Misconceptions, Scandal, and a Quest for Truth

Nancy Means Wright author photoRelevant History welcomes Nancy Means Wright, who has published sixteen books, including five contemporary mystery novels from St Martin’s Press, and most recently two historicals: The Nightmare: A Mystery with Mary Wollstonecraft (2011) and its prequel, Midnight Fires (Perseverance Press, 2010). Her children’s mysteries received both an Agatha Award and Agatha nomination. Poems and short stories have appeared in American Literary Review, Green Mountains Review, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Level Best Books, and elsewhere. Longtime teacher and Bread Loaf Scholar for a first novel, Nancy lives with her spouse and two Maine Coon cats in Middlebury, Vermont. For more information, check her web site.

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How many poets, writers, and artists were undervalued during their lives, even scorned, and only posthumously called genius, classic, great? I think, among others, of the reclusive Emily Dickinson who published a mere handful of poems in her lifetime, or eccentric Vincent Van Gogh who sold only a single painting, cut off his ear, and was considered mad.

Few, it seems, were as misunderstood and maligned as 18th-century Mary Wollstonecraft. Her groundbreaking Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) was greeted with cries of outrage when she called for co-education for girls with boys, and for female political, economic, and legal equality. Marriage she declared, was “a slavery; arranged marriages a legal prostitution.” For that, they called her a “hyena in petticoats,” a “philosophical wanton.” Even her own sex belittled her: “There is something absurd in the very title,” the conservative writer Hannah More said of Vindication; “I am resolved not to read it!”

Some of her disrepute came about through her own conflicted character. Her open-mindedness and impetuosity, along with her intolerance of sham and injustice, made her an easy target. She rescued her younger sister from an abusive marriage—and society called it “kidnapping.” She compelled a biased English captain to rescue a sinking boatload of French sailors, and was labelled “presumptuous.” As governess, she taught her pupils to love Shakespeare and to think for themselves, but was dismissed when her aristocratic employers claimed she’d neglected to teach their daughters to embroider—and worse, had stolen their affections from the neurotic mother.

“I want to live independent or not at all!” Mary cried as she fled to London with the manuscript of her first (autobiographical) novel.

Her life was a struggle between her principles of independence and her passions. In London, she horrified society when she sought a platonic ménage à trois with artist Henry Fuseli and his pampered wife. In revolutionary Paris, with heads rolling from the guillotine, she lost her own head to the dashing American captain, Gilbert Imlay. To Mary, still a virgin at 34 when he bowled her over, the act of love was “wholly sacred.” When she got pregnant, Imlay abandoned mother and illegitimate child to the taunts of society. Her attempts at suicide after the betrayal caused yet more scandal. Back in London, doors slammed in her face.

Finally, honest William Godwin came along, to offer genuine love and commitment. Their short happy marriage ended in the birth of daughter Mary (who later wrote Frankenstein)—and with the young mother’s death. Yet writer Godwin naively added shovelfuls of coal to the public fire with a posthumous memoir in which he gave full, unverified details about his late wife’s relationships with Fuseli, and then with Imlay and their illegitimate child, Fanny. Godwin praised her rejection of organized religion but neglected to mention her belief in God and her deep spiritual nature. Mary’s letters show her as loyal, loving, and monogamous, but horrified Londoners saw only an atheist and a wanton, an unwed mother involved with three men—even simultaneously, according to salacious rumor.

The slander persisted throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. Although a few carefully researched biographies came out in the late 19th century, it has only been since the mid-to-late 20th century that a flurry of biographies have shown Mary to be the highly original, intelligent, compassionate woman that she truly was. She made some crazy mistakes in her life as we all do, but always owned up to them, and came through her trials with remarkable resilience.

