Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman

Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman is a fragmentary, philosophical novel written by the English writer, intellectual, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft worked on the novel throughout 1797, leaving it unfinished when she died due to complications from childbirth on September 10, 1797. Her husband, William Godwin, (himself a writer and philosopher) published the novel posthumously in 1798, including his own notes and several possible endings that Wollstonecraft seemed to have been considering. The novel develops many of Wollstonecraft’s ideas about the oppression of women, including concerns about abusive marriages and the delusions fostered by romantic love.

This guide references the 1993 Penguin Classics edition, which includes Maria, as well as additional short novels by Wollstonecraft and her daughter, Mary Shelley.

Other work by this author includes the book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Content Warning: This guide includes references to domestic violence, sexual assault, abortion, and death by suicide. The source text also uses outdated, offensive terms in reference to mental illness and sex work, which are replicated in this guide only through direct quotations. Additionally, this guide maintains the source text’s use of the word “asylum” to refer to institutions that were early precursors of modern psychiatric hospitals.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with Maria imprisoned in an asylum; her husband, George Venables, has forcefully imprisoned her there. Maria desperately pleads that she does not belong there and laments that she has been separated from her infant daughter. No one seems to have sympathy for her plight, although Maria is hopeful that she can persuade Jemima, a woman who works at the asylum, to eventually help her. Jemima is not willing to risk her employment by helping Maria to escape, but she does begin to bring Maria books and writing materials. Maria passes time by reading and writing a narrative of her past life so that she can eventually pass it on to her daughter.

Maria notices that the books, which Jemima obtains from the cell of another prisoner in the asylum, have thoughtful notes in the margins, and she becomes curious about this man. Eventually, with Jemima’s help, Maria and the inmate, Henry Darnford, begin to correspond and even meet in Maria’s cell. Darnford explains that he has also been unjustly imprisoned and is working diligently to secure his freedom. Maria and Henry eventually declare their love for one another.

Meanwhile, Jemima has grown more and more fond of Henry and Maria and shares the story of her past with them. Jemima was born an illegitimate child and lost her mother as an infant; she grew up neglected and unloved in a working-class household. As an adolescent, Jemima was raped by her employer and ended up aborting the pregnancy that resulted from this relationship. She attempted to support herself through domestic service, sex work, and even theft, leading to imprisonment, instability, and poverty. During an interlude in which she lived as the mistress of a well-off and well-educated man, Jemima learned about the pleasures of a cultivated and intellectual lifestyle. However, the only stable and somewhat well-paying job she could secure was at the asylum; Jemima has now worked there for four years, saving all of her money in hopes of eventually starting a new life for herself.

Shortly after sharing her story, Jemima brings Maria the tragic news that Maria’s infant daughter has died. While Maria grieves, she gives Darnford her manuscript that narrates the history of her life. In this narrative, Maria begins with her childhood, explaining how she was a neglected and lonely child whose parents favored her spoiled, older brother. Maria’s only solace was a close relationship with a beloved uncle. Because she was so unhappy at home, Maria began to spend time with the local Venables family and was initially attracted to George Venables, a handsome but rakish young man. After her mother died and her father began a new relationship with a cruel woman who hated Maria, she hastily agreed to marry George.

After a brief period of happiness together in London, Maria began to see George’s true character: he was selfish, dissolute, cruel, addicted to gambling, and spent all their money. The couple led increasingly estranged lives, but there was no way for Maria to break free from her unhappy marriage. After about six years of marriage, the couple briefly reconciled, and Maria became pregnant. This pregnancy further bound her to George; while she was pregnant, Maria discovered that he agreed to let one of his friends sleep with her in exchange for money. Outraged, she declared their marriage to be over and fled from their home.

Maria was forced to move from place to place, hiding from George and his attempts to force her to return to him. She hoped to eventually live abroad with her uncle but these plans were delayed, and Maria ended up giving birth to her daughter in London. A few days after the birth, Maria learned that her uncle had died and left his fortune in trust to her child, with Maria as guardian. She hoped to use this newfound financial freedom to start a new life, but George enacted a plot to drug Maria, take the baby from her, and have her imprisoned in the asylum on the grounds of alleged “insanity.”

In the remaining and less complete part of the narrative, Maria and Darnford become lovers. Jemima helps Maria to escape, and Darnford is also freed. The three move in together in London, with Jemima working as their housekeeper. However, Darnford goes to Paris to pursue legal action to secure an inheritance he is owed, while Maria is faced with George raising a lawsuit against Darnford on the grounds that he seduced his wife. Maria testifies that she willingly began a relationship with Darnford and that she is entitled to have her first marriage dissolved because of how George mistreated her. However, the judge rules in George’s favor.

The final portion of the text contains only fragments and notes of possible endings that Wollstonecraft considered. While the details vary, Wollstonecraft seems to have intended for Darnford to betray and abandon Maria. In several of the possible endings, Maria loses a pregnancy, and in one, she dies by suicide. In the most detailed of the multiple endings, Maria attempts suicide after having been betrayed by Darnford but is saved by Jemima. Jemima, not believing claims that the baby died, has tracked down Maria’s daughter and reunites mother and daughter. Maria joyfully decides to embrace a new life in which she and Jemima will raise her daughter together.