Mary: A Fiction
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~25,900 words · 123 passages
Cite this work
- APAMary Wollstonecraft. (n.d.). Mary: A Fiction. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/mary-wollstonecraft/mary-a-fiction
- MLAMary Wollstonecraft. "Mary: A Fiction." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/mary-wollstonecraft/mary-a-fiction.
- ChicagoMary Wollstonecraft. Mary: A Fiction. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/mary-wollstonecraft/mary-a-fiction.
What it is about
Mary: A Fiction (1788): her first novel.
Context and history
Written while she was a governess in Ireland and before she was known for anything. The heroine marries out of family obligation and finds whatever life she has outside the marriage. The themes of her whole body of work are already here, without the philosophical argument that would later carry them.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
L'exercice des plus ſublimes vertus deve et nourrit le genie, | ROUSSEAU. LONDON; >} PRINTED FOR I. JONNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. MDCCLXXIYIID. n m —« CY 7 OI Saad Lf a EE "om PS HE * htm SF KTESEMEN Tc: * 0 Fad * this Fiction, the Author attempts to develop a charaQer different from thoſe generally portrayed. This woman Is neither a Clariſſa, 5 a Lady G—, nor a * Sophie, —It would be vain to mention the va- rious modifications of theſe models, . it would to remark, how widely artiſts wander from nature, when they copy the originals of great * Rouſſeau, ©: 0h I: N delineating. e Heroine of Eq —. ADVERTISEMENT. maſters. They catch the groſs parts; but the ſubtile ſpirit eva- Porates; and not having the juſt ties, affectation diſguſts, when grace was expected to charm. | Thoſe compoſitions only have power to delight, and carry us wil- ling captives, where the ſoul of the author is exhibited, and ani- mates the hidden ſprings. Loft in a pleaſing enthuſiaſm, they live in the ſcenes they repreſent; and do not meaſure their ſteps in a beaten track, folicitus to gather expected flowers, and bind them in a wreath, accord- 8 the preſeribed rules of art. pf 1 2 Theſe ADVERTISEMEN T. pf 1 2 Theſe ADVERTISEMEN T. Theſe choſen few, wiſh to ſpeak for themſelves, and not to be an echo—even of the ſweeteft ſounds —or the reflector of the moſt ſub- lime beams. The paradiſe they ramble in, muſt be of their own creating—or the proſpe& ſoon grows inſipid, and not varied by a vivifying principle, fades and dies. In an artleſs tale, without epiſodes, the mind of a woman, who has thinking powers is diſplayed. The female organs have been thought + here give the Reviewers an opportunity of being very witty about the Paradiſe of Fools, &c, 5 too ADVERTISEMENT. too weak for this arduous employ- ment; and experience ſeems to juſtify the ' aſſertion. Without ar- guing phyſically about po/ibilities— in a fiction, ſuch a being may be allowed to exiſt; whoſe
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