394

BLESSED OR NOT? THE NEW SPINSTER

IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES
IN THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH
CENTURIES

Ruth Freeman and Patricia Klaus*

Abstract: After 1870, single women in England and America began to speak
favorably about spinsterhood. With new acceptable means to earn money and
with a growing openness about the fragility of happiness in marriage, employed
or financially independent middle-class women no longer regarded marriage as

necessary for financial support or self-respect. In magazine articles, single women

compared their lives to those of their married friends and told readers that
spinsterhood, with its financial and intellectual independence, could be a rational
choice. Though social commentators worried and warned of loneliness, these
bachelor women enjoyed the amenities and companionship afforded by an urban
setting. Novelists distrusted the spinsters’ advocacy of single-blessedness as
stories ended with the new female protagonists marrying. A minority that some-
times wavered, the new spinsters, by demonstrating a respectable option, helped
to reverse traditional scorn for old maids and to pave the way for those who
would later demand, like men, to combine work and marriage.

Concern about the large number of England never married, and they regarded
spinsters, especially from the middle the &dquo;great army of these unmarried
classes, grew in England and the United women&dquo; as a modern development. At
States after 1850.’ Some people estimated first, anxieties about the increasing
that as many as one in four women in number of spinsters centered on the
redundant woman: how could a lady sup-
*Ruth Freeman is the Assistant Provost for port herself? Emigrate to the colonies?
Academic Concerns at the University of Rochester Move west to California? Educate herself
(Rochester, NY 14627). She is interested in the so that she could find suitable remunera-
history of American women in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Patricia Klaus has taught British tive employment? Much of the movement
history at Yale University and, as Visiting Assistant to improve women’s education and em-
Professor, at the University of Virginia and Stan- ployment in both countries developed in
ford University. She resides at present in Belvedere,
response to the plight of the impoverished
California.
gentlewoman (Banks and Banks, 1964;
’
Report of the Census of Great Britain,
The Hammerton, 1979; Kanner, 1972 :183-
1851 pointed to the imbalance, unfavorable to 185). Most commentators expressed little
2
women, in the number of men and women in Eng- concern over working-class spinsters.
land. During the next 70 years, articles on "surplus"
women frequently appeared in popular periodicals.

Among the most important early articles are Greg The Englishwoman’s Review was an exception
2
(1869); Cobbe (1862); Boucherett (1869); and Green- and took as one of its particular interests the plight
wall (1862). of pauper girls.

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 395

These women had always worked and rightly connected spinsterhood to the dis-
could, mostbelieved, readily find employ- favor into which the institution of mar-
ment in factories or domestic service (even riage seemed to have fallen in the latter
if such work was poorly paid). Women, part of the century (Tompkins, 1907 :468-
married and unmarried, from the middle 471).
classes and above depended upon the Spinsterhood, as women increasingly
large reservoir of unmarried working- pointed out in the late nineteenth century,
class women. Lacking husbands and was not necessarily a negative state, the

needing an income, these working-class result of the failure to marry. It could also
women cleaned, cooked, served, and be a positive response to the dilemmas
made the Victorian and Edwardian women faced during the long process of

middle-class life possible. seeking equality with men. Women’s posi-

As the century drew to a close, social tion in nineteenth-century England and
commentators connected the problem of America improved as legislatures enacted
the unmarried gentlewoman to larger reforms in property and divorce laws,
social issues. Influenced by Darwinian education, and local suffrage. But as long
ideas of the survival of the fittest, many as women were economically dependent
English and Americans felt unprepared upon men, they could never be equal
for the challenges they anticipated the within the family. As long as women’s
new century would bring. Americans, sphere continued to be defined as the
worried about &dquo;race suicide,&dquo; feared home and family, women could never be
being swamped by fecund immigrants; the equal in the world. Spinsterhood, for an
English, concerned about physical de- important few, was a form of revolt, a
terioration in the slums and among mili- conscious choice to remain single, to work
tary recruits, expressed apprehension toward equality, and to reject the
about their ability to protect their empire demands, restrictions, and inequalities of
in the twentieth century. Observers in middle-class marriage.44 In addition to
both countries singled out the declining those who never married because of par-
marriage and birth rates among the edu- ticular circumstances, some women,
cated middle classes.’ Some went so far as pioneers in their own fashion, rejected
to connect the decline in middle-class marriage as it existed at the turn of the
marriage with the emergence of the &dquo;new century. Freer than their predecessors to
woman&dquo; who rebelled against traditional pursue something other than marriage
restraints, explored new opportunities, and a family, and troubled by the frank
and expressed new aspirations and discussion of marriage’s problems, these
energy. This new spinster, rejecting mar- women could-and did-choose not to

riage and motherhood as it existed in late marry.

