The Matrimonial Trap

Eighteenth-Century Women Writers Redefine Marriage

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Feminist Criticism, Women Authors, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book The Matrimonial Trap by Laura E. Thomason, Bucknell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Laura E. Thomason ISBN: 9781611485271
Publisher: Bucknell University Press Publication: December 5, 2013
Imprint: Bucknell University Press Language: English
Author: Laura E. Thomason
ISBN: 9781611485271
Publisher: Bucknell University Press
Publication: December 5, 2013
Imprint: Bucknell University Press
Language: English

Mary Delany’s phrase “the matrimonial trap” illuminates the apprehension with which genteel women of the eighteenth century viewed marriage. These women were generally required to marry in order to secure their futures, yet hindered from freely choosing a husband. They faced marriage anxiously because they lacked the power either to avoid it or to define it for themselves. For some women, the written word became a means by which to exercise the power that they otherwise lacked. Through their writing, they made the inevitable acceptable while registering their dissatisfaction with their circumstances. Rhetoric, exercised both in public and in private, allowed these women to define their identities as individuals and as wives, to lay out and test the boundaries of more egalitarian spousal relationships, and to criticize the traditional marriage system as their culture had defined it.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Mary Delany’s phrase “the matrimonial trap” illuminates the apprehension with which genteel women of the eighteenth century viewed marriage. These women were generally required to marry in order to secure their futures, yet hindered from freely choosing a husband. They faced marriage anxiously because they lacked the power either to avoid it or to define it for themselves. For some women, the written word became a means by which to exercise the power that they otherwise lacked. Through their writing, they made the inevitable acceptable while registering their dissatisfaction with their circumstances. Rhetoric, exercised both in public and in private, allowed these women to define their identities as individuals and as wives, to lay out and test the boundaries of more egalitarian spousal relationships, and to criticize the traditional marriage system as their culture had defined it.

More books from Bucknell University Press

Cover of the book From Enlightenment to Rebellion by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Santayana the Philosopher by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Antonio López García’s Everyday Urban Worlds by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book The French Revolution Debate and the British Novel, 1790–1814 by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Tobias Smollett in the Enlightenment by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Confluence Narratives by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Memory, War, and Dictatorship in Recent Spanish Fiction by Women by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book In Media Res by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Venus of Khala-Kanti by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Memoir by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Machado de Assis and Narrative Theory by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Fixing Babel by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Commonplace Commitments by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Avenues of Translation by Laura E. Thomason
Cover of the book Poetic Salvage by Laura E. Thomason
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy