Hannah More, the Conventionalist, and Mary Robinson, the Radical: Differing Feminist Perspectives on 19th Century Women's Progress, Purity, and Power
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Date
2007-06
Authors
Mandaglio, Lia A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Lethbridge Undergraduate Research Journal
Abstract
During the Romantic literary period, British feminist writers assumed
drastically different stances when advocating for female empowerment and
autonomy. Hannah More and Mary Robinson demonstrate these different
feminist approaches in their writing, as More advocates for women's
spiritual purity as a means of attaining social equality, while Robinson
endorses an assertion of female intellectual capacities. Through their
distinct feminist polemics, More and Robinson expose how both an
allegiance to and a rejection of traditional gender conventions can function
as mechanisms for female social mobility and gender equality. This study
explores the differences between More's feminist ideas in her poem "The
Story of Sinful Sally. Told by Herself" and Robinson's A Letter to the
Women of England. This paper also discusses the implications of these
women's opposing feminist philosophies in contemporary western culture
and the ways in which their views can be reconciled through their application to modern female social scripts.
Description
Keywords
Feminism -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century , Feminist women writers
Citation
Mandaglio, Lia A. (2007). Hannah More, the Conventionalist, and Mary Robinson, the Radical: Differing Feminist Perspectives on 19th Century Women's Progress, Purity, and Power. Lethbridge Undergraduate Research Journal, 2(1).