Victorian society, was perceived as a
threat to men and the family. Observers Sara Delamont (1978:178) quotes John S.
4
Haller, Jr. and Robin Haller, The Physician and
Sexuality in Victorian America on celibacy as a pro-
test against marriage and argues herself that "celi-
For the United States,
3 see "Statistics of Mar- bacy was a common form of revolt against the tradi-
riage" (1885); Harris (1904); By an Unwilling tional female sphere." The author of "The Problem
Celibate (1909); "Married and Single" (1919); of the Unmarried Woman" (By a Novelist, 1911:
Marnott-Watson (1901); and Willcox (1896). For 609) referred to the new spinster as "Rebel we call
England, see Eugenius (1891); McFadyen (1907); By her and speak of her revolt." See also the sections on
a Novelist (1911). See also Gilbert (1965); Banks the suffragettes in George Dangerfield (1980), and
(1954); Hynes (1968); and Semmel (1968). William Chafe (1972).

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396

Between approximately 1870 and 1920, the effects of the growing frankness of the
a change in attitudes toward spinsterhood talk about marriage and the single
can be discerned, both on the part of woman’s assessment of the institution in
society toward spinsters and in the spin- light of the troubles revealed. We include
ster’s attitudes toward themselves. People statements from English and American
contrasted the unmarried women of spinsters because the &dquo;revolt&dquo; in both
earlier times with this &dquo;new spinster.&dquo; No countries was similar: it was primarily the
longer reclusive, useless, and embittered, response of educated urban women,
the new spinster led an outgoing, produc- though there were women in the smaller,
tive life. She traveled with friends and en- rural towns who also chafed at the restric-
joyed herself. As a result of this change- tions of the conventional world of the
an increase in self-confidence and an married woman and wished to do some-
awareness of the advantages of spinster- thing more with their lives. Although both
hood and the disadvantages of married English and American girls enjoyed more
life-marriage came to be regarded as an freedoms and opportunities by the turn of
option rather than as an absolute neces- the century, observers in both countries
sity for women. Important social changes commented on the differences between
-improvements in education, growing them. The common belief was that the un-
availability of employment suitable for married American girl possessed more
middle-class women, participation in the freedom than her English counterpart
suffrage movement, and a more amenable but, once married, the English woman en-
urban environment--underlay the in- joyed greater independence. According to
creased respect afforded spinsters and the image conveyed in the popular press,
their new self-confidence. Alice Rossi the American girl, self-reliant, frank, and
(1972:125-127) has argued that the pres- enterprising, was more likely to live in a
sure to marry is so strong that even flat in the city and to be innovative in
women who do not marry claim they seeking outlets for her energy. Dignity
never met the right man or had a lost love and self-restraint, rather than an &dquo;easy
rather than reject marriage itself. Spin- cordiality,&dquo; characterized the English
sters in this period, however, did con- girl. Concerned about propriety, she met
sciously choose not to marry, saying, as people less easily than her American
did one who wrote to Scribner’s Magazine counterpart (Humphreys, 1896:609-611;
in 1917, &dquo;I’ve chosen my life as deliber- Stewart, 1889:100-103; Billington, 1890:
ately as my sisters and brothers have 84-86; Haweis, 1894:153-154). The Eng-
chosen theirs.... I want to be a spinster lish, though often more tolerant of eccen-
and I want to be a good one&dquo; (&dquo;The tricity than the newer, more insecure
Plaint of the Spinster,&dquo; 1917:511-512). society of the United States, could be very
The new opportunities and new self-confi- critical of serious, ambitious young
dence coincided with growing criticism of women. Vera Brittain remembered how
married life. Perhaps, able to find respon- her mother would be &dquo;tackled&dquo; at
sible jobs and feeling more confident, Mothers’ Union meetings and teas by
women could afford to criticize openly matrons who were appalled at the idea
the sacred institution. This paper will ex- that Vera wished to go to Oxford: &dquo;How
amine the revolt of the spinsters, focusing can you send your daughter to college,
on some of the changes in attitudes Mrs. Brittain! Don’t you ever want
...

