Page 262 - DENG502_PROSE

Prose Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 24: Harriet Martineau-On Women: Critical
Appreciation cum Analysis

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
24.1 Biographical Information
24.2 Major Works
24.3 Critical Reception
24.4 On Women
24.5 Analysis
24.6 Harriet Martineau’s Feminism
24.7 Summary
24.8 Key-Words
24.9 Review Questions
24.10 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Discuss the biographical information with the critical reception
• Examine Harriet Martineau’s feminism

Introduction
Martineau was a writer of exceptional breadth and vitality, earning her reputation by unflinchingly
inserting herself into the great debates of the day, including women’s rights and slavery. She
moved from genre to genre and from subject to subject with ease, writing children’s stories and
political commentary, travelogues and short stories, historical studies and translations of
philosophy. Martineau’s career spanned fifty-five years and despite tremendous physical and
cultural obstacles she established a prominent position in the intellectual life of Victorian culture.

24.1 Biographical Information

Martineau was the sixth of eight children, born June 12, 1802 to Thomas and Elizabeth Martineau.
Her childhood was marked by chronic digestive and nervous system ailments, and she was born
without a sense of smell or taste. A voracious reader, the young Martineau committed large
portions of Paradise Lost to memory, reciting verses to help her fall asleep. Raised within the
Unitarian church, Martineau strongly believed in the doctrine that every effect has a cause which
neither divine nor human will can change. Belief in this doctrine proved to be a stabilizing force
throughout her life. In addition, Martineau’s first writings appeared in the Unitarian periodical
Monthly Repository in 1822. However, Martineau’s religious beliefs began to depart from
Unitarianism in the 1830s, and she began to identify the worship of God with the service of
humanity.
In the years 1832-34, Martineau published a collection of stories entitled Illustrations of Political
Economy, intended to inform the general reader about economic matters through the use of fiction.

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