Join Dr Diane Duffy for a special look at 19th century women writers’ experiences, starting with Elizabeth Gaskell and reflecting on the lives of giants of literature including Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot. How were their experiences different to male writers? What did the reading public think of women? How did […]
A celebration of Mary Barton and the greatest 19th century literary heroines by women writers from Jane Austen to the Brontës. Writers like Elizabeth Gaskell question our views of Victorian women by creating characters who break the rules and challenge convention. Why are we drawn to Mary Barton and so many others? What sets them […]
Elizabeth Gaskell had great hopes for the garden at Plymouth Grove, not just as a beautiful place to relax, but as a source of food for the family. She even joked that ‘I find my proper vocation is farming‘. Now you can find out about what she grew, where and why based on original sources […]
Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South continues to be beloved by fans around the world. Many who admire the novel or the BBC series, have been inspired to contribute their own twist to this iconic love story set against the backdrop of industrial England. Through the use of retellings and continuations, Gaskell fans have developed a […]
Our passion for North and South continues as we take a closer look at lead character Margaret Hale. Our heroine is famous for her growing love affair with mill-owner John Thornton (played so well by Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage in the 2004 BBC TV adaptation) and their relationship is at the heart of both […]
‘Revenge may be wicked, but it’s perfectly natural.’ Becky Sharpe, Vanity Fair, 1847 The stereotype of the Victorian woman is that of a domestic angel, pure, innocent and a helpmate to her husband. But the women in this talk challenge that with a vengeance! Enjoy a look at the dark side with the bad women […]
Ann Radcliffe and the Female Gothic – ‘A genius of no common stamp’ Get ready for a spooky night of literature as we celebrate the bicentenary of Ann Radcliffe, the ‘mighty magician’ of horror and the gothic. Once the highest paid author of the 1790s, Radcliffe’s most famous works include The Romance of the Forest […]
Charlotte Brontë is a giant of Victorian literature and the much-loved author of the classic Jane Eyre but what of her lesser-read second novel, Shirley, written in the grief and sadness of family loss? Brontë’s Shirley was set amongst the tumultuous times of the Napoleonic Wars and Luddite machine breakers. Her strong female characters and […]
Dr Ian Nickson (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham) and Dr. Monika Smialkowska (Northumbria University) will talk about the largely overlooked career of Rosa Grindon. They will chart her journey from modest beginnings in a Derbyshire village to becoming a leading figure in literary and theatrical circles in Manchester, a ground-breaking Shakespearean scholar and, as a […]
