Women and Achievement in Nineteenth-Century Europe

by Linda L. Clark

• ISBN13: 9780521650984
• ISBN10: 0521650984
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This major new history of European women's professional activities and organizational roles during the 'long' nineteenth century examines what women could and could not do if they sought activity, purpose, or recognition beyond their own homes. Linda L. Clark surveys women's achievements in literature, art, music, theater, charity, education, medicine, law, and public administration, and examines the relationship between women's professional and philanthropic activity and the rise of feminist organizations. She shows that, despite continuing legal, cultural, and familial obstacles, thousands of ambitious women pursued professional activities for reasons that often combined economic need with aspirations to do meaningful work and gain public recognition. Detailing women's accomplishments from England to Russia, this unique survey enables readers to connect individual life stories with larger political, social, and economic contexts between 1789 and 1914 and is essential reading for students of modern European history, women's history, and gender studies.

Author Biography

Linda L. Clark is Professor of History, Emerita, Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction: women and achievement, reality and rhetoric

Women and the revolutionary era: negotiating public and private spaces, 1760sâÇôearly 1800s

Women and literature: authorship, publication, audience

Women and the arts: training, performance, fame

Caring and power: from charity to social reform

Extending education: learning and teaching

From education to other professions

Organizing for womenâÇÖs rights: leaders and supporters

Epilogue: looking beyond 1914

Further reading and reference works

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