ABSTRACT
Mary Wollstonecraft met the handsome American Captain Gilbert Imlay after she went to Paris in 1792. She was deeply in love with him and bore him a daughter, Fanny. Her personal life was both enriched and ruined by him. In fact she attempted suicide after he abandoned her. Six months after her fìnal breach with Imlay she had committed herself to William Godwin, for her nature yearned for security and permanency. Imlay was absent on business in Le Havre for some months in 1793 and 1794 and it was during this period that her letters to him began. She joined him in February 1794 and Fanny was born in April 1794. After this there were many long separations before their fìnal separation in 1796.
