Biographical Directory 303morialized Dr. Johnson in Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786)
and Letters to and from the Late Samuel Johnson (1788). Wollstonecraft
cites a passage from the later work as indicative of Piozzi’s adoption of
the very sentiments that “brutalize” her sex.
Pope, Alexander (1688 –1744). Famous English poet of the Augustan pe-
riod. He is well known for his translations of Homer’s Iliad (1715 –
1720) and Odyssey (1725 –1726), his Pastorals (1709), satiric works
such as The Rape of the Lock (1714), and for perfecting the heroic
couplet. Wollstonecraft makes explicit reference to An Essay on Criti-
cism (1711) and An Essay on Man (1733 –1724), which are known as
his more philosophically grounded social critiques. Wollstonecraft also
identifi es and is critical of Pope’s depiction of women in Of the Charac-
ters of Women: An Epistle to a Lady (1735).
Price, Dr. Richard (1723 –1791). English dissenting minister, political
writer, and moral philosopher. He engaged Hutcheson and Hume in a
1758 work entitled A Review of the Principal Questions in Morals. Here
he defends a rationalist position against Hutcheson’s moral sense philos-
ophy and Hume’s grounding of morals in the passions. Wollstonecraft
encountered him and his ideas when she was living in Newington Green
and attended his sermons. The infl uence of Price’s moral and political
thought on Wollstonecraft especially appears in the Rights of Men and
the Rights of Woman. Price was a friend and philosophical opponent of
Joseph Priestley. He was also a friend of Benjamin Franklin and wrote
works in defense of both the American and French Revolutions, which
made him a target of Edmund Burke’s criticism in Refl ections on the
Revolution in France.
Priestley, Joseph (1733 –1804). Leading member of the British Enlighten-
ment known especially for his contributions to science and theology, as
well as moral, political, and natural philosophy. He was a committed
utilitarian and his works attempt to incorporate both theist and materi-
alist strands of thought. Priestley fi rst became a controversial fi gure on
the basis of his proposals for parliamentary reform in favor of a separa-
tion between church and state. His support for the French Revolution,
as seen in his reply to Burke’s Refl ections on the Revolution in France,
only added to his status as an infl ammatory fi gure. He was therefore one
of the fi rst targets of anti-Enlightenment sentiment in reaction to the
French Revolution. In 1791, his home and laboratory were destroyed;
he then fl ed to the United States in 1794.
Rebekah, or Rebecca (c. 19th century BCE). In the Old Testament, the
wife of Isaac. Their sons were Jacob and Esau. Wollstonecraft uses