Description
Unmarried Women: A Life of Freedom? begins with Elizabeth Gaskell’s last novel, Wives and Daughters, exploring the position of women in 19th century society and the pressure on them to marry. Her book had much to say about marriage, including storylines like Mrs Gibson’s marriage of necessity, Cynthia’s secret engagement and Molly’s hoped-for love-match. Now we compare fiction with reality in this special dual talk on Unmarried Women.
Firstly, popular speaker Elizabeth Williams explores the life and options for unmarried women in Wives and Daughters and other Elizabeth Gaskell novels. How did the writer view marriage? Did she suggest other options to her readers?
Secondly, writer Charlotte Furness introduces four historical women, who each challenged and defied the societal expectations of their times by making the conscious decision not to marry a man. She brings to light the life and times of Anne Lister of Shibden Hall, Elizabeth Isham of Lamport Hall, Anne Robinson of Saltram and Rosalie Chichester of Arlington Court. To what extent could these real women live the life they wanted?
PS We know that Anne Lister was, now rather famously, actually married to another woman, but we are looking at women who rejected social expectations of traditional marriage.
First recorded October 2024
‘Elizabeth Williams conveyed her intimate knowledge of Gaskell’s life and works lightly and easily. I learnt a lot, quickly and effortlessly.’ Audience member
On purchase, you will be sent a link to this talk. Please note, due to the file size it may take a few minutes for the talk to load
Celebrating the life and literature of Elizabeth Gaskell, Manchester’s most famous Victorian writer. A restored Victorian middle-class house in the heart of a UNESCO City of Literature.
House, Garden and Tea Room open every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday 11am-4.30pm (last entry 3pm). Second-hand books also on sale from the House.
Pre-booking advised via the website.
Please note we are not able to ship outside of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
Processing time
Ready to ship in 3-5 business days from United Kingdom (UK)
Shipping policy
Shipping will be made to the address supplied by you on the completed order form. We can only ship to the United kingdom.
We will endeavour to deliver to within seven (7) Working Days (i.e. Monday to Friday, excluding weekends and UK public holidays) after you place your order;
Any delivery dates provided by us will be estimates only and you will not be entitled to refuse to accept late delivery or treat late delivery as a breach of contract by us.
Please Note: Due to the changes in legislation on the back of the UK leaving the EU. Customers ordering from the EU are now liable to pay any customs or VAT charges and a handling fee before the parcel can be collected. The price of this does depend on the country and value of the parcel.
We will not deliver to a post office box (PO Box) address. We also reserve the right not to deliver to a communal post office address.
The address supplied by you must have a valid postcode. If no-one is at the address when delivery is attempted the goods may be retained by the driver, in which case the driver will leave notification of attempted delivery. If we have to return to deliver the goods on a separate occasion a further delivery charge may become payable. All goods will usually be delivered by Royal Mail. However, on occasion we may use a different provider to get the best value.
Refund policy
Refunds accepted within 14 days but buyer is responsible for return postage cost. We will only refund to the card used for the original postage.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.