1. Women and Women’s Writing in Early 19 th Century Britain By Lori Ciccarelli

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. Women’s Dress 1808 1820s 1836-1840

6. Education  Limited for women  Women could not attend university  Rich families = better education  Many female writers spoke out against unequal education for women

7. 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)

8. 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!

9. Famous Female Writers Jane Austen 1775-1817 Emily Dickinson 1830-1886 Emily Bronte 1818-1848 Charlotte Bronte 1816-1855 Frances Burney 1752-1840

10. 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