ABSTRACT
This chapter studies in depth the immediate response in England to Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. This survey is followed by an exploration of the reaction to Wollstonecraft’s book after the publication of Godwin’s Memoirs that effectively destroyed her reputation, discredited her arguments for equal education and vocational opportunities, and impaired the sales of her books in England. Still, as this chapter argues, even if they were greatly and unduly besieged, Wollstonecraft’s works exerted a significant impact on readers and fellow writers.
