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Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University Unit 23: Harriet Martineau-On Women...

Unit 23: Harriet Martineau-On Women: Introduction and Notes
Detailed Study

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
23.1 Martineau’s Childhood
23.2 Adulthood
23.3 Martineau’s Writings
23.4 On Women’s Education
23.5 On Female Education
23.6 Summary
23.7 Key-Words
23.8 Review Questions
23.9 Further Readings

Objectives
After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Know about Harriet Martineau’s Views on Women.
• Discuss Writings of Martineau

Introduction

Called by William Davenport “the first of the notable women of the nineteenth century,” Harriet
Martineau was born in Norwich on June 12th, 1802, the fifth child of Thomas Martineau and
Elizabeth Rankin Martineau. Of French Huguenot origin, the extensive family boasted a long line
of surgeons but Thomas Martineau was a bombazine manufacturer. Martineau’s childhood,
according to her Autobiography, was not a particularly happy one for she was a nervous, fearful
child, often ill, and often imagining herself singled out by her mother and siblings for criticism.
She was, however, fortunate in her education. After being taught Latin, writing, arithmetic, and
French at home by her older brothers and sister, she and her sister Rachel attended Rev. Isaac
Perry’s school for two years where she received the same education as the boys. At about the age
of 12, she first became troubled by the deafness that was to be with her for life, to a greater or
lesser extent. As an unhappy teenager, she was sent to stay with her aunt in Bristol where she was
inspired by the intellectual zeal of the family and influenced by the teachings of the prominent
Unitarian minister, Dr. Lant Carpenter. In 1826 her father died, and three years later the family
business failed. Martineau and her two sisters were thus forced to earn their own living, a
circumstance which she felt was far better than living in genteel poverty. By then, however,
Martineau had already embarked on a literary career, her first article appearing in the Unitarian
periodical, The Monthly Repository, about 1821.
“Harriet Martineau authored the first systematic methodological treatise in sociology, conducted
extended international comparative studies of social institutions, and translated August Comte’s
Cours de philosophi positive into English, thus structurally facilitating the introduction of sociology
and positivism into the United States. In her youth she was a professional writer who captured the

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