Mary Wollstonecraft's essay A Vindication of the Rights of Women is considered to be one of the most foundational writings for the feminist movement in the west. It is important to note that she was born in England during the Enlightenment period. The heavy emphasis on virtue, individualism, reason, and education during this era are echoed in her writings. She did not receive a formal education as a child, which was not unusual for a woman at the time.  As a young woman, she founded a school for girls and worked as a governess; both of these experiences influenced her writings about the education of women. She began writing towards the end of the French Revolution; her first published work was Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. Shortly after, she wrote both Vindication of the Rights of Man (in response to Edmund Burke) and Vindication of the Rights of Women. Her most important arguments made in writings were that marriage was at its core an economic exchange/property relation, and that the constraints placed on women by society guaranteed them an unhappy life in which they were unable to meet society’s expectations for them. She was an advocate for women’s equality in education, believing it the best way for women to become true “enlightened” citizens. Her personal life was not always a happy one: she attempted suicide in spring 1894 after her first relationship with Gilbert Imlay ended. She eventually married a different man, William Godwin, after becoming pregnant with her second daughter, but died 11 days after giving birth. Her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, went on to become an author as well, writing Frankenstein. 

“Mary Wollstonecraft.” Brooklyn Museum: Mary Wollstonecraft, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/mary_w....

“Mary Wollstonecraft.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Wollstonecraft.

Tomaselli, Sylvana. “Mary Wollstonecraft.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 3 Dec. 2020, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wollstonecraft/.