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Gowher Ahmad Naik, LPU Unit 21: Harriet Martineau-On Marriage: Introduction and Detailed Study

Unit 21: Harriet Martineau-On Marriage: Introduction and Notes

Detailed Study

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
21.1 Martineau's Life and Works
21.2 Mesmerism and Ambleside
21.3 Economics and Social Sciences
21.4 Text-On Marriage
21.5 Summary
21.6 Key-Words
21.7 Review Questions
21.8 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to
• Discuss Martineau‘s Life and Works
• Explain the essay On Marriage.

Introduction

Harriet Martineau was an English social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female
sociologist.
Martineau wrote 35 books and a multitude of essays from a sociological, holistic, religious, domestic,
and, perhaps most controversial, a feminine perspective; she also translated various works from
Auguste Comte. She earned enough to be supported entirely by her writing, a challenging feat for
a woman in the Victorian era. Martineau has said of her approach: “when one studies a society,
one must focus on all its aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions”. She
believed a thorough societal analysis was necessary to understand woman’s status.
The novelist Margaret Oliphant said “as a born lecturer and politician she (Martineau) was less
distinctively affected by her sex than perhaps any other, male or female, of her generation.” While
she was commonly described as having a masculine intellect, Martineau introduced feminist
sociological perspectives in her writing on otherwise overlooked issues such as marriage, children,
domestic and religious life, and race relations.

21.1 Martineau’s Life and Works
The sixth of eight children, Harriet Martineau was born in Norwich, England, where her father
was a manufacturer. Her mother was the daughter of a sugar refiner and a grocer. The family was
of French Huguenot ancestry and professed Unitarian views. She was closest to her brother,
James, who became a clergyman in the tradition of the English Dissenters. According to the writer
Diana Postlethwaite, Harriet’s relationship with her mother was strained and lacking affection,

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