among the middle classes toward spinster- her to get married?&dquo; (Brittain, 1978:73).
hood between 1870 and 1920, especially

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 397

II greatas that of a lifelong union with an

uncongenial companion.&dquo; She went on to

M. Carey Thomas (aged 21) and five of say, &dquo;It is an unfortunate fact that but
her friends, gathered together on a Friday few married women who confess the truth
night in 1878 to write two chapters of a
are any way satisfied with their lot, and
novel, and concluded that &dquo;there is some- would not, after a few years, willingly ex-
thing wrong about the present relations of change it for [the] state of single blessed-
marriage&dquo; (Dobkin, 1979:131). Filled ness.&dquo;55
with youthful idealism and questions, the
This open criticism of marriage was the
young women (four of whom never mar-
result, in part, of a new independence and
ried) lived in a time when marriage was forthrightness among women and also of
under increasing scrutiny. In 1888, an
a shift in values. By the turn of the cen-
American commentator said, &dquo;The words
’old maid’ have recently been shorn of tury, men and women began consciously
their terrifying power; they have been
looking for happiness in marriage-and
revered in contrast with the words ‘un-
talking about it as well. People had long
realized that many marriages were un-
happy wives&dquo;’ (Browne, 1888:441-442). happy, but the word overwhelmingly
Mrs. Esler, in &dquo;Answers to Correspon-
associated with marriage during most of
dents&dquo; in the English magazine The
the nineteenth century had been &dquo;duty,&dquo;
Young Woman, cautioned her readers, and one could do one’s duty in an un-
&dquo;Marriage is very often an unhappy con- happy as well as a happy marriage. With
dition, but rebellion against its responsi- the decline of the Victorian ethos, how-
bilities, resentment with its disappoint-
ever, a concern with personal happiness as
ments will neither better the world nor the
a goal, perhaps even the primary goal, in
individual&dquo; (Esler, 1893:106). Noting
how discussion of marriage touched marriage became evident. Marriage was
to be associated with romance and plea-
young women specifically, a 1909 edi-
sure, and if it did not bring happiness to
torial in The Independent observed, &dquo;To
both husband and wife, something crucial
be frank about it, the intelligent American
was missing.
girl is afraid to get married. She has Women did not ignore the publicity
reason to be. The veil has been taken
about the fragility of marital happiness.
away from her eyes, or at least lifted a Both English and American spinsters
little, and she is appalled by what she
sees&dquo; (&dquo;Strike of a Sex,&dquo; 1909 :1323-
began to say they were better off or at
least no worse off than their married
1324). sisters. Always observant of their friends’
The authors had good reason to be wor- and relatives’ marriages, spinsters were
ried. Marriage as an institution met with a
encouraged by the controversies about
great deal of scrutiny in the second half of
the nineteenth century in both England marriage in the periodical press and their
and America. Women not dependent
Arabella Keneally, a spinster, blamed many
5
upon marriage for their livelihood began unhappy marriages on women marrying in haste out
to question the common assumption that of fear that they would never marry at all.
it was their route to happiness and even
married women dared to speak of mar- Many prominent late nineteenth-/early twen-
6
riage’s imperfections. Typical of the new tieth-century periodicals, such as Atlantic Monthly,
North American Review, Harper’s Bazaar,
attitude was Arabella Keneally’s state-
Scribner’s Magazine, Fraser’s Magazine, Westmin-
ment in the 1891 Westminster Review ster Review, published articles on marriage. See also
(Keneally: 466) that &dquo;no misery can be so Willcox (1897), an analysis of a Bureau of Labor

