A Letter to the Women of England and The Natural Daughter

Book excerpt: Mary Robinson’s A Letter to the Women of England (1799) is a radical response to the rampant anti-feminist sentiment of the late 1790s. In this work, Robinson encourages her female contemporaries to throw off the “glittering shackles” of custom and to claim their rightful places as the social and intellectual equals of men. Separately published in the same year, Robinson’s novel The Natural Daughter follows the story of Martha Morley, who defies her husband’s authority, adopts a found infant, is barred from her husband’s estate and is driven to seek work as an actress and author. The novel implicitly links and critiques domestic tyrants in England and Jacobin tyrants in France. This edition also includes: other writings by Mary Robinson (tributes, and an excerpt from The Progress of Liberty); writings by contemporaries on women, society, and revolution; and contemporary reviews of both works.