Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman

Jemima is an important secondary character who functions as a foil to Maria. Jemima sometimes also takes on the role of “sidekick,” assisting Maria with her plans and schemes; at other times she plays an active and heroic role, protecting and helping Maria attain her independence. Jemima comes from an impoverished, working-class background; she has had limited education or exposure to social niceties, but she possesses an innate intelligence and goodness. As soon as Maria meets her, she observes that Jemima “was superior to her class” (63). Jemima is also susceptible to positive social influences and is readily shaped by encounters with other characters.

Due to traumatic experiences beginning in early childhood, Jemima becomes cynical, pragmatic, and focused primarily on taking care of herself. As she herself explains, “what should induce me to be the champion for suffering humanity? —Whoever risked anything for me? Whoever acknowledged me to be a fellow-creature?” (91). Jemima lacks a sense of community or belonging within a family unit, so she becomes accustomed to looking out for herself. Given her economic precarity and the real risk of starving to death, Jemima is willing to break laws and act in ways that challenge social and moral norms. However, Jemima is also capable of feeling guilt when other people are impacted by the choices she makes in order to survive; after she plays an indirect role in another impoverished woman dying by suicide, she laments that she “wondered how I could be such a monster!” (89). Gradually, Jemima becomes more drawn to the idea of building a sense of community and family for herself. By the end of the novel, Jemima is very loyal and devoted to Maria, and in one possible ending, she even ends up finding a happy life for herself with Maria and Maria’s young daughter. 

Darnford is an aristocratic, young Englishman who is unjustly imprisoned in the asylum at the same time as Maria. Darnford is well-read, sensitive, and intellectual, which is part of what first attracts Maria’s attention. He is charming and capable of grand romantic gestures, which also wins her heart. However, Darnford’s history of his past life suggests that he is flighty, self-absorbed, and inconsistent. Darnford’s childhood does not offer positive models of family or romantic life, and he explains his early relationships with women in coarse and disrespectful terms. As he explains, “woman, lovely woman! —they charm every where” (75). Moreover, Darnford seems vague and inconsistent about his political principles; he flirts with the ideals of the American Revolution but seems unhappy building a permanent life in America and can only cite shallow reasons for his distaste for the country, such as “the puritanical manners of the large towns” (75).

Darnford is a relatively flat character who does not experience much growth. In Wollstonecraft’s plans for the final portion of the novel, Darnford seems to reveal his true colors and becomes bored and disinterested in maintaining a relationship with Maria. This inconsistency is particularly damning because Maria has sacrificed so much to be with him. Wollstonecraft also depicts Darnford abandoning Maria to pursue romantic relationships with other women. Since Darnford often seems to assess women based solely on their beauty and sexual allure, he has a shallow and ultimately disloyal attitude toward his romantic relationships. Far from ultimately being portrayed as a romantic hero, Darnford becomes a secondary villain in the possible plotlines for the novel’s final portion.