A Women's Desire for Fame and Ambition in the work of Maria Jane Jewsbury.

Norma Clarke writes 'For a women, the word "fame" rhymed with "shame"'. (Clarke, 1990, 71) How true this seemed to be for the literary women of the nineteenth century. Fame, ambition, knowledge and the concept of genius have all been debated in many writings of both men and women and they feature passionately in Maria Jane Jewsbury's work. This essay will focus on Jewsbury's Phantasmagoria; or Sketches of Life and Literature (published 1825) and Three Histories (1831). Both of which present the notion of female fame and ambition, also highlight the divide between domestic life and literature talent, and provide examples of the basic differences in attitudes between genders at this time, all of which Jewsbury faced in her own life.
Jewsbury writes in a letter to Alaric Watts her 'discoverer' (Fryckstedt, 1984, 180-181) and trusted friend, describing the difficulties of her life caring for her family, 'I think I could make a decent paper descriptive of the miseries of combining literary tastes with domestic duties.' (Gillett, 1932, ii-xviii) Jewsbury was always infatuated with writing and literature. In a letter she wrote to the popular author Felicia Hemans she revealed that she was as young as nine years old 'when the ambition of writing a book, being praised publicly and associating with authors, seized me as a vague longing'. It is thought by most whom read 'The History of an Enthusiast' that Jewsbury has based Julia, the heroine of the story, on herself, this was undoubtedly my first thought. Jewsbury is constantly described as energetic and enthusiastic for knowledge and she said herself she was this way from an early age. Julia is very much the same; she cries when her grandmother takes Macbeth away from her, 'her mind was athirst for knowledge' ('The History of an Enthusiast' 1830,18). When asked what she would wish her future to hold she asks for fame, contrasting to her close friend Annette who chose to be a 'charming wife' and does not want the burden of carrying knowledge (22). Julia chose fame and it is quite possible that Jewsbury would have done at a similar age.
Fame! what energy dwells in that one word- what power to kindle and exalt!....the life blood of my life...I feel I could surrender ease, health, happiness, friends, fortune,....O Fame! let me not pass away unknown, a hidden rill in the world's mighty forest. (51)
However, how Julia changes throughout the story; she realises women cannot have both fame and love, 'What is Fame to woman, but a dazzling degeneration! She is exposed to the pitiless gaze of admiration; but little respect, and no love, blends with it....She is a jewelled captive- bright, and desolate, and sad' (131-132). Hemans also seems to have a low opinion of fame; ' Fame can only afford reflected delight to a women.' (Chorley 1836, 159) 'The Fame which she undoubtedly pursued she also suffered from...Fame was a burden because fame was unwomanly.' (Clarke,1990, 34)
The reception in the story for Julia's want for fame is very negative especially by the men; Mr Mortimer asks Julia,

'And what good would fame do you - a woman?' 'It would make amends for being a women - I should not pass away and perish.' ...'Setting aside the ten thousand chances against a women's achieving what shall permanently and honourably distinguish her, she will probably suffer great loss, certainly great trials, during her foray into the enchanted wood; even her genius will probably be like a chariot-wheel, set on fire and consumed by the velocity of its own motion; then her health- her spirit- oh, you forget yourself, my dear child, make another choice.' (25-26)

