Maria; Or, The Wrongs of WomanWollstonecraft, Mary
General
Maria; Or, The Wrongs of Woman
Wollstonecraft, Mary
Autobiographical fiction; Feminist fiction; Women -- Fiction
III. “Sued by her husband—Damages awarded to him—Separation from bed
and board—Darnford goes abroad—Maria into the country—Provides for her
father—Is shunned—Returns to London—Expects to see her lover—The rack
of expectation—Finds herself again with child—Delighted—A discovery—A
visit—A miscarriage—Conclusion.”
IV. “Divorced by her husband—Her lover
unfaithful—Pregnancy—Miscarriage—Suicide.”
[The following passage appears in some respects to deviate from the
preceding hints. It is superscribed] “THE END.
“She swallowed the laudanum; her soul was calm—the tempest had
subsided—and nothing remained but an eager longing to forget herself—to
fly from the anguish she endured to escape from thought—from this hell
of disappointment.
“Still her eyes closed not—one remembrance with frightful velocity
followed another—All the incidents of her life were in arms, embodied
to assail her, and prevent her sinking into the sleep of death.—Her
murdered child again appeared to her, mourning for the babe of which
she was the tomb.—‘And could it have a nobler?—Surely it is better to
die with me, than to enter on life without a mother’s care!—I cannot
live!—but could I have deserted my child the moment it was born?—thrown
it on the troubled wave of life, without a hand to support it?’—She
looked up: ‘What have I not suffered!—may I find a father where I am
going!—Her head turned; a stupor ensued; a faintness—‘Have a little
patience,’ said Maria, holding her swimming head (she thought of her
mother), ‘this cannot last long; and what is a little bodily pain to
the pangs I have endured?’
“A new vision swam before her. Jemima seemed to enter—leading a little
creature, that, with tottering footsteps, approached the bed. The voice
of Jemima sounding as at a distance, called her—she tried to listen, to
speak, to look!
“‘Behold your child!’ exclaimed Jemima. Maria started off the bed, and
fainted.—Violent vomiting followed.
“When she was restored to life, Jemima addressed her with great
solemnity: ‘—— led me to suspect, that your husband and brother had
deceived you, and secreted the child. I would not torment you with
doubtful hopes, and I left you (at a fatal moment) to search for the
child!—I snatched her from misery—and (now she is alive again) would
you leave her alone in the world, to endure what I have endured?’
“Maria gazed wildly at her, her whole frame was convulsed with emotion;
when the child, whom Jemima had been tutoring all the journey, uttered
the word ‘Mamma!’ She caught her to her bosom, and burst into a passion
of tears—then, resting the child gently on the bed, as if afraid of
killing it,—she put her hand to her eyes, to conceal as it were the
agonizing struggle of her soul. She remained silent for five minutes,
crossing her arms over her bosom, and reclining her head,—then
exclaimed: ‘The conflict is over!—I will live for my child!’”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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