The Preface is written by William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft's husband, acting in his role as editor of the unfinished manuscript. Godwin explains that he thinks it is important to publish the novel even though it is fragmentary and unfinished. He also explains that Wollstonecraft worked on the novel over a long period of time, and “recommenced and revised the manuscript several different times” (57). He acknowledges his own role in compiling fragmentary pieces of the novel and notes that Wollstonecraft’s Preface is incomplete and unfinished.

Wollstonecraft makes it clear that her intention in writing the novel is “the desire of exhibiting the misery and oppression, peculiar to women, that arise out of the partial laws and customs of society” (59). She points out that male characters are often more complex and flawed, while female characters are only presented as models of virtue. Wollstonecraft includes an excerpt from a letter to a friend, in which she describes her fascination and distress with the idea of a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. She also explains her interest in representing women from different social classes.