which they were consisten...

Not to be rude or anything, but if this were about women’s rights, what am I not getting? On the other hand, I can definitely identify with and know women that can identify with loving an unrequited love more than your official relationships. Kind of hard to follow as time and place started to blur which is wild for something so short, but usual of literature of the time period.

The author has particularly disliked novels because she believed they had a devastating effect on the women who read them, making them even more submissive to men. This book was written in response to the sentimental novels that were particularly popular then, as a model of how novels should be realistic and useful in women's development. The result is an interesting different approach to literature, with the story of a woman who differs from all the others as she grows up reading the right book...

Well that was a depressing novella.

Very hard to know how to rate this in 2021. Wollstonecraft is simply brilliant and far ahead of her time. I can't imagine giving this, or any of her works, fewer than 5 stars. I found this challenging to get through, because the writing was definitely tailor made for folks in the 1700s. For me, it was not as pleasurable or effortless as it was reading Margaret Cavendish's Blazing World from the 1600s. That was far more digestible and easy to get lost in the pages that were so filled with imagery...

Thoroughly enjoyed this short novel; I fell in love with the protagonist early on (despite her being self-indulgently woeful!) and willed her to be happy in life.A great window into womens' lives in the 18th century too.

quite interesting to read with the intent of studying sensibility in 18th century women

I notice a lot of the negative reviews of this novel focus on Mary as a character, her self-absorption and 'obsession with herself' - I can't help but disagree. Mary is a fundamentally selfless character, consistently (naively) hopeful that others will behave as well to her as she does to them. That Mary Wollstonecraft has constructed the character around herself is not inherently negative. How many men, particularly in the 18th Century, write characters where they obsessively consider their own...

I really enjoyed this. Short, but packed with so many things. I am working on a presentation for one of my grad courses so I will get a better review up sometime soon. I am struggling with Mary, the heroine, and the idea of her as a feminist character. I go back and forth so I am hoping this presentation puts me into one side. But maybe not. Maybe that is why this is so great?? idk yet.

I've come to the conclusion that I love what Mary Wollstonecraft has to say. Her writing, not so much.

I have to agree with Wollstonecraft's later opinion that this is not a strong work. It's absolutely worth reading to see the beginnings of her later political ideas, but as a work of fiction it's just not great. It's quite muddled and ambivalent, despite being an incredibly tragic narrative. This term is often misused and I don't think it could be properly applied to this text, but the only thing I kept thinking of over and over while reading this is that Mary is a, well, Mary Sue. It unfortunat...

Probs more of a 2.5. only redeeming factor is that it is very short

On the first glance this seems to be a very shallow novel without a deep plot or realistic characters. But the book is not about the plot rather than the emotions conveyed in it. Also the authors use of quotes from other texts and how she manages to embed then in her story really fascinated me. A good, short read that portrays very well that Wollstonecraft knew what she was doing as an author.

Not a masterpiece, but a compelling narrative just the sameThis little novella reminded me of The Sorrows of Werther, in its mood and style. It is a poignant depiction of a woman whose “genius” prevents her from living a conventional life.

This is a fascinating story if you read it from the perspective of intellectual history, in the context of its times and as a reflection of Mary Wollstonecraft's evolving ideas. Inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's conviction that geniuses are self-taught, but in defiance of his poorly-drawn, two-dimensional woman characters, the story presents a self-taught female genius, Mary. The heroine's tragic plight -- by the end, the anticipation of dying young almost seems like a happy ending -- proves h...

Fascinating glimpse into Mary Wollstonecraft's life - for surely much of this is drawn from her own life. What is lacking (is it even known?) is how much of the detail maps to her own experience. For instance was her journey back from Libson similar, did Fanny Blood die while crossing the room, in Mary W's arms? If these details can be confirmed via diaries and letters, then a new edition would be more than justified!I read the Penguin Classic edition, with a forward by Janet ToddRead this as an...

A quick read with little substance. Yes it was Literature, but not impressive enough to make me want to write essays.

Wollstonecraft sets out to tell the story of of a woman who differs from others generally portrayed in novels of the 18th century. In this she succeeds. The main character, Mary, is both empathetic and intelligent, and doesn't hide her contempt of forced marriage or other follies of society. Except for the essaying on religion, enlightenment and romantic ideas, the story seems modern. Mary is like modern feminists who can be blunt and 'tell it like it is.' I recommend this book highly.

Mary Wollstonecraft sure did believe her own hype huh