Worm
Wollstonecraft writes, “How grateful was her ( Jemima) attention to Maria! Oppressed by a dead weight of existence, or preyed on by the gnawing worm of discontent, with what eagerness did she endeavour to shorten the long days, which left no traces behind! She seemed to be sailing on the vast ocean of life, without seeing any land-mark to indicate the progress of time; to find employment was then to find variety, the animating principle of nature.” The emblematic ‘gnawing worm’ underscores Maria's displeasure which is ascribed to her unwarranted confinement. Her distress is equivalent to an obstinate worm which relentlessly aggravates her despondency.
Books
Wollstonecraft explains, “The books she had obtained, were soon devoured, by one who had no other resource to escape from sorrow, and the feverish dreams of ideal wretchedness or felicity, which equally weaken the intoxicated sensibility. Writing was then the only alternative, and she wrote some rhapsodies descriptive of the state of her mind; but the events of her past life pressing on her, she resolved circumstantially to relate them, with the sentiments that experience, and more matured reason, would naturally suggest.” Books play a role in mitigating Maria’s distress, for she diverts her attention to reading them instead of languishing in claustrophobia. Reading relieves her from the sorrow of the gloomy feelings relating to her wretched childhood and matrimony. Her capability to focus on the books upholds that she is not unequivocally insane.
Bastard
Jemima narrates, “The anguish which was now pent up in my bosom, seemed to open a new world to me: I began to extend my thoughts beyond myself, and grieve for human misery, till I discovered, with horror—ah! what horror!—that I was with child. I know not why I felt a mixed sensation of despair and tenderness, excepting that, ever called a bastard, a bastard appeared to me an object of the greatest compassion in creation.” Jemima is compassionate towards illegitimate children because she is one. Being a bastard is an utter condemnation to misery for such children are not unconditionally adored. Bastards undergo humiliation and degradation throughout their survival based on Jemima’s familiarity; hence, she is petrified of the mortification that her illegitimate child would withstand.