The idea that a women's health will suffer seems to be somewhat autobiographical, Jewsbury became very ill in 1826 and she stopped writing for short while. Jewsbury's character Mr Mortimer goes on to say that the only way a women can increase her happiness is through the excitement of her domestic virtues which he quotes from the preface of Madame Roland's 'Impartial Appeal'. This opinion he has, expresses perfectly the view of most men at the time. Jewsbury here is highlighting the opinions she and other female writers have risen against. Although this is highlighted it does not necessarily mean that she believes fame to be a completely positive desire. As Jewsbury witnessed in Hemans life, literary fame does not always lead to happiness; Hemans ended up alone bringing up five children as her husband, 'Captain Hemans could not tolerate living with a wife who earned more than he did within a society which judged as "reversal of the order of nature"',(Clarke, 1990, 83) seen again - an example of a man not being able to cope with a successful wife, something which happens to Julia in 'The History of an Enthusiast'. It is the longest of The Three Histories, and is a very poignant story of a woman who is torn between the love for literature, want for fame and knowledge and the love for a man, Cecil. She is contrasted to her friend who seeks to fulfil the more conventional woman's role. Cecil marries somebody else whilst Julia is concentrating on her career in London. We are pre warned that he will not marry her as 'Cecil had often in the pride of refined feeling avowed a determination never to marry a woman with a fortune.'('The History of an Enthusiast 1830, 106) This also seems reasonably true for Jewsbury herself, she had known Revd William Fletcher since at least 1826 as she had mentioned him in a letter to her sister, Geraldine but asking for secrecy as their father did not approve yet.(Clarke, 1990, 156)He seems to be somewhat based on Cecil and one wonders whether his possible pressure for her to leave her literature is not what caused her to become ill in this same year.
The root of The Three Histories from Madame de Stael's very popular novel, Corinne (Published 1807). This is a tale of a love affair between Oswald and a beautiful poetess, who has been crowned a national genius. Despite the love between the pair, Oswald on returning back to England decides to honour his late fathers choice of bride for him, this turns out to be Corinne's half sister. Oswald leaves Corinne and she dies of a broken heart. The female genius in the story who is left broken hearted is obviously who Julia ('The History of an Enthusiast') is based on, and also the description of Egeria is similar to the poetess, 'Egeria; she was a muse, a grace, a variable child, a dependent women, - the Italy of human beings. ('The History of a Nonchalant') Oswald like Charles is completely overwhelmed by the poetess: 'Look at her, she is the image of our beautiful Italy.' (Corinne) Oswald also appears to be like Richard in 'The History of a Realist' as he believes that the honour of the family is so important he puts his own happiness on hold until the bankruptcy is removed from the Winton's name. Oswald is prepared to spend the rest of his life with someone, for the sake of honouring his father. Corinne is one of the first works to put women's creativity on centre stage, (Isbell, 1998) and many female authors including Jewsbury's sister wrote pieces in answer to it. Hemans writes that it 'has a power over me which is quite indescribable.'(Moers,1977, 177)
There was a general feeling amongst the male authors of the period, that women could not be both a women and an author, they had to choose. When writing to Dora Wordsworth, a dear friend to Jewsbury, she mentions something which William Wordsworth has said which is typical of this male opinion even when sympathetic like Wordsworth; 'Do you remember your father's simile about women and flowers - growing in their native bed and transplanted to a drawing room chimney place? I wish I could forget it.' (Clarke, 1990, 68) Marlon Ross wrote, Romanticism is not simply a chronological period but also a powerfully masculine ideological construct, one in which women could never function as autonomous and active agents. (Walkins,1952,125)
Daniel Walkins makes a very interesting comparison between Lynne Segal's general observation of pornography in today's society and the masculine ideology of the Romantic poets. He uses an example from Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey' and 'Nutting'; both these pieces express 'the triumph and strength of a masculinist ideology' (127) Segal argues that a likely explanation for the increased consumption of porn by men-apart from profit- 'is that pornography is a compensatory expression of men's declining power'. (128) Walkins is not trying to imply that the male romantic poets are expressing decline, we can see that this is certainly not the case, however he does argue that the romantic, masculine identity and authority reveals that there is, like pornography, an overcompensating for loss and weakness; the Romantic poets have a loss of human fullness and the desire for human freedom. (127-128)I would also argue that female writers in nineteenth century were treated with secondary concern and with a lack of respect similarly to women in pornography, they are just objects of convenience and desire, nothing more.
Jewsbury correspond with Hemans and did so for many years, they were very devoted friends yet so very different in character. Hemans' sister compares the two friends and describes Jewsbury as having masculine energies contrasting to Hemans being so intensely feminine. (Wilson and Haefner, 1994,131) It is thought that the portrait of Egeria in 'The History of a Nonchalant' is describing Hemans (Chorley, 1836, 187),
Other women might be more commanding, more versatile, more acute; but I never saw one so exquisitely feminine...Her birth, her education, but above all, the genius with which she was gifted, combined to inspire a passion for the ethereal, the tender, the imaginative, the heroic- in one word, the beautiful. ('The History of a Nonchalant', 231)

Chorley was a very close friend to Hemans and agreed with Jewsbury; although 'somewhat idealised, is as faithful to the truth as it is gracefully written'. Hemans was seen as 'womanly' and attractive therefore was appropriate as opposed to the supposedly masculine and therefore unacceptable aspects of work of other women such as Jewsbury (Linkin and Behrendt,1999, 9) It was not favourably looked upon to be masculine and have ambition, it was 'contrary to custom' which dictated 'that women should be weak and self-effacing...if custom and cultural law insisted that women were weak and self- effacing, then women who were strong and self-assertive found themselves in a vulnerable position.'(Clarke, 1990, 30) Women were thought to be made for maternal and domestic duties and women who tried to be otherwise were faced with this prejudice.

