In 1982, Wollstonecraft's mother died. In 1784, she opened a school, with the help of her sister Eliza and her good friend, Fanny Blood. After losing Fanny, in 1785, to childbirth, and being forced to close the school, she wrote her first work — a pamphlet entitled Thoughts on the Education of Daughters.

In 1788, she wrote her first book: Mary, A Fiction. She completed translations of Jacques Necker and other writers and in 1790, Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of The Rights of Men (later published in 1792) in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on The Revolution in France.

Wollstonecraft met and became involved with an American businessman, Gilbert Imlay, in 1793 when she travelled to Paris, France. She became pregnant and gave birth to her first daughter, Fanny, by Imlay. But, the relationship became dangerous to her health, as she discovered his infidelity and tried to commit suicide several times.

In 1796, Wollstonecraft met William Godwin and the two became lovers. Even though they both didn't believe in marriage, they married on March 29, 1797 after Wollstonecraft had become pregnant.

Wollstonecraft died of puerperal fever ("childbed fever") eight days after the birth of her second daughter, the future Mary Shelley.