57 pages 1 hour read

Mary Wollstonecraft

Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1798

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Volume 2, Appendix-Conclusion

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Appendix Summary: “Advertisement”

The editor breaks in to explain that the novel is unfinished, but he assumes that readers will be emotionally invested in the characters and want to know more. Thus, the editor is including the remaining fragments that the author left unfinished at the time of her death, including “broken paragraphs and half-finished sentences” (136).

Volume 2, Chapter 15 Summary

Darnford has finished reading Maria’s narrative and sends it back to her accompanied by a letter. He is very sympathetic to her suffering and outraged that marriage leads to so much suffering for women. He asks Maria to agree to meet with him again, and she does so. They begin to meet regularly in Maria’s cell and now have a much more openly romantic relationship, in which “as her husband she now received him” (138).

One day, the asylum master comes to see Maria in her cell, bringing a letter from George’s attorney. The attorney confirms that Maria’s child has died and encourages Maria to give half of her money to George; if she does so, the attorney claims that she will be released and allowed to travel to Italy. Maria refuses. Later that day, she and Henry are alone in her cell, and he mentions that he is afraid they are going to be separated and wants to cement their bond with one another.

Related Titles

By Mary Wollstonecraft

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Mary Wollstonecraft

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects

Mary Wollstonecraft