In 'The History of an Nonchalant' and 'The History of a Realist' there are more examples of this male dominance. 'The History of a Nonchalant' is the story of man similar to Julia in the aspect that he was enthusiastic about the arts, he was only child and his mother had died when he was an infant, all of which applied to Jewsbury. However he craved wisdom instead of knowledge; 'he gave me books to read, good no doubt, but I was a Greek, seeking after wisdom through a medium of beauty.'(The History of an Nonchalant,1830, 208) It is a tragic love story, one of deceit and death. Charles, the protagonist, although he seems sensitive still shares the opinions of most men during this period:

She made a proposition -is it needful to say that it was received and repelled with a vehemence almost amounting to anger?- live upon the money earned by a women- that women my wife- and that my wife Egeria!- I could have far sooner have died than permitted such a reversal of the order of nature, such a desecration of my dignity and her softness. (238)

'The History of a Realist' is the story of a man who wants to reclaim the honour of his family's name before living his own life. Although he seems very masculine in some of his opinions and he is not artistic or philosophical in anyway, we witness through him the first admittance that a women is of an equal mind; 'You have less to occupy you than I have, and being a women, have less strong frame, though not a whit a less strong mind.' (The History of a Realist,1830, 282). However this positive idea is still wrapped in a negative manner.

Julia would 'be an angel....for the sake of gaining immortal knowledge.'(The History of an Enthusiast, 1830, 50) Knowledge is talked about often in the Three Histories. During this period it was seen by some as dangerous and many characters in Jewsbury's work air their apprehensions about literature. Jewsbury character Mrs Carhampton is used particularly to do this; 'I never saw anything good come of people being bookish and learned and clever…I do my duty when I take Shakespeare from you, for he would only fill your head with nonsense. (History of an Enthusiast,1830, 10-11) She believes she has witnessed this in Julia's father; 'Books and such like did him a great deal of harm indeed- injured his health- made him poor.'(10-11) This opinion is a reflection of her age and class, when we hear that in actual fact her father drank Gin and water a little too much, (21) we realise that she is not necessarily correct. She represents the traditional views of society; that women should have a place and not involve themselves in the quest for knowledge as this could be dangerous; 'knowledge together with ambition spelled trouble.' (Clarke, 1990,23) In Jewsbury's Letters to the Young (published1828) she warns her sisters of knowledge and the moral dangers of literature, she asks her ' Are you determined...to learn by no one's experience but your own?' (72) This suggests that she has come to believe that her pursuit for knowledge and fame has been a mistake and does not want Geraldine to follow in the same way.

In 'The History of a Realist' William is an example of the reader and philosopher, he and the protagonist, Richard -the Realist who does not share the youngsters enthusiasm for literature- debate the romantics and imagination.('The History of a Realist',1830, 287-290) Richard believes that his young admirer, soon to be brother in law, will grow out of his passion for knowledge and speeds up this process by recommending him for the job of lieutenant of the volunteer corps;' William Sydney flung away Rousseau, and gave his whole soul to gratitude and the drill.'(292). The enthusiasm for literature shown by William is seen by at least one character in each History; in the 'Enthusiast' it is obviously Julia and in the 'Nonchalant' it is Charles, they are both similar to Jewsbury. She told in a letter to Mrs Hall just before she left England for India, 'My three Histories have most of myself in them.'(Gillett,1932, lxv) however she also writes, 'Public report has fastened the 'Julia' upon me: the childhood, the opening years and many of the after opinions are correct; but all else is fabulous.' (Chorley,1836, 171). Evidently we must be careful not to read them as autobiographical. However there are so many similarities, it becomes hard not to compare her characters to the people in Jewsbury's life.
In each of the Histories there is also a character who objects to the literature and passionate views of theses enthusiastic characters; Julia's grandmother (HOE) and Richard (HOR) as mentioned previously, and also Charles' father in 'The History of a Nonchalant' who I believe to be the elder character of Richard, or quite possibly Jewsbury's opinion of business men. Charles' father was described by his son; 'General Literature he neglected, because he regarded taste and imagination with suspicion and dislike.' ('The History of a Nonchalant' 1830, 201) At the end of 'The History of an Enthusiast' it seems Julia has recognised that knowledge is not the most essential feature in life, similar to Jewsbury when she wrote to her sister, as mentioned previously.

