Beyond the Bonnets: Working Women in Jane Austen's Novels is an exhibition organized by the Hampshire Cultural Trust celebrating the author's 250th birthday. The exhibition focuses on the lives of working women in Hampshire during the Georgian era, exploring their contributions to domestic service, education, and trade. Key stories include Susannah Sackree, a housekeeper for Austen's family, and Mary Martin, an innkeeper who hosted social events. The exhibition seeks to illuminate the often overlooked yet vital roles these women played in supporting the lives of Austen's main characters.
The exhibition features working women in Austen's home county of Hampshire in the Georgian era, pairing voiced extracts from her novels and letters with dozens of objects illustrating their daily lives.
Working women were not the center, the lead characters, in Austen's novels, but they do play an important role, and sometimes develop the plot.
Stories include that of Susannah Sackree, a nursemaid to the 11 children of Austen's brother Edward, and later the family's housekeeper, remembered as a faithful servant.
The exhibition focuses on three key areas of work in the 18th century: domestic service, education and childcare, and trade.
Collection
[
|
...
]