Under cover

I did not realize that Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her first controversial passages, using the mask of a male author. She “translated” a book from the German and stuck in her own ideas.The German author never complained and MW felt no guilt. Imagine “translating” like that today. Also, she changed the name of the little girl in the story to Mary. All of MW’s heroines are named Mary (or Maria). Why does she do this? On the one hand, she wants the protection of a mask, on the other she wants to proclaim her link to her characters. It is complicated to write about complicated people.

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