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398

new self-confidence to comment publicly Chester (1892:2-4) noted that &dquo;there are
as well as privately on marriage. In the probably very few women who begin life
latter part of the nineteenth and the be- with a clear decision never to be
ginning of the twentieth century, women married,&dquo; but that ideal marriages were
contributed an increasing number of arti- not very common and &dquo;every sensible
cles on marriage and spinsterhood to woman would rather lead a single life
periodicals and women’s magazines than to bind herself to any man whom she
(White, 1970:92-103; Palmegiana, 1976). does not love and respect.&dquo; Even
The tone of some of the authors, especial- mothers, according to the conservative
ly in the American magazines, was almost Kate Gannet Wells (1891:175-181), let
confessional as they revealed why they their daughters know that marriage was
had not married. The English authors, not always wonderful. And another
perhaps reflecting editorial preference woman who had passed up several
more than their readers’ interest, re- chances to marry remarked that two or
mained more reticent in their criticism of three of her friends &dquo;seem to be what I
marriage and discussions of spinsterhood. call really happily married,&dquo; and the &dquo;rest
Significantly, in observing and com- are just average.&dquo; She took special notice

menting on marital life, these middle-class of the fact that one was divorced, one
women seemingly spoke neither enviously separated, and one a widow and &dquo;much
nor apologetically. They did not try to ex- happier in that state&dquo; (An Old Maid,
cuse either themselves or the unhappy 1919:27).
wives they wrote about as ill-suited to Married women confided in their single
domestic life. Instead, the tone of their friends about their domestic troubles.
articles indicates that they considered it One American spinster, described by the
rational to judge housework unsatisfying magazine’s editor as &dquo;an attractive and
and to be critical of what marriage did to able young professor in one of our univer-
all women. The instances they observed, sities,&dquo; recounted the after-dinner conver-
then, were not exceptional in their minds, sation of a group of married women. To
and neither was their attitude. As one her surprise, the matrons did not try to
young woman at a dinner party suggested persuade her that she &dquo;ought&dquo; to marry.
in a conversation about why women were Indeed, so severe were they in their criti-
not anxious to marry, &dquo;The truth is, we cisms that they unanimously concluded
are all scared away from any desire to that &dquo;the only way to be a truly happy
marry by seeing how wretched those who married woman was to be a fool.&dquo;
do marry are&dquo; (&dquo;Why They Do Not Though the spinster herself could not
Marry,&dquo; 1885:4). It was not merely the imagine the pleasures of marriage, she
lack of opportunities to marry that led had supposed that there were joys discern-
women to remain single; instead, they ible &dquo;by those on the inside, since they are
weighed the life offered by marriage and so rarely obvious to the uninitiated spec-
the prospects of life alone, and they opted tator.&dquo; Instead, the married women were
for spinsterhood, preferring it to &dquo;an un- saying that ordinary intelligence and a
congenial union&dquo; just to escape the happy marriage were mutually exclusive.
humiliation of being old maids. Eliza Without speculating on whether the
speakers assessed themselves as fools or
report on marriage and divorce; Quilter (1888), a unhappy wives, the guest reasoned that
collection of responses to Mona Caird’s essay sub- they regarded her spinsterhood as an &dquo;in-
mitted by readers of The Daily Telegraph; and Caird direct tribute to her intelligence,&dquo; and she
(1897).

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 399

left the party fortified by their testimony ford, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Green, Mr. Robinson
and others. If a human being or a god could
(Bachelor Maid, 1904:1482-1486). conceive of a worse hell than being the wife
Another American author created a
of any one of them I would like to know what
dramatic domestic scene in which a spin-
it could be. In my long life of opportunities
ster who is visiting a married friend learns for observing, I have seen only six married .

about the wife’s daily, vexing routine. people whose life would not have been perdi-
Weeping, the wife relates her morning tion to me (Filene, 1974:49-50).

grind: &dquo;Was the coffee weak and were the Women who had had chances to marry
waffles cold, and did Monsieur express but turned them down were more explicit
his opinion of such a breakfast in lan- and often cited as unacceptable the men’s
guage more concise than elegant?&dquo; But attitudes toward marriage. One spinster
even such confidence was delayed while ended an engagement when her fianc6,
the wife straightened the room &dquo;strewn who had led her to believe that their com-
with masculine belongings.&dquo; And while panionship was and would continue to be
waiting, the spinster silently compared based upon equality, betrayed his views
&dquo;her own dainty and orderly room&dquo; with when he insisted that his