Record Number: 28688

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Mary Taylor to her schoolfriend Charlotte Bronte, 25 April 1850:

'I have seen some extracts from "Shirley" in which you talk of women working. And this first duty, this great necessity you seem to think that some women may indulge in — if they give up marriage and don't make themselves too disagreeable to the other sex. You are a coward and a traitor. A woman who works is by that alone better than one who does not and a woman who does not happen to be rich and who still earns no money and does not wish to do so, is guilty of [...] a dereliction of duty which leads rapidly and almost certainly to all manner of degradation. It is very wrong of you to plead for toleration of workers on the ground of their being in peculiar circumstandes and few in number or singular in disposition. Work or degradation is the lot of all except the very small number born to wealth.'

Century:

1800-1849, 1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1849 and 24 Apr 1850

Country:

New Zealand

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Wellington

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Mary Taylor

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

26 Feb 1817

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Author and shop-keeper

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

New Zealand

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Charlotte Brontë

Title:

Shirley (extracts)

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Serial / periodical

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

28688

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington

Title:

The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

2:3

Page:

104-105

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington (ed.), The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondence, (Oxford, 1980), 2:3, p. 104-105, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=28688, accessed: 16 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

None