Beyond the bonnets: Jane Austen’s working women finally get their place in the spotlight

A new exhibition features the housekeepers, maids and governesses that inspired characters in the author’s novelsAfter Elizabeth Bennet walked three miles across fields to visit her sick sister, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice came in for scandalising criticism of her “blowsy” hair and petticoats “six inches deep in mud”.What of the women who restored Elizabeth’s hair to coiffed curls and washed the filthy petticoats? Jane Austen’s novels include mentions of working women, such as housekeepers, maids and governesses, but now an exhibition puts their stories in the spotlight. Continue reading...

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