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Abstract(s)
In the late eighteenth century we observe an intense debate regarding female education, an issue that generated great controversy and discomfort in society, as it threatened the long-established patterns of women’s inferiority which confined them to the domestic and private sphere. One of such writers was Hannah More who, though not defying the status quo, does claim for a more comprehensive education for women. The writer in question was a prominent literary figure of this period and her fame is not confined solely to her time; on the contrary, Hannah More is one of the authoresses of the eighteenth century who has known a renewed interest by modern readers. One of her works in particular illustrates her disappointment regarding the inadequate female education which she considered to be the source of many flaws, mistakes and imperfections traditionally associated with most women’s behaviour.
More’s Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education, with a View of the Principle and Conduct Prevalent Among Women of Rank and Fortune (1799) stresses the importance of study for women and by women, since it was the only way they could ascend spiritually and promote the harmony in their proper, private sphere, that is, the domus.
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Keywords
eighteenth century female education Hannah More
Citation
Rodrigues, P. (2013). The importance of study for women and by women: Hannah More’s defence of female education as the path to their patriotic contribution. In Studies in Classicism and Romanticism, 2, FLUP|CETAPS, 56-64.