 Two friendships shaped Wollstonecraft 's early life . The first was with Jane Arden in Beverley . The two frequently read books together and attended lectures presented by Arden 's father , a self @-@ styled philosopher and scientist . Wollstonecraft revelled in the intellectual atmosphere of the Arden household and valued her friendship with Arden greatly , sometimes to the point of being emotionally possessive . Wollstonecraft wrote to her : " I have formed romantic notions of friendship ... I am a little singular in my thoughts of love and friendship ; I must have the first place or none . " In some of Wollstonecraft 's letters to Arden , she reveals the volatile and depressive emotions that would haunt her throughout her life . 
