Survival in a woman's world: class and the quest for financial support in the fiction of Hannah Maria Jones.

Fiona Alexander

The obituary of Hannah Maria Jones, as printed by the Times newspaper on 27th January, 1854, read: A sad fate - Anna Maria Jones, authoress of the Gipsey and other popular novels of the day, died on Tuesday, at 17, Salisbury-place, Bermondsey, in the most abject poverty. Her remains await, in all probability, a pauper's funeral. (Royal Literary Fund, File No. 553, Letter No. 32)

Despite selling 'tens of thousands' of novels (Sutherland, 1988, 340), Jones struggled to make a living for herself as an 'authoress' and spent much of her life in a state of poverty. The need for financial security, which plagued Jones for most of her career, can be seen to have heavily influenced the author's early works and this theme raises the issue of the financial dependency of women during the early 1800s. This essay will focus on two of Jones' earliest novels, Rosaline Woodbridge or The Midnight Visit: a Romantic Tale (published in 1827) and Emily Moreland or, The Maid of the Valley (1829). Both of these novels highlight important issues about the economic status of women during the early nineteenth century and look at how important the 'class factor' was in guaranteeing financial support. The essay will also raise the issue of how self-reflexive these novels actually are and comment upon the 'novel of the modern woman' as described by WT Stead - novels 'by a woman, about women and from the standpoint of a woman.' (Pykett, 1992, 5)

'Whether with romance, politics or patriarchy, the bottom line in novel after novel, story after story, rests in the amount of spendable income in the heroine's pocket at any given moment of her history.' (Copeland, 1995, 10) Financial security was a major issue during the early 1800s as a result of the unrest in society and a period of economic depression during the period 1820-1832 (Carter and McRae, 1997, 220). Family and status became particularly important as society as a whole experienced major changes, including the growth of the 'working class' and massive rises in inflation, which resulted in some of the population having to move away from the capital because they simply could not afford to live there anymore.

During this period, women in particular suffered from economic instability, due to their lack of access to remunerative work. Women who could depend on their parents for support, or in particular, their father, were able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle and rely on the family name to provide the necessary security for their activities. Those without such a background however, were more susceptible to the highs and lows of the economic market and without a parent or recognisable family name to rely on, young single women were very much dependent on those who offered them charity. Furthermore, if these young women had no specific trade which they could use in employment, they were extremely vulnerable in a harsh society that condemned those who were idle or vain.

The characters that are portrayed in Hannah Maria Jones'novels are subjected to the concerns of society during the early 1800s and in particular, the plight of women during this period. Interestingly, Jones shows women who are in control of the finances and that it is these females that the heroines of her novels must rely upon for financial security. Men are represented in Jones' novels, but it is the women that are the more powerful characters and the men only serve to fill the roles of 'father, husband, son or lover' (Tompkins, 1932, 128). This is an interesting deviation from the traditional role of the female in the novel and prompts an investigation into the different ways that Jones represents these women in her novels.

The class that is most fully represented in Jones' novels is the aristocracy and it is these upper class women that prove the largest obstacle for both Rosaline and Emily (from the novels bearing their names), when these two characters try to establish themselves in society. Edward Copeland proposes that 'Whatever the political argument, whatever the social agenda, whatever the romantic entanglement in women's fiction, women can be heard talking about money, the lack of it, how to spend it or how to get it.' (1995, 7) This is true of most of the women in Jones' novels, but most applicable to those ladies who feature in high society and who are the most influential in controlling the fate of others. Lady Rachel Moreland, in Emily Moreland, is a particularly good example of a woman whose primary concern is money and always wants to make something out of nothing, despite owning a large fortune, which the reader learns is Captain Templeton's only motivation for wanting to marry her. Mr Frazer reminds Templeton not to look at Lady Rachel, rather to 'fix your gaze resolutely on her well filled coffers.' (EM 3:2:63) Lady Rachel is often heard talking about the amount of money she has spent, on a new turban for example:

'I acknowledge, I say, that I should be glad to save the shameful sum I am charged for the indulgence of my whim, in having a turban like the one worn by Lady Dermot, at the Opera, before they could be adopted by those who would fain be fine, but have not spirit enough to draw their purse-strings to pay for it.' (EM 2:8:349)

