This thesis is a screenplay for an imagined \"biopic\" of Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft has already been the subject of many biographies, each presenting their authors' own understanding of her life. Here, I present my view, guided -- to varying and sometimes conflicting degrees -- by my understanding of her own fictionalized autobiographical efforts; by my understanding of Godwin's attempted work in his Memoir of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman; by the idea that her beliefs about virtue and freedom drove her forward through her own life; by the needs of narrative structure and the challenges and opportunities of the film form; by her works, her letters, and Godwin's Memoir; and by my own admitted desire to portray her life as bold, adventurous, and ultimately a triumph rather than a tragedy. This last consideration was the foremost in my selection of the format of an imagined film as the medium of this biography.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis is a screenplay for an imagined "biopic" of Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft has already been the subject of many biographies, each presenting their authors' own understanding of her life. Here, I present my view, guided -- to varying and sometimes conflicting degrees -- by my understanding of her own fictionalized autobiographical efforts; by my understanding of Godwin's attempted work in his Memoir of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman; by the idea that her beliefs about virtue and freedom drove her forward through her own life; by the needs of narrative structure and the challenges and opportunities of the film form; by her works, her letters, and Godwin's Memoir; and by my own admitted desire to portray her life as bold, adventurous, and ultimately a triumph rather than a tragedy. This last consideration was the foremost in my selection of the format of an imagined film as the medium of this biography.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McGivney, Jessica"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Liberal Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Rachel Brownstein"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-02-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-02-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:05Z","subjects":["Film and Media Studies","Legal Biography","Women's Studies","biography","film script","Godwin","life writing","screenplay","Wollstonecraft"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/593","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Rachel Brownstein"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McGivney, Jessica"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-02-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Liberal Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Film and Media Studies","Legal Biography","Women's Studies","biography","film script","Godwin","life writing","screenplay","Wollstonecraft"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/593"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis is a screenplay for an imagined \"biopic\" of Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft has already been the subject of many biographies, each presenting their authors' own understanding of her life. Here, I present my view, guided -- to varying and sometimes conflicting degrees -- by my understanding of her own fictionalized autobiographical efforts; by my understanding of Godwin's attempted work in his Memoir of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman; by the idea that her beliefs about virtue and freedom drove her forward through her own life; by the needs of narrative structure and the challenges and opportunities of the film form; by her works, her letters, and Godwin's Memoir; and by my own admitted desire to portray her life as bold, adventurous, and ultimately a triumph rather than a tragedy. This last consideration was the foremost in my selection of the format of an imagined film as the medium of this biography.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Virtue: A Life of Mary Wollstonecraft"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Rachel Brownstein"],"dc:creator":["McGivney, Jessica"],"dc:date.available":["2019-02-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis is a screenplay for an imagined \"biopic\" of Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft has already been the subject of many biographies, each presenting their authors' own understanding of her life. Here, I present my view, guided -- to varying and sometimes conflicting degrees -- by my understanding of her own fictionalized autobiographical efforts; by my understanding of Godwin's attempted work in his Memoir of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman; by the idea that her beliefs about virtue and freedom drove her forward through her own life; by the needs of narrative structure and the challenges and opportunities of the film form; by her works, her letters, and Godwin's Memoir; and by my own admitted desire to portray her life as bold, adventurous, and ultimately a triumph rather than a tragedy. This last consideration was the foremost in my selection of the format of an imagined film as the medium of this biography.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/593"],"dc:subject":["Film and Media Studies","Legal Biography","Women's Studies","biography","film script","Godwin","life writing","screenplay","Wollstonecraft"],"dc:title":["Virtue: A Life of Mary Wollstonecraft"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Liberal Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:05Z"}