Then books have lost their early charm. Knowledge- ah, is it come to this! knowledge, though it still invigorates my understanding, no longer fills my heart with unalloyed pleasure; it seems only to open my eyes to fresh views of human crime and sorrow. ('The History of an Enthusiast',1830, 129)

Jewsbury did actually become very famous; an old Manchester associate described her entrance to a room,'The announcement of her name, at a party…always set the room in commotion. There was a 'Hush!-silence!-hush! As she entered; the music would cease, and the conversation come to a dead pause'. (Clarke, 1990, 27)

Jewsbury became the leading writer for the Athenaeum and in doing this had the ability to write like a man, she had freedom to write and was not scared to, this fear was something which she accused other female writers of suffering from. She wrote some of the first feminist criticism, it was fresh and feisty. Her opinion was that the women writers of earlier years were more 'masculine' for example Wollstonecraft and Baillie and she seemed to have more respect for them. (Clarke, 1990, 90) In 'The History of an Enthusiast', Julia is compared to Mary Wollstoncraft after describing her writing as, 'most unfeminine(sic) style for a women- dreadfully indecorous!' ('The History of an Enthusiast', 1830, 175) However they still wish for Julia to be at their party highlighting the superficiality and falseness of the literary circle that Jewsbury may have found out for her self. An example of this is when Jewsbury's conduct is described when staying at the Wordsworth's home, Rydal Mount. Christopher North records this Blackwood's Magazine in 1825, he was satisfied that she had conducted herself as a young women should and says that she would certainly have a place when male and female genius sit down to banquet. After acknowledging her genius he then discusses whether she is 'bonny'(Clarke,1990,67) Clarke comments on the description: ' The characteristics of the acceptable female genius may be inferred from this ambrosial description: she will be pretty, smiling, and ready to listen.' (67) Scandal amongst women writers was common in this period. If a woman was seen to behave in a improper manner she would be gossiped about. Major scandals of the time included historian (but almost, now unread) Catharine Macaulay, she was guilty of a happy marriage to a man twenty years her junior; Mary Wollstonecraft, mentioned already, was the mother of an illegitimate child and also went travelling alone; Mary Robinson, the discarded mistress of the Prince of Wales and others and Laetitia Elizabeth Landon, adored by her public but undermined by gossip and had probably had the most miserable end to any women mentioned here. (Oxford World Classics The Magazine). Women were treated with such difference to men, in Shakespeare's plays there are men of high profile like Gloucster in King Lear who have illegitimate children and this particular character finds his circumstances humorous, 'This knave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged'. (Shakespeare, Act 1:1)
Wordsworth's shared the male view of female poets, 'Wordsworth was not alone in wishing her to put down her pen and take up her needle. This was also the point of Byron's nasty puns of gender.' (Wilson and Haefner,1994,139) Both male poets are referring to Hemans. Chorley wrote that Heman's 'wears under all her robes of triumph, the pitying heart of a women.' (Chorley,1836, I:27)Women have always been oppressed and in literature there is no exception. It originates from the Bible; Eve tempts Adam into eating the forbidden fruit and is also made from his ribs so is consequentially seen as inferior. Poovey writes,
Mary Wollstonecraft took the first step toward liberating herself from the crippling strictures of feminine propriety: she identified the ideology that assigned women their social position and cultural definition; she then argued that it was both unnatural and wrong. (Poovey, 1984, 48)
Religion is a topic throughout Jewsbury's work, in 'The History of a Nonchalant' Guise Stuart is the villain in the story, and is likened to a serpent, creating negative biblical images of a male, and Cecil's wife is named Mary. I do believe that Jewsbury has chosen this name on purpose, a simple and holy name for a chaplain who could not marry a 'women with a fortune'. And when Julia was growing up her Grandmother locked away all books except the bible, 'you go and lock up every single scrap of a book about the house, except - except you understand - the large bible.' ('The History of an Enthusiast', 1830, 9)
One of the major differences in Jewsbury's 'The History of an Enthusiast' and De Stael's Corinne is that the heroine does not die, when her heart has been broken. Julia does not give up this is the true strength shown in this story. Unlike most other women in literature Julia comes to terms with her heart and copes on her own. Juliet and Ophelia are just two of the most obvious examples of weak female characters who submit to suicide due to the actions of men. Anna Jameson's heroine in Diary of an Ennuyee is another example of a women dying from a broken heart. It is a very negative image of women, portraying them as unable to survive without men; Physical death shows a lack of opportunity it is the end for women, without men they have no options. Jewsbury may have killed Egeria off in 'The History of a Nonchalant' as she represented opportunity she could have provided for herself but her husband stopped her, the perfect Egeria would have been flawed and not been as soft and delicate if she had worked. (Clarke,1990, 83) At the end of 'The History of an Enthusiast' Julia ends by identifying with Shelly':

O lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud; /I fall upon the thorns of life-I bleed; /A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed /One too like thee, tameless, and swift, and proud

This is very appropriate for her to compare herself to a man, she is handling the situation in a very masculine way.
In Phantasmagoria Jewsbury deals with suicide and how women deal with the loss of love;

Many other girls in Ellen's situation, would have had a violent fit of illness, been given up by their doctors, have recovered to the surprise of their friends, and after looking pale and interesting for a sufficient space of time, would have married some one else. (Phantasmagoria vol: 2 184)

This is also a good example of Jewsbury's sarcastic criticism of literature at the time. The heroine in 'The Lonely Grave' commits suicide due to a broken heart. Another tale that tells the story of loss but from a different angle is 'The song of the Hindoo Women'. She publicly commits suicide to be with her husband in the spirit world, this is the common thing to do in their culture, and the 'Women of Suli' would rather die than be taken over by the Albanians. However the most ridiculous suicide in Phantasmagoria is in 'Arria'. The heroine in this poem stabs herself when her husband is dying to show her love and help in dying, ' Then rose the wife and women high, and died, to teach him how to die, It is not painful, Paetus -ay!' She dies so that he knows it is not painful. Phantasmagoria has been read by some to be women's book,
However by means of such simple shifts as reading through the pronoun 'he' to the female author whose experiences are recast and shaped for public consumption, it will be seen that Phantasmagoria emerges as a significant text in the history of women's relation to literary production in the early part of the nineteenth century. (Clarke,1990, 55)
As we have seen in The Three Histories, some of Jewsbury's work in Phantasmagoria discusses ambition and women's place in literature. The most obvious piece which gives an example of this is 'The Miseries of Mediocrity or Confessions of Disappointed Author'. This is the tale of a man who has to admit to himself that he is not made for a career in literature. However, if this is read with a female in mind then a very interesting slant is thrown on the piece; the women would be giving up literature as her mind is simply not strong enough to cope with the pressure and also is not talented enough, ' The vain pursuit of literary fame is now over.' (Phantasmagoria ,1825, II : 244)
Jane Carlyle asks 'Why do women marry? God knows, unless it be that…they do not find scope enough for their genius and qualities in an easy life.' (Clarke,1990,155) It could be possible that after everything Jewsbury wrote whether fiction or autobiographical, she came to the conclusion that it was not fame or knowledge that was the key to happiness but was a man, as she married in 1832. She did not make the same mistake as Julia in 'The History of an Enthusiast'; she was not left alone. She literally lived the life that Julia would have had if she had chosen differently, married to a chaplain and then emigrating to India. Also 'by 1832 she had passed the all important age of 30 which marked the divide between an unmarried women and an old maid.'(155) I believe that another key difference between her and Julia is that the fictional character felt real passion for her unrequited love however from reading Jewsbury's letters to Dora Wordsworth I feet that Jewsbury just settled with the marriage; she had turned him down previously. I do not doubt that she had affection for Fletcher and this grew stronger over time but it generates a distressing thought within me to think that Jewsbury really was no happier than Julia was, neither of them found true happiness outside of their writing.

