Throughout her works, Mary Wollstonecraft interrogates and represents the connected network of theater, culture, and self-representation, in what the author argues is a conscious appropriation of theater in its literal, cultural, and figurative dimensions. She situates Wollstonecraft within early Romantic debates about theatricality. 'Crafton's reconsideration of Wollstonecraft's contribution to and the influence of ideas about theatricality will make this a useful resource for scholars of both subjects, and her central argument about theatricality's potential to be both coercive and liberating deserves further attention.' New Theatre Quarterly '... the rich detail will prove to be very useful for those researching the theatrical climate of the 1790s. Wollstonecraft emerges as a theatrical writer herself who is constantly reacting to the culture of spectacle she inhabited; in this way, her multiple and varying ideas are related by Crafton to society's own complex and conflicting attitudes towards theatricality.' BARS Bulletin 'Crafton's monograph opens up a welcome space for thought within studies of Wollstonecraft, and it should be read by the serious Wollstonecraft scholar.' Modern Language Review