Helen Maria Williams
Helen Maria Williams was a notable British poet and novelist born in London in 1761. Following her father's death, her family relocated to Berwick-on-Tweed, where she received a limited education. In 1781, she returned to London, where her literary career blossomed after meeting influential figures such as poet Andrew Kippis. Williams published her first poem, "Edwin and Eltruda," in 1782, and subsequently released a collection in 1786 that showcased her politically charged views, including support for the abolition of slavery and the French Revolution.
Her novel "Julia" (1790) further reflected her revolutionary ideals, and she took the bold step of traveling to France during a time of political upheaval. Williams became involved with the Girondists and faced imprisonment during the Reign of Terror. Despite controversies surrounding her personal life and the perception of her political radicalism, she continued to produce significant literary works, including translations of French literature and her critique of the evolving political landscape under Napoleon I. Throughout her life, Williams served as a vital bridge between French intellectual thought and the English-speaking world, remaining influential until her later years.
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Helen Maria Williams
- Born: June 17, 1761
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: December 15, 1827
Biography
Helen Maria Williams was born in London in 1761 to a Scottish mother, Helen Hay, and a Welsh army officer, Charles Williams. After the death of her father when she was only eight, the family moved to Berwick-on-Tweed. While there, Williams received what she called a confined education. In 1781, she returned to London where she met poet Andrew Kippis, who was to have a profound influence in her life. Through Kippis, she was introduced to the leading intellectuals in London.
Shortly after her arrival in London, Williams published her first poem, Edwin and Eltruda: A Legendary Tale (1782). The following year she published two other poems which were later included in a collection of poetry published in 1786. This collection included poems that expressed Williams’s political views. She supported the abolition of slavery and upheld the ideals of the French Revolution. Her ideas made her quite controversial in her time, and other writers often portrayed her as too politically radical.
Williams’s novel Julia: A Novel, Interspersed with Some Poetical Pieces (1790) once again endorsed the French Revolution. Defying convention, she traveled to France unescorted and stayed with Madame DuFosse, who had previously given her French lessons. During this time, Williams began to compose more prose than poetry. She attended the Fêtê de la Fêdération, celebrating the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, before returning to London. She returned to France in July, 1791, and published her poem A Farewell, for Two Years, to England: A Poem. Williams returned briefly to London the following year to persuade her family to join her in France.
In 1792, after the September Massacres, Williams joined the Girondists, a politically moderate group of republicans. When the Girondists were overthrown and the Reign of Terror began, Williams and her family were imprisoned in Luxembourg. While in prison, she was allowed to translate works of French literature into English, and she wrote several sonnets which were appended to her translation of Jacques-Henri Bernardin St. Pierre’s novel Paul et Virginie. When she was released from prison, she traveled to Switzerland with John Stone, who, although separated from his wife, was still considered a married man. Williams’s detractors seized upon this event as another indication of her wantonness.
Williams’s later work continued to express her attachment to the original ideals of the revolution, but she also expressed her growing disenchantment with Napoleon I. When her work Sketches of the State of Manners and Opinions in the French Republic, Towards the Close of the Eighteenth Century, in a Series of Letters was published in 1801, Napoleon I declared it was treasonous to the new republic. In spite of her feelings about the new French government, Williams continued to live and work in France, except for a brief period of time when she lived in Amsterdam. For the remainder of her life, she was an important interpreter of French intellectual thought for the English- speaking world.