Wordsworth had a lot of respect for Jewsbury and she was very close to his family, he wrote a two poems about some gold and silver fishes she bought him as a gift. The last stanza of the second poem, Liberty is directly addressing her.(3)It was published after she had died and so she never read this lovely gesture written by her mentor and good friend. He also pays tribute to her at the end of the poems (4) 'She had, within the range of the Author's acquaintance, no equal.' (Poetical works,1969, 529) Felicia Hemans continues to write about Jewsbury months after her death. (5) She was 'deeply and permanently affected by the untimely fate of one so gifted and so affectionately loving me, as our poor lost friend.' (Chorley, 1990,313) However she also writes,

'I would rather, a thousand times, that she should have perished thus, in the path of her chosen duties, than have seen her become the merely brilliant creature of London literary life, living upon those poor succes de societe, which I think utterly ruinous to all that is lofty, and holy, and delicate in the nature of a highly-endowed women. (Wilson and Haefner, 1994,162)

Hemans would rather Jewsbury to have died in this way than to have been ruined by the life of the literary circle in London. This automatically reminds us of Julia in 'The History of an Enthusiast'. Mrs Ellis in1838 states that,

The author of 'The Enthusiast' has, in the story, bequeathed to the world a striking and most melancholy picture of the ceaseless conflict, the insatiable thirst for what is unattainable, and the final wretchedness necessarily attendant upon the ungoverned ambition of superior intellect, when associated with the natural dependence and susceptibility of women. (Clarke,1990, 59)

This description of Jewsbury was published as an obituary notice in the Christian Keepsake. Literary women of this period were faced with a terrible choice, they could not be happy without their passion for writing and literature however, it does seem that having a husband is also needed for this happiness. Tying to combine the two seems almost impossible, especially with the attitudes of the men at the time. Jewsbury in the last paragraph of 'History of an Enthusiast' writes that men who can marry a women of genius is 'comparatively rare, and their power of doing heart-homage to female genius, is no less a gift than genius itself.' ('History of an Enthusiast',1830, 151) Furthermore 'In a literary career, as in every other, there grow no thornless roses.' (124)

Annotated Bibliography

Blain, Virginia, et al. 1990. The feminist Companion to Lterature in English.New Haven: Yale UP.

Chorley, Henry. 1836. Memorials of Mrs Hemans in Two Volumes. London: ? One Chapter was extremely helpful and the others provided a good background to Jewsbury and Heman's friendship.

Clarke, Norma. 1990. Ambitious Heights, Writing, friendship, love - the Jewsbury sisters Felicia Hemans and Jane Carlyle. London and New York : Routledge. This was extremely helpful; it provided a background, comments on Jewsbury's work and also an overview of the general opinions of the period.

de Staël, Madame. 1998. Corinne - or Italy. Trans. and ed. by Sylvia Raphael. Intro.John Isbell. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Fryckstedt, Monica Correa. "The Hidden Rill: The Life and Career of Maria Jane Jewsbury: I." Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 66.2 (1984): 177-203.Very interesting and there is a lot on Lays of Leisure Hours and Letters to the Young but limited information or comments on Phantasmagoria and The Three Histories.

Gillett, Eric. Maria Jane Jewsbury: Occasional Papers, Selected with a Memoir. London: Oxford University Press, 1932. Deals with Jewsbury's life and feelings very well, there as a focus on her letters rather than on her poetry of prose.

Homans, Margaret. 1980. Women Writers and Poetic Identity. Princeton: Princeton U P. Not anything specific on Jewsbury, however some feminist criticism.

Johnston, Judith. 1997. Anna Jameson, Victorian Feminist, Women of Letters. Yale: Yale UP, Scolar Press. Limited information on Jewsbury.

Lancashire Worthies. 1874-7. 2nd Series. A good background to her life and family.

Harriet Kramer Linkin and Stephen C. Behrendt, eds. 1999. Romanticism and Women Poets: Opening the Doors of Reception. Lexington: U P of Kentuck. A good introduction to the topic with many examples of different critics.

Moers, Ellen. (1978) Literary Women. The Women's Press Limited.
This book was a good general book for the attitudes of the period.

Mary Moorman.1957–1965. William Wordsworth: A Biography. 2 vols. a Biography, Oxford: Oxford U P. Good for the male opinion and helpful to me as Jewsbury was friends with Wordsworth and his family.

Shattock, Joanne, ed. 1993. The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford and New York : Oxford University Press. An excellent starting point and pointed me towards some relevant books.

Todd, Janet, ed. 1989. British women writers: a critical reference guide. New York : Continuum. Similar to Shattock, nothing specific.

Walkins, Daniel. 1952. Sexual Power in British Romantic Poetry. Florida: U P of Florida. Some unusual and interesting ideas, however nothing specific to Jewsbury.

Wilson, Carol Shiner and Joel Haefner, eds. 1994. Re-visioning Romanticism: British Women Writers, 1776-1837. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P. Very helpful, with some comments and criticism of Jewsbury's Three Histories.

Bibliography

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