The Construction of Domestic Space in Nineteenth-century Britain:

Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton

Abstract

Domestic space is an important sphere of intimate politics. Nineteenth-century Britain was marked by developments in a number of areas. While the Industrial Revolution became one of the most influential events to take place, the lack of women’s rights made progress difficult. In a predominantly patriarchal society that lacked avenues for women’s empowerment but was also on the way to opening up economic opportunities, such a disparity made its way into the literature of the time. Through an analysis of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814) and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton (1848) this paper attempts to engage with questions of domesticity, morality and the condition of the urban working classes. The paper also seeks to trace the influence of Hannah More (1745-1833) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) in women-centric literature of the time.