Gender, Power and the Unitarians in England, 1760-1860 (Women And Men In History)

"This new study explores the role the Unitarians played in female emancipation. Many leading figures of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were Unitarian, or were heavily influenced by Unitarian ideas, including: Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, and Florence Nightingale. Ruth Watts examines how far they were successful in challenging the ideas and social conventions affecting women. In the process she reveals the complex relationship between religion, gender, class and education and her study will be essential reading for those studying the origins of the feminist movement, nineteenth-century gender history, religious history or the history of education."--Publisher description Ruth Watts looks at the role the radical religious sect, the Unitarians, played in helping to open the door to female emancipation. In the process, the author reveals the complex relationship between religion, gender, class and education during this period. The Unitarians had a disproportionate amount of influence in some significant urban areas. Explores the role the Unitarians played in female emancipation. Many leading female figures of the late 18th and 19th centuries were Unitarian, or influenced by Unitarian ideas. This study examines how successful they were in challenging the ideas and social conventions affecting women.