The Old Woman: Evangelical manners and late Georgian respectability

This thesis examines the advice given to young women by an anonymous contributor to the popular late Georgian women’s magazine the Lady’s Monthly Museum. The advice columnist, who used the pen name the Old Woman, gave advice to readers who were concerned with what constituted proper female education, how they should spend their leisure time, and how to act during courtship and marriage. The advice this columnist gave her predominantly middle class readership mirrored attitudes held by prominent evangelicals of the period who sought to inculcate their morality on the English middle class. This revolution of manners, led by evangelical leaders, came to shape female behavior for decades. Examination of the Old Woman’s column adds important insight into the late Georgian period and the lives of middle class women.