International Journal of Education

With a thick description, a critical method used by New Historicists, this paper aims to reconstruct women’s education through a detailed analysis of Austin’s works, with the help of historical materials and Austin’s personal experiences. In 18th century England, a men-dominant society, middle-class women were expected to be “good wife, good mother” and the only way out for them is marriage. As a result, the purpose for women’s education was husband-hunting and a decent marriage. Since they were supposed to devote their whole life to family, middle-class women at that time was mainly educated at home, with some of them educated in boarding school. They learnt to read and write, needlework, French, music, painting and poetry, etc. However, what they learnt, like their dresses, was an ornament to show in the marriage market and to attract a decent husband. After wedding ceremony, most things that women had learnt turned useless, thus, left far behind. Therefore, the essence of English middle-class women’s education in 18th century was that “for the world and not for themselves, for show and not for use, for time and not for eternity”.

Thick description; Austin; 18th Century England; Middle-class Women’s Education