This comment fails to convince as the reader is already aware that Emily has been forced to make the headdress from the 'faded finery' (EM 2:8:331) that Lady Rachel had provided her with. The frivolous whims that Lady Rachel boasts she cannot control have also already been contradicted by the breakfast scenes that Emily describes earlier in the novel, which consisted of a 'small portion of coffee…shavings of bread and butter' and a 'single egg' for Lady Rachel. (EM 2:8:322-323)

All the aristocratic women that Jones represents are financially comfortable, yet it is what they do with their money that becomes an interesting point of comparison. The older aristocratic women are usually aware of the influence money can have and are prudent with their funds, yet it is the offspring of these women who are sometimes frivolous and extravagant, such as Lady Amelia Lessington, daughter of Lady Lessington in Rosaline Woodbridge. In the final chapter, the reader is informed that

'Sir Frederic, sickening at the sight of happiness which he could never hope to enjoy, gradually withdrew entirely from the society of which the Earl and Countess of Roseburn form a part, and is now totally devoted to the delusive and destructive pleasures of the gaming table. His neglected wife, as dissipated as thoughtless, and as impatient of control as ever, is still figuring in the gay world, and endeavouring to outvie all her companions, unconscious of the certain ruin which her extravagant pursuits, and her husband's still more destructive propensities, is bringing fast upon her.' (RW 3:7:315)

Between Lady Rachel and Lady Amelia, a number of other women are presented in Jones' novels who represent varying degrees of expenditure. Jones presents the aristocratic woman as the most likely to throw everything away because they are not aware of the real value of money, yet this is not just a flaw of the upper classes and can also be a trait of the middle classes. However, what does set the aristocratic women apart is the fact that they know they are financially independent and this can be seen in their treatment of others and the obnoxious, critical and often extremely rude characters of these women. Such characters as Lady Lessington and Lady Haviland (from Emily Moreland) are strong, formidable women and appear to be more intelligent than the stereotypical male character in the novel (e.g. the lover, son, father or brother). The reader can assume that these women are not included in the novel as exemplary wives, more as efficient managers of a large fortune who know what it takes to 'survive' in society and are altogether more practically equipped for the task than previous female characters in fiction.

The middle classes are not so fully represented in Jones' novels, perhaps as the novels are set during an earlier period when 'new money' was not so much of an issue. Rosaline Woodbridge does feature one family which illustrates the financial instability of the middle classes however, and show the importance of 'marrying well,' so as to secure financial stability in the future. The Bradshaw family - Mrs Bradshaw and her three daughters Hortensia, Justina and Carolina - are always on the lookout for young, wealthy husbands and want to 'ride the social escalator.' (Copeland, 1995, 22) Yet when an acquaintance of Maria Cornwall's approaches Rosaline and Maria at the opera, his descriptions of dinners held by the Bradshaw's suggest that they are not as financially secure as they would hope to appear:

' I'll back Mamma Bradshaw against the whole world for carving, and making dishes out of nothing - literally nothing! I have seen her table covered in prime style, I assure you, and the whole of the eatables, saving and excepting vegetables, wouldn't have weighed two pounds - and ten people to eat!' (RW 2:17:316-317)

The middle classes are presented as being quite insecure, with no connections except those that they engineer themselves and only the reputation of their family, their beauty and cultivated talents to recommend themselves as suitable wives for aristocratic men. In Emily Moreland, the Gilbert family is of the same calibre as the Bradshaws. These characters are more manipulative than the other classes and are fully aware of how easy it could be for them to become working class once more. It is this prospect that fuels these families and, in particular, 'mothers scheming for their daughters' (Williams, 4, 1984), to force themselves onto wealthy families in an attempt to make a favourable match with a wealthy young man.

After the aristocratic women, the working-class women are the next most comprehensively represented layer of society in Jones' novels. The working classes, unlike the middle classes, are represented as having security in the knowledge that they have a trade, which they can always rely on. Jones includes a number of working class women in her novels and as with the women in high society, these women are also in control of the domestic budgets in most situations and the majority are financially comfortable and able to provide for their family unit.

