Women and Women’s Writing in Early 19 th 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 government  Writers used their craft to construct written works  Female writers also contributed to this public sphere Mary Shelley

Life of the Early 19 th Century Woman  Expected to get married and serve husband  Expected to uphold strict code of conduct  Took care of “private sphere”  Had very few rights  Could not get a divorce  Coverture laws

Women’s Dress In 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 s

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:  Dressmakers  Teachers  Worked in textile manufacturing  Worked 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  Novels  Poetry  Travel 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 Emily Dickinson Emily Bronte Charlotte Bronte Frances Burney

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., WSU Libraries Research Warrior. Web. 23 July Pearson, Jacqueline. Women's Reading In Britain, : A Dangerous Recreation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 23 July 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., WSU Libraries Research Warrior. Web. 23 July Additional Sources: Professor Abigail Heiniger’s lecture Herstoria.com