在一封於1795 年10 月13 日寫給威廉‧哥德溫（William Godwin, 1756-1836） 的書信中，瑪麗‧海斯（Mary Hays, 1759-1843）稱她於臨近海頓公園可彼街開 始的獨立生活為「這不尋常的舉措」。本篇論文主要欲探究促使海斯決定獨自生 活的原因，並檢視她對獨立自主致力不懈的追求。除了審視海斯自己對展開此人 生新階段理由的分析之外，本文首先將揭露另一個極為關鍵的因素─海斯渴望 加速她和威廉‧弗瑞恩德（William Frend, 1757-1841）之間的戀情─並闡述弗 瑞恩德和海斯此一冒險行動之間的關聯性。文章將接續探討海斯對獨立與社交性 的獨特結合，還有此獨特結合如何幫助她的智識成長和經濟自主。本文更將進一 步窺探海斯的慈善傾向，以及自她的獨立自主所衍生出，跨越時間文化界線並連 接她和世世代代女性的良善結果。最後，本文將主張海斯的獨立自主是自利而且 利人的。因為她的獨立自主不僅維持其生計，並幫助提升女性的生活狀況，最終 更為她贏得應得的榮譽。

Mary Hays (1759-1843) termed the commencement of her independent life at Kirby Street, Hatton Garden “this eccentric step” in a letter dated 13 October 1795 to William Godwin (1756-1836). This article aims to explore the reasons that induced Hays to resolve on living on her own, and to investigate her indefatigable quest for independence. Besides taking a close look at Hays’s analysis of the causes that motivated her to embark on this new stage of life, it will first reveal another potent factor— Hays’s desire to speed up her romance with William Frend (1757-1841)—and illustrate how Frend came into play in Hays’s adventurous move. It will move on to examine Hays’s unique combination of independence with sociability and how it facilitated her intellectual growth and financial independence. It will further probe into the philanthropic tendency and salutary consequences of Hays’s autonomy that crossed the boundaries of time and culture, and connected her with generations of women. In the end, this article will maintain that Hays’s independence was both self-interested and beneficial to others, for it not only sustained her living and helped advance the circumstances of women, but ultimately won her the well-deserved laurels.