Feeling her to be an admirable sleuth through her intolerance of sham and injustice; and determined to clear up falsehoods and to bring her to full life, I began a series of mystery novels with Mary Wollstonecraft as protagonist. One might call it a Vindication of Mary! In Midnight Fires she is a beleaguered young governess to the notorious Kingsborough family. In The Nightmare, just out from Perseverance Press, her quest for truth leads to a madhouse chase to free a man accused of stealing Fuseli’s famous painting, “The Nightmare,” and to discover the rogue who strangled a woman to resemble that painting. Book 3 will take her to revolutionary Paris, “neck or nothing!” as she famously declared—and to meet the rogue Imlay.

Mary once wrote her sister that she was going to be “the first of a new genus of woman,” and so, despite the misconceptions and overwhelming odds, she was.

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The Nightmare book coverA big thanks to Nancy Means Wright. She’ll give away one paperback copy of The Nightmare and two paperback copies of Midnight Fires to people who contribute comments on my blog this week. I’ll choose three winners from among those who comment by Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available within Canada and the U.S.

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Comments

Misconceptions, Scandal, and a Quest for Truth — 26 Comments

  1. I’m surprised by Hannah More’s comment as she founded a school and, indeed, schools were named for her, such as the Hannah Moore Academy in Reisterstown Maryland.

  2. Thanks for your intriguing comment, Liz! Novelist Hannah More was a friend of the arch-conservative Edmund Burke, whom Mary challenged in her “Vindication of the Rights of Men,” and obviously worried that public opinion against Mary might paint her with the same negative brush. Like Wollstonecraft, More was dismayed by the social restrictions against women, but felt that Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Woman” was too forthright, too daring. And she did publically “refuse” to read it. But later, I understand, More’s thinking became more progressive.Is the Hannah Moore Academy in Md the same Hannah More, do you know? And other schools as well? (Nancy)

  3. Thanks for the information about Mary. I didn’t know most of this. I marvel at how she managed to stand up for her beliefs under such ridicule. However, I question her notice on teaching girls along with boys. Girls often tend to hold back and not act “smart” in co-ed settings in an effort to appear attractive to boys. What Mary possibly meant was that girls should be taught the same “difficult” subjects as boys.
    Sally Carpenter
    “The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper”
    Oak Tree Press

  4. Hi Sally, thanks for stopping by. I’m sure that Nancy will respond to this soon, but did you know that in the U.S., the first school to teach girls about science and philosophy (formerly frowned-upon subjects for females) was established right after the American War of Independence? Our Founding Fathers realized a) what a tremendous help women had been during the war, and b) while the country was still taking baby steps, keeping women ignorant wasn’t a good idea. Thus women received higher education with a distinct agenda. But at least they received education. :-)

  5. I can appreciate your thoughts on coeducational classes, Sally. I went to an all girls’ school and then a women’s college. When I entered a coed grad school, I was afraid to open my mouth for the first six weeks!… Although Wollstonecraft does mention girls and boys together, particularly in the elementary years, I think she meant equal education, in the sense, as you suggest, of girls being offered the same academic fare as boys. Most girls in her day simply went to a sort of dame school, and then quit altogether around age ten.Wollstonecraft herself was self-educated,with help in science from a friend’s father….

  6. I finally managed a WIFI connection from out of the country & was lucky enough to see this posting! What a gripping blog read about a fascinating woman! Thank you for sharing it & look forward to learning more about Mary.

  7. Thank you, Helena! Out of the country–where? If in London, there will soon be a monument to Mary, a long deserved honor. Wouldn’t she be surprised to see it, after all the negative response she received in her day!But then, she had her admirers, too–without whom she could never have endured.

  8. Sorry to be late getting back to you.
    Some history on The Hannah More Academy in Reisterstown.
    http://www.allsaints.ang-md.org/historyPeople.htm
    http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/003000/003200/003280/pdf/msa_se5_3280.pdf
    http://www.stt.org/Alumnae/Hannah_More_Academy.html
    In the 1970s, the Academy merged with St. Timothy’s. Currently, part of the Academy grounds is leased to a Hannah More School, for children with disabilities.
    http://www.hannahmore.org/about.html
    On More and education generally —
    Smith, M. K. (2002) ‘Hannah More: Sunday schools, education and youth work’, the encyclopedia of informal education, http://www.infed.org/thinkers/more.htm.

