A compelling and illuminating portrait of the life of women in Victorian society.  Women in 19^th century Britain may appear governed by a patriarchal model that reserved power and privilege for men, but they challenged not only the ideas of ‘separate spheres of society’, but the influence of Queen Victoria herself.  This illustrated talk draws on archival sources, character portraits, key historical events and the roles played by women in shaping and redefining society to bring the changing world of the Victorian woman vividly to life.  

Anne Louise Booth teaches at the University of Sheffield and is a visiting academic at the University of Gloucestershire.