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Mary Wollstonecraft Three notes to William Godwin

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Shelley's Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family
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Part of the Shelley's Ghost Exhibition. Even after their marriage Godwin and Wollstonecraft preferred to live independently during the day, and communicate by correspondence.
They regularly exchanged anything from long, carefully composed letters to short notes dashed off on scraps of paper. Shown here are Mary's last three notes to Godwin, written while she was waiting impatiently for the delivery of her child ('the animal'), and seeking reassurance from the midwife, Mrs Blenkinsop. In her final note, Mary Wollstonecraft half-quotes her mother's last words; 'Have a little patience, and all will be over'. Her own daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (later Mary Shelley), was born a few hours afterwards. It was a straightforward birth, but Mary Wollstonecraft soon contracted an infection, and died eleven days later.

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Shelley's Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family

William Godwin: Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Part of the Shelley's Ghost Exhibition. Godwin's memoir of Mary Wollstonecraft has been called the first modern biography. At the time, however, its frankness and emotional candour provoked general outrage.
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Shelley's Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family

Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Part of the Shelley's Ghost Exhibition. In her most famous work Mary Wollstonecraft argued that if women were educated in the same way as men they would perform as well.
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Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Episode Information

Series
Shelley's Ghost: Reshaping the Image of a Literary Family
People
Hannah Morrell
Keywords
vindication of rights of women
bodleian
mary wollstonecraft
#greatwriters
shelley's ghost
feminism
shelley
godwin
Department: Bodleian Libraries
Date Added: 02/12/2010
Duration: 00:01:39

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