  9. Liz, I’m signing off for the night, but tomorrow I’ll check out those links. Thanks so much for doing all this great research! I had no idea that these schools existed in America. And a school for children with disabilities, as well… I’ll be interested to discover the history behind their founding. Perhaps you should write an article about them?

  10. I have small pieces of information, but nothing like your in-depth knowledge. Glad to pass along tidbits that may be helpful, or at least interesting, to you.
    Should I take up writing, I’m obligated to finish a book my brother researched. Suzanne, you remember my mention of a Civil War privateer ancestor.

  11. When I first learned that The Nightmare would be available this September, I preordered 3 copies to give as holiday gifts to 3 very special people. Nancy Means Wright is an excellent writer, and her creative imagination, combined with her thorough historical research, impresses me greatly. Can’t wait to hold this fine book in my hands!
    Chris Roerden

  12. Liz, a book about a Civil War privateer would provide the kind of escape that many readers seek. I suspect that it would do well in the current economic climate. Write it!

  13. Chris, thank you so, so much for stopping by and for preordering my book. You may well win one here, who knows? For anyone who doesn’t know Chris, she is a fabulous editor and author of two superb how-to books in the mystery genre. I should say “sine qua non” (without which nothing) books! They not only educate, but entertain as well.

  14. Interesting blog. I am big on educating women in third world countries as history shows it helps bring the country into the present century.

  15. Troublingly, for their work to be valued during their lifetimes, women writers have to not only write according to male-dominated (publishers’) rules, but have lives that are found “interesting” to the media. Then and now….

  16. Sorry, I got cut off (semi-computer-illiterate). Then and now, it’s hard for the powers that be to correctly value a woman who stands alone.

  17. Posted on behalf of M. E. Kemp, who has a cranky computer ;-):
    Leave it to Nancy Means Wright to take a painting like “The Nightmare,” which I’ve always thought was truly creepy, and come up with a new novel! I can hardly wait to read it.
    Marilyn aka: M. E. Kemp
    DEATH OF A DANCING MASTER

  18. I’m concerned, too, Shirley,about educating 3rd world women. I worry about the Taliban taking over as we withdraw from Afghanistan. You may know that Margaret Atwood’s terrifying novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, was inspired by her trip to Afghanistan where females couldn’t attend classes. And you’re right, Shelley, even in the US and Europe, woman’s work is still undervalued. I’m lucky with my supportive female editor and androgynous publishers. But many authors aren’t, and male dominated thrillers, it appears, are valued more highly (at least receive higher pay)than amateur sleuth authors, who are mostly women. But we struggle on!

  19. Thanks, Marilyn,for your kind words! The original Nightmare painting is pretty creepy, as are most of Fuseli’s 18th-century paintings–many of them inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedies. I’m looking forward to your new work, too–a sequel, I hope to the fabulous Death of a Dancing Master!

  20. Fascinating post about Mary Wollstonecraft, Nancy. Although I’ve heard you speak about her on panels, I learned even more from reading this. Especially liked how you point out the contradictions in her character, high-minded ideals together with strong passions, both of which got her into trouble with the society of her times.
    Having read MIDNIGHT FIRES, I’m impressed with the way you bring this passionate, multi-faceted woman to life, and look forward to reading THE NIGHTMARE. I’m not familiar with the painting,as Marilyn is, but it sounds intriguing and definitely creepy!

  21. Thanks so much for commenting, Leslie. It does seem to be true: that Mary’s own inner conflicts and contradictions brought on some of her woes. Moreover, she was highly impulsive, acting from a moment’s passion,not always thinking about possible consequences.I have to admit that I’ve often the same flaw…