Publisher's Synopsis
In Maria, or, the Wrongs of Woman (1798), Wollstonecraft argues that a self‐affirming version of the sublime, regulated by reason and grounded in religious conviction, enables individuals to imagine their own agency in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. By formulating a sublime that aims to be more inclusive and less detrimental than Burke's, she offers an opportunity to envision an agency available to more than the select few whose existence meets the conditions under which Burkean delight may be experienced. In the novel, the sublime functions as a prompt for individuals to remember their own powers of reason, their origin, and destination. This essay evaluates Wollstonecraft's dialogue with Burke, compares her understanding of sublime purposiveness with that of Kant, and elucidates her allusions to Alexander the Great, a key emblem for eighteenth‐century sublimity. Her attempt to advocate for a revised sublime, one that forms the basis of a new, non‐Alexandrian heroic agency that will in turn have a powerful effect on readers, constitutes one of the era's many programs to "create a taste" for unconventional characters or themes. Wollstonecraft's reformulation also contributes to broader debates regarding the interplay of passion and regulation.
