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Women and Women’s Writing in Early 19 th Century Britain By Lori Ciccarelli
Women and Women’s Writing in Early 19th Century Britain
By Lori Ciccarelli
End of the French Revolution
Brought on an awareness of unjustness in society
Citizens attended political debates and publicly voice concerns and ideas about governmentWriters used their craft
to construct written works
Female writers also contributed to this public sphere Mary Shelley
Life of the Early 19th Century Woman
Expected to get married and serve husband
Expected to uphold strict code of conductTook care of “private
sphere” Had very few rights
Could not get a divorceCoverture laws
Women’s DressIn the beginning of the 1800s, we see a more form-fitted, unstructured dress.
Dresses are slowly but surely getting bigger by the 1820s.
By the 1830s, one can see a distinct difference between dresses of the 1800s and dresses during this time.
The dress for women in the 1860s is perhaps at its largest. Full skirts and ridiculously tight corsets restrict women, both literally and figuratively.
Women’s Dress
1808
1820s
1836-1840
Education
Limited for women Women could not attend
university Rich families = better
education Many female writers
spoke out against unequal education for women
Employment
Rising middle class = More jobs
Women worked as the following: DressmakersTeachersWorked in textile
manufacturingWorked in
domestic service Women wanted
more choices!The Governess, by Richard Redgrave (1844)
Women and Writing Wrote:
Etiquette and conduct manuals for women
Hymns and children’s books
NovelsPoetryTravel writing (mid-
later 1800s) Anonymity was important Female writers showed
that men weren’t the only ones who could be intellectuals!
Famous Female Writers
Jane Austen 1775-1817
Emily Dickinson 1830-1886
Emily Bronte 1818-1848
Charlotte Bronte 1816-1855
Frances Burney 1752-1840
Works Cited
Jordan, Ellen. The Women's Movement And Women's Employment In Nineteenth Century Britain [Electronic Resource] / Ellen Jordan. n.p.: London ; New York : Routledge, 1999., 1999. WSU Libraries Research Warrior. Web. 23 July 2013.
Pearson, Jacqueline. Women's Reading In Britain, 1750-1835 : A Dangerous Recreation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 23 July 2013.
Wilkes, Joanne. Women Reviewing Women In Nineteenth-Century Britain : The Critical Reception Of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë And George Eliot / Joanne Wilkes. n.p.: Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, c2010., 2010. WSU Libraries Research Warrior. Web. 23 July 2013.
Additional Sources:
Professor Abigail Heiniger’s lecture
Herstoria.com
