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The Glory of Woman: Prescriptive Literature, 1830 - 1839
- Adams, Mrs. (Catherine Lyman). Daily Duties Inculcated in a Series of Letters Addressed to the Wife of a Clergyman. Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1835.
Adams outlines the particular duties of a minister’s wife and family: “…if the wife of a minister every day exhibits in her family the character of a consistent Christian, it will, certainly, have a powerful influence upon her husband’s ministry.”
- Chandler, Daniel. An Address on Female Education. Washington, Ga.: Printed by William A. Mercer, 1835.
“The marked difference, that exists in the education of the sexes, cannot be justified upon any principle of sound philosophy or legitimate reasoning.” Chandler examines “the capabilities of the female mind” and demonstrates “the importance of its improvement.”
- Cheap, Eliza. My Station and Its Duties: a narrative for girls going to service. London: R.B. Seeley and W. Burnside, 1836.
This narrative instructs girls about the proper conduct of a household servant: “Beware…of acquiring that shameful trick of listening, and taking improper means to overhear conversation. Your mind, if it is bent on your own business and your own duty, will sufficiently employ you…”
- Farrar, John, Mrs. The Young Lady’s Friend. New York: Samuel S. & William Wood, 1838.
“The married school-girl deprives herself of a most delightful and useful stage in her existence… She loses all the varied pleasures of a young lady, and skips at once from childhood to married life.” This book provides guidance for young ladies “on leaving school.”
- Grimké, Sarah Moore. Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman. Boston: I. Knapp, 1838.
“I do long to see the time, when it will be no longer necessary for women to expend so many precious hours in furnishing ‘a well-spread table,’ but that their husbands will…encourage their wives to devote some portion of their time to mental cultivation, even at the expense of having to dine sometimes on baked potatoes, or bread and butter.”
- Gunn, John C. Domestic Medicine, or, Poor Man's Friend. Knoxville, Tenn.: F.S. Heiskell, 1833.
This medical advice book contains more than 60 pages of information on women’s health, including a description of the “organs of generation,” and the means of procuring an abortion.
- Sandford, John, Mrs. Woman, in Her Social and Domestic Character. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1831.
“Domestic life is a woman’s sphere, and it is there that she is most usefully as well as most appropriately employed. But society, too, feels her influence, and owes to her, in great measure, its balance and its tone.”
- Sigourney, Lydia Howard. Letters to Young Ladies. Hartford: William Watson, 1835.
This conduct-of-life book by a well-known poet states that “A cheerful demeanor is particularly expected of young ladies. In their case, its absence is an especial fault.”
- Woman: as she is, and as she should be. London: James Cochran and Co., 1835.
The authors “seek to restore the legitimate authority of the one sex – by the force of moral elevation to add to the true influence of the other, – and so to promote the happiness of the species at large.”
- The Young Wife’s Book: a manual of moral, religious and domestic duties. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard, 1838.
“Never suppose, for a moment, that a husband’s neglect of his duties, however flagrant and complex, absolves a wife from the performance of hers…”.
