British Women Authors

1. British Women Authors Mrs. PlaiaEnglish 12

2. Elizabeth Barrett Browning • Grew up the eldest child of wealthy landowner at “Hope’s End,” the family estate • She and her 11 siblings were forbidden to marry by their strict father; sickly and spinster until age 35 • Famous British poet • Eloped with the poet Robert Browning to Italy • Wrote Sonnets of the Portuguese. Most famousis “Sonnet 43” p. 941

3. From SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESEby Elizabeth Barrett Browning If thou must love me, let it be for noughtExcept for love's sake only. Do not say,'I love her for her smile--her look--her wayOf speaking gently--for a trick of thoughtThat falls in well with mine, and certes broughtA sense of pleasant ease on such a day.'--For these things in themselves, Beloved, maybe changed, or change for thee--and love, so wrought,May be unwrought so. Neither love me forThine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry--A creature might forget to weep, who boreThy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!But love me for love's sake, that evermoreThou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

4. British author known for irony, realism, and social commentary Briefly went to Oxford University Mostly guided and educated by father (clergyman) and older brothers Wrote three well-known classics Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) By Cassandra AustenWatercolorist and sister

5. NOVELS… Northanger Abbey (1778) Sense and Sensibility (1811) Pride and Prejudice (1813) Mansfield Park (1814) Emma (1815) Persuasion (1816) Pseudonym “A Lady” First four novels published anonymously Little fame during her lifetime; never married Died at age 41 of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Jane Austen…

6. Middle class family living in 18th century England Mother seeks marriage for five daughters Property went to a male heir, so it was important to marry well Mr. Darcy – 2005 movie stars Keira Knightley http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/ Pride and Prejudice (1813) p. 768

7. Emma (1815) • Emma Woodhouse, is described as "handsome, clever, and rich” • Always match-making; she is naive --clueless, even-- about the effects of her social machinations on others • Prior to starting the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." • The movie Clueless, which takes place in Beverly Hills, became a cultural phenomenon and spawned a TV series • The 1996 movie stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/

8. Sense and Sensibility (1811) • Written when she was 19 years old • Adapted for film and television multiple times • Theme: What are women’s options? • The novel follows the Dashwood sisters, who are left penniless, as they experience both romance and heartbreak • Sisters find a balance between sense and sensibility in life and love • 1995 movie stars Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Emma Thompson http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/

9. Mary Shelley (1797-1851) • A British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, andt travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel: Frankenstein OR The Modern Prometheus (1818) • Married to the romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley • Her father was the political philospher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

10. Completed when she was 19 Scientist named Victor Frankenstein creates a being in the likeness of man called “the creature” Has elements of romanticism; a gothic novel Mary Shelley (1818) p. 833

11. Charlotte – Currer Bell Emily – Ellis Bell Anne – Acton Bell In 1847, Charlotte published Jane Eyre In 1848, Emily published Wuthering Heights In 1848, Anne published Agnes Gray Brontë Sisters:Pseudonyms and Novels