An historical and moral view of French Revolution; and the effect it has produced in Europe (1794) - Fragment

Abstract

The English author Mary Wollstonecraft published three books on the French Revolution: Vindication of the Rights of Man (1790); Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792); and A Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution; and the Effect it has produced in Europe (1794). The latter is the least known and valued by the literature specialising in the author. It was written in 1793 during Wollstonecraft's residence in revolutionary France. Therefore, her writing and thoughts coincide with the time of the Jacobin Terror and the violent and authoritarian drift of the revolution, although these events are not made explicit at any point in the book. In fact, she temporarily covers the revolutionary events from 1789 to October 1793, leaving out everything related to the Jacobin government of which she is an eyewitness. However, some hints of that violence permeate some parts of the book, albeit in a very indirect and oblique way. In this sense, some fragments have been selected here for translation into Spanish, which allow us to explain in part some of the causes that, according to the author, generated the subsequent political violence. Beyond this, the book as a whole is essential for understanding the author's interpretation of the revolutionary process from 1789 to October 1793. It should also be read in a key that allows it to be linked to the two previous books, since it enables us to observe her general view of the problem