Mrs Thomas, in Rosaline Woodbridge, is one of Jones' more resourceful working class women, who rents a room to Rosaline when she first leaves the St Aubyn estate. Mrs Thomas is a single woman and exemplifies the 'stuffy spinster, the scandal-monger of the country town' (Foster, 1985, 22). Mrs Thomas will only rent the rooms in her house to respectable young women, but she is also harsh and greedy. When Rosaline announces that she is moving house, Mrs Thomas demands a month's rent, as Rosaline has not given her previous notice, (RW 1:6:177-178) despite the fact that she is aware of Rosaline's financial instability in having only just left home and having not yet procured employment. Another character from Rosaline Woodbridge who is also manipulative and avaricious is Miss Crofton, Lady Lessington's milliner. Against Rosaline's wishes, Miss Crofton informs Sir Frederic where Rosaline is lodging, despite knowing that Rosaline has particularly stated that she wants her location kept a secret. Miss Crofton is aware of how much Sir Frederic is worth though and knows that however unwanted the visit is, Sir Frederic will give her some money for allowing him to see Rosaline. However, the most merciless of all the working class women portrayed in both the novels, features in Emily Moreland. Dame Wilson, who knows Emily from childhood, steals the money that Emily has been left by her father to indulge her whims and then forces her son to try and marry Emily, so that the money would have legally been theirs anyway. Dame Wilson also locks her husband in a room for a number of months, claiming that he has 'been seized with a fever, which left him in a state of mental imbecility, almost approaching to second childhood' (EM 1:4:158). Isaac Wilson is in perfect health though and Dame Wilson represents the ultimate example of a female in control of a household, albeit by villainous means.

Not all the working class women in Jones' novels are dishonest however and many are aware of the need to be prudent and 'mind the pennies'. The widow Mrs Inglis is such a female in Emily Moreland and is an exemplary woman for household management, running successful 'lodgings' in the centre of London. Mrs Inglis also teaches Emily how to be provident with her resources:

' She sighed heavily, as she obeyed the old woman's instructions in putting back a part of the wood into the closet, and the latter, seeming instantly to comprehend her feelings, observed in a friendly tone, and laying her hand on hers - "When thou hast lived a little longer in the world, and hast seen as many of the turns in it as I have, thou wilt feel that attention to little things is as necessary as to great ones. So, do not be angry with one who wishes thee to profit by her experience, without feeling the pain she did in gaining it."' (EM 2:5:192)

Once again, a woman is in charge of the finances and it is Mrs Inglis who can either help or hinder Emily in her quest for financial support. Mrs Inglis is at first suspicious of Emily's situation and when Emily announces that 'she knew not that she possessed any friends who could advance her purposes' (EM 2:3:129), Mrs Inglis is on the point of telling the heroine that she cannot rent the room. It is Emily's face, however, that saves the title character from being rejected by the housekeeper, Mrs Inglis noting 'I will trust to thy tale, for thy face voucheth for its truth' (EM 2:3:130) and Emily's beauty becomes a commodity, a means of advancing the heroine within society.

Jane West, cited in Edward Copeland's Women Writing About Money, suggests

'Every girl ought to possess a competent knowledge of arithmetic. It is desirable that this knowledge be practical as well as theoretical; that she should understand the value of commodities, be able to calculate expenses and to tell what a specific income should afford.' (Copeland, 1995, 23)

This notion is fully supported by Jones and both Emily and Rosaline are aware of the dangers of liberally spending money and become prudent through the course of the novels. It may be interesting here to discuss the two heroines of the novels, Rosaline and Emily and their own financial situations. Despite the fact that for the duration of the novels, both heroines are searching for financial support, as 'the typical heroine of a nineteenth century novel is a girl without a job' (Williams, 1984, 9), both young women are in possession of some assets and are not totally without financial backing. After the cottage on the St Aubyn estate is sold, Rosaline is allowed to keep some of the profit from the sale (the rest is given to her father) and this allows her to rent rooms in a number of houses, until she is 'adopted' by Dr Lenox who gives her £100 a quarter and upon his death, Rosaline also inherits his personal fortune of £7000. This guarantees the heroine a comfortable life, but the discovery that she is in fact Lady Rosaline Dewarden and her marriage to the Earl of Roseburn adds to this wealth, although once married, her husband would have controlled her fortune. Shirley Foster writes:

' singleness was in many ways a more attractive proposition than the married state. The disabilities suffered by nineteenth-century wives were notorious. They could not act independently in court proceedings [and] they were legally and economically subject to their husbands.' (1985, 7)

Emily is also in possession of a small amount of wealth, through owning the land in the Valley of St Clare that her grandfather's cottage stands upon. This is not a spendable fortune however and despite the fact that Emily offers to sell the plot when Rosalia's instalment does not arrive, she is the owner of the land until the end of the novel. Emily eventually builds a house on this plot after rightfully inheriting her father's fortune on his death, with a yearly allowance of £200 to help her maintain her lifestyle. However, despite achieving financial security by the ends of the stories, during most of the novels these two women are dependent on the charity of others and Rosaline even advertises for a post as a governess to try and secure a steady income. Lady Rachel also proposes to Emily:

"You are something of a milliner, I suppose?" she continued; "for most young ladies, now-a-days, I believe, contrive to dress themselves by the aid of their needles, if they are not taught to use them in any more useful way." (EM 2:8:332)

Lady Rachel expects Emily to be able to sew, yet the reader is aware that neither Emily nor Rosaline have received any kind of tuition of this type, only for those accomplishments that are admired in high society, such as playing instruments and painting. Both Emily and Rosaline have been educated as young ladies despite the fact that for most of the novels, they remain social outcasts. It is this ambiguity of their parentage and social status that causes these two young women to remain financially insecure for so long and this issue raises the question of how important class was in securing economic stability during the early 1800s.

During the early nineteenth century, 'the country was divided into those who owned property or land - who were rich - and those who did not - who were poor.' (Carter and McRae, 1997, 218) Transgression of the boundaries between these classes was highly problematic and criticised by many people during the early 1800s and Elaine Showalter comments 'Victorian ladies were not permitted to cross urban, class and sexual boundaries.' (1991, 118) Remarks are often made in Emily Moreland about the heroine's stately airs and on a visit to Lady Rachel, Lady Haycraft remarks 'Upon my word, poverty there does not seem to have brought humility with it! - your new dependant walks with all the state of a tragedy queen!' (EM 2:8:342) Jones' novels particularly suggest that class and parentage secure financial support, but those without this background, who have no inheritance or status, are left with financial insecurity and the need to find themselves either a husband or a doting benefactor who is not concerned by their background.

As has already become apparent, marriage was the best way for a young woman to become financially secure and both the heroines of this novel do eventually transgress their class boundaries and achieve such security by marrying. Rosaline Woodbridge becomes Lady Rosaline Dewarden, or the Countess of Roseburn after her marriage and Emily Moreland becomes the Countess of Moreland following her betrothal to Herbert Leslie, the Earl of Moreland. There is only one other character from both of Jones' novels who succeeds to the same degree as Rosaline and Emily. In Emily Moreland, Emily overhears Lady Rachel telling Lady Haycraft about a gentleman by the name of Sir Jeremy Wilmot, who, it has recently been rumoured, is about to offer his hand in marriage to his housemaid, who others refer to as 'Blouzelinda' (EM 2:8:364). This news is received with horror by Lady Haycraft, partly because she was once a favourite of Sir Jeremy's but also because the news suggests to her that a member of aristocracy has degraded himself to the extent of marrying a servant. Lady Rachel comments to Emily after Lady Haycraft has gone that Sir Jeremy and 'Blouzelinda' are a "monstrous match" (EM 2:8:368) and later in the novel, the reader discovers that Sir Jeremy has indeed married his servant. Mr Frazer remarks:

' Bah!…They are both the laughing-stock of those who go to eat his good dinners, and amuse themselves with ridiculing the airs and gaucherie of 'Madame', which are really most amusing; and I have seen even the poor little Baronet blush up to the eyes for her, though he, you know, was very eminent for les graces.' (EM 3:1:40)

Class transgression was a serious social error which resulted in exclusion from society for those who committed it. It is interesting to note that all those that defy society, such as Sir Jeremy, are immediately relocated abroad and the reader is merely informed that the characters have moved away to avoid the scandal. The same was true for those without enough financial resources to remain in society, who are forced to move abroad because of the cheaper living expenses on the continent and the embarrassment at not being able to maintain ones station in life. Arundel Ramsay, in Rosaline Woodbridge, is an example of such a character who moves to France after accumulating debts and being imprisoned for those arrears. Arundel informs Rosaline:

"Part of my debts", he continued, "have been discharged by this generous benefactor, and arrangements made with the remainder of my creditors, which will leave me sufficient to maintain my rank in society, at a distance from the gay and expensive connexions I have unfortunately formed in this country." (RW 3:1:24)

London is represented as a very harsh environment for those who cannot keep up with social trends or lack the funds to participate in social engagements. Yet it was this network and the connections made within the upper classes that ensured the financial stability of those individuals or families that were 'in vogue' and conformed to society's expectations (unlike Leslie, in Emily Moreland, who moves to the Valley of St Clare for sometime and is excluded from society on his return to London). The aristocracy appear to be the securest class, yet the lifestyle of these individuals obviously required a much bigger expenditure than that, for instance, of an individual from the working classes. Emily becomes aware of the cost of maintaining a fashionable lifestyle whilst living with Susan and is appalled at her own extravagance.

' Emily glanced her eye towards the glass, and thought of Herbert Leslie - the box was closed, though with a feeling of reproach and vexation, at her own weakness and extravagance, entered her mind as she drew the half-guinea from her purse.' (EM 2:3:144)

This type of lifestyle suggests that although aristocratic women did, in general, have more spendable income than other classes, this wealth could quickly be consumed by fashionable 'whims' unless the finances were well managed.

A number of characters in the novels reject marriages that would be financially advantageous. 'One of the great central themes in the nineteenth-century novel [was] that of marriage for money versus marriage for love' (Williams, 1984, 3-4) and Jones addresses this theme through allowing three young women in these novels to marry for love and not out of financial necessity. Lady Julia Dewarden is the first character to transgress class boundaries by eloping and eventually marrying a French soldier. Lady Julia rejects all class issues as well as financial support through this feat and violates social expectations by marrying someone from another social class, in a similar manner to Sir Jeremy from Emily Moreland. The reader might expect Lady Julia to be punished for her actions as women in other novels often were - for example, a young woman that is 'induced…to leave her home' by Edgar Tryan in George Eliot's Janet's Repentance, 'becomes a prostitute and dies.' (Williams, 1984, 7) Lady Julia goes unpunished however and after being disinherited, is eventually welcomed back into the family at the end of the novel, despite the shame that she has brought on her household.

Both Rosaline and Emily also receive offers of marriage during the opening chapters of the novels. Emily is approached by the local curate, who offers himself to her, despite the fact that he is degrading himself through marrying a 'social outcast' who has no family name (Emily adopts the surname of her mother), no favourable social connections except the beautiful Signora Rosalia and only her beauty, character and cultivated talents to recommend her. Emily is a strong character though, who is similar to one of 'Fanny Burney's stouter kind of heroine['s]' (Foster, 1985, 17) and turns Mr Evelyn down, despite having little opportunity to meet other eligible young men in the rural setting of the Valley of St Clare. This aspect of the plot is very similar to the potential Elizabeth/Mr Collins match in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, except that in Austen's novel, Elizabeth still has a father's support when she rejects Mr Collins, whilst Emily has no such network to assist her should she be unable to find a husband. 'Marriage was deemed the apotheosis of womanly fulfilment,' (Foster, 1985, 6) and provided not only an emotional outlet, but also financial security and a social identity for women. Hannah Maria Jones, like a number of women writers, preferred to 'sink her own identity in her husband's name' (Williams, 1984, 18), which suggests furthermore how difficult it was to be identified as an independent woman in the early nineteenth century.

Like Emily Moreland, Rosaline Woodbridge is also approached by a number of men during the course of the narrative who offer her favourable arrangements. Rosaline also rejects these offers though and is criticised by Mrs Thomas, whose own son has been rejected, for having such high standards when she is only the daughter of a gamekeeper:

'"You must know your own affairs best, to be sure", she at length observed, "but I must say, I think you may go farther and fare worse. George is none so despisable neither, and I believe there are few girls in your situation of life, that would think of turning up their noses at a likely young man, in a thriving way as George is.' (RW 1:1:141-142)

Both the decisions made by Rosaline and Emily have financial implications though and both heroines could, by the end of the first volume, have been married and financially secure. This is not the style of Jones' novels however and instead, the reader is presented with a tale of 'the single woman alone and struggling in a hostile environment.' (Copeland, 1995, 13) Jones favours the stronger, more independently minded heroine, who will reject 'socially speculative marriage' and is 'willing to support herself if necessary'. (Foster, 1985, 23)

'Only the strongest of female authors could resist the tyranny of romantic conventions' writes Shirley Foster, (1985, 23) yet although Jones' novels are stereotypical romances with neat endings, both Rosaline Woodbridge and Emily Moreland seem to have been written with some self-reflexivity on the part of the author and contain the 'reality and intensity which [came] from personal experience.' (Neff, 1966, 245) Women writers were vulnerable members of society and this struggle both to establish their own identify and to become financially stable is explored in Jones' novels as a whole and, in particular, through the characters of Rosaline and Emily. Hannah Maria Jones sold thousands of novels during her career and her work was reprinted until the end of the century, (Summers, 1941, 81) yet despite her massive popularity, Jones lived in a state of poverty for many years and struggled financially for most of her lifetime. Women writers were 'paid according to social status rather than literary ability', (Adburgham, 1972, 257), which was one of the reasons why Jones had such a humble existence. Parallels between Jones' lifestyle and the heroines in her novels immediately become apparent. Hannah Maria Jones struggled in a society which was inhospitable to independent women and was plagued with class issues. Jones' experiences can be compared to those of her characters Rosaline and Emily who both endeavour to assert themselves in a society that dismissed those without parentage. Just as Emily plans to advertise for employment in a newspaper, so did Jones 'put herself on the market', unable to stop writing because of the financial need. Like Rosaline and Emily, Jones also lived a very nomadic life and lived in various places in London during her career, seemingly with no family or social connections to maintain. Jones had no male relations to rely on and her husband, a compositor, earned less than the author herself. Hannah Maria Jones was therefore the most economically active in their household, although throughout her writing career, Jones was manipulated by male printers who reproduced her work without consent and cheated out of money by dishonest publishers. (Royal Literary Fund, File No 553) The female dominated worlds, which Jones created in her novels, were far-removed from the actual state of society. Whilst women appear to manage and control the finances in Emily Moreland and Rosaline Woodbridge, in reality, society remained very much a man's world, where poverty-stricken authors such as Jones had to write letters to the Gentlemen of the Royal Literary Fund requesting support. I would suggest that through emphasising the role of women in her novels, Jones was exploring the issue of a more active role for women in society. The characters in Rosaline Woodbridge and Emily Moreland are not acute businesswomen, yet their roles do suggest that women are capable of holding more challenging roles within society than raising families and looking after husbands. By this one could infer that Jones considered woman to be equal to men, yet I feel that her novels are not as radical as this. I would suggest that Jones' novels do challenge the traditional role of the woman, but only to the extent that women are capable of assuming other roles within society and that if given the chance, could be more beneficial to society as a whole through adopting a more pro-active role.

It becomes apparent that through her fiction, Jones was able to comment on social issues and create a realistic effect through her own experiences as a woman writer. During the previous century, 'the feminine voice, the female body and women's experience' had been 'systematically repressed, managed and marginalised.' (Pykett, 1992, 205) Yet Jones' fiction, despite following a 'set formulae, in order to satisfy markets' (Pykett, 1992, 202) manages to deviate from this form to some extent, in raising the issue of survival in a woman's world. Through her own experiences as a woman writer, Jones was able to infuse her novels with a sense of realism, although at the same time suggesting that there was a place in society for women, other than as wives and mothers, whatever society at that time perceived the role of the woman to be. Female readers of her fiction may have been able to sympathise with the plights of the heroines, recognising the insecurity felt by both Rosaline and Emily and understanding how difficult it was for young women to try and establish themselves in a society that was dominated by men. Jones' novels explore 'individual female selfhood' and 'coming to terms with imposed circumstances' (Foster, 1985, 23) and narrate the journeys of two young women who are learning the rules of society 'the hard way', through having no mentor or family to guide them through their experiences. 'In all, women's fiction of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries negotiates an unsteady balance between rank and gender as it confronts the economy.' (Copeland, 1995, 13) Survival in a woman's world was tough, but survival for a woman in a man's world was tougher.

Bibliography

Adburgham, Alison, 1972, Women in Print: Writing Women and Women's Magazines from the Restoration to the Accession of Victoria, London, Allen and Unwin.

Carter, Ronald and McRae, John, 1997, The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland, London, Routledge.

Copeland, Edward, 1995, Women Writing About Money: Women's Fiction in England 1790-1820, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Foster, Shirley, 1985, Victorian Women's Fiction: Marriage, Freedom and the Individual, Beckenham, Croom Helm.

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