Mary Wollstonecraft
Having witnessed firsthand the devastating results of male improvidence, she assumed an independent role early in life, educating herself and eventually earning a living as a governess, teacher and writer. She was also an esteemed member of the radical intellectual circle...
Mary: A Fiction is the only complete novel by 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. It tells the tragic story of a female's successive "romantic friendships" with a woman and a man. Composed while Wollstonecraft was a governess in Ireland, the novel was published in 1788 shortly after her summary dismissal and her decision to embark on a writing career, a precarious and disreputable profession for women in 18th-century
...5) Mathilda
Mathilda is narrated from the title character's death bed. She recounts her relationship with her father, who had an incestuous love for her, and his suicide by drowning. Her relationship with a gifted young poet was unable to prevent her emotional withdrawal after her father's death, or the lonely fact of her own dying.
Shelley wrote Mathilda in an attempt to deal with the loss of her two infant children.