Letter to the Women of England on the Injustice of Mental Subordination: 1799

by Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson's distinction is being more and more widely recognised. In addition to her work as poet, novelist and playwright she is credited with political writings, memoirs and this passionate polemic. All this despite a long drawn-out and painful illness that killed her at the age of 42, and years of mistreatment at the hands of the opposite sex. Here, writing under the pseudonym Anne Frances Randall, she lists distinguished female intellectuals (including herself), and proposes a university for women.

116 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Mary Robinson, nee Darby (1757-1800) was an English poet and novelist. During her lifetime she was known as 'the English Sappho'. She was also known for her role as Perdita (heroine of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale) in 1779 and as the first public mistress of George IV. After seeing her as Perdita, and declaring himself enraptured with her, the Prince of Wales, offered Mary Robinson twenty thousand pounds to become his mistress. However, he soon tired of her and abandoned her after a year, refusing to pay the money. Her reputation was destroyed by the affair, and she could no longer find work as an actress. Eventually, the Crown agreed to pay Robinson five thousand pounds, in return for the Prince's love letters to her. In 1783, at the age of 26, Robinson suffered a mysterious illness that left her partially paralyzed. From the late 1780s, she became distinguished for her poetry. In addition to poems, she wrote six novels, two plays, a feminist treatise, and an autobiographical manuscript that was incomplete at the time of her death.

Reviews

[Whitney Borup · Rating 3 out of 5]

ooooo! she's pissed!