In her July 1st letter Wollstonecraft says: “I labour in vain to calm my mind- my soul has been overwhelmed by sorrow and disappointment. Everything fatigues me- this is a life that cannot last long.” This shows a mental state that is depressive to the point of suicide. In the other letters, she includes various complaints and hardships but always with an air of strength and overcoming them. Here she presents a figure who finds herself at rock bottom. She writes with a sense of hopelessness; the statements are not qualified by some show of power or achievement. Instead, she goes on and on about the negative state of her mind, physicality, and the place she visits. In the edited letters, we see that she often leaves out these passages into her mental state. She will talk about her desire to be in solitude or her various contemplations on the difficult aspects of life but she does not reveal the truly suicidal level at which she sometimes finds herself while communicating with Imlay.
In her first few letters to Imlay, words like
‘suffer’ and ‘fatigue’ are frequent. They are used to express the beaten down
and exhausted state of both mind and body. In the edited letters she describes
the hardship of riding on a cargo ship but she does not ruminate on the effects
it has on her. By leaving this part to the imagination, one can envision a
strong, determined, and independent woman. This is not to say that women cannot
be strong and independent by suffering through fatigue and hardship. However,
displays of vulnerability are often conflated with weakness, specifically a
feminine weakness.
She also states in the July 1st
letter: “You can only contribute to my comfort.” She not only addresses Imlay
directly (which is rarer in the edited letters), but she also gives him a lot
of power in this sentence. She is telling him that she needs him; he is the
only person who can contribute to her comfort. Whereas, in her edited letters
she shows that she can do things without a man to help her. She also shows that
she sees herself on an equal level of power and importance as the men. For
example, when the captain tells her they cannot take a boat to shore, she
ignores his opinion and continues to ask the sailors if they can take a boat to
shore.
In the edited letters Wollstonecraft uses ‘you’
more ambiguously, often referring to the audience ‘you.’ In her letters to
Imlay it is clear that she addressed him more directly and more intimately on
several occasions. In her July 4th letter she says: “I cannot tear
my affections from you.” The word ‘affections’ reveals a level of intimacy
between Wollstonecraft and Imlay which she is hesitant to display in the other
letters. To maintain her independence and respectability she edits out passages
in which she exposes her romantic or sexual nature. Again, it is possible to be
independent and respectable while engaging in a romantic relationship. However,
the time period has a great value on propriety and regulations on what is and
is not acceptable for a relationship. Wollstonecraft had an illegitimate child
at the time and was not actually married to Imlay but using his name. Because
she published the edited letters after she found him living with another woman,
it makes sense that she would want to inhibit readers from the former
relationship.
Wollstonecraft signs the Imlay letters with
phrases such as ‘yours truly,’ yours most affectionately,’ yours sincerely,’ and
‘yours affectionately.’ In the edited letters she generally sticks with a more
neutral sign off such as ‘good night!’ or ‘adieu.’ Once again she limits the
focus on their relationship and de-emphasizes the level of affection between
them at the time. She also reduces her use of the word ‘your’ in the edited
letters which strengthens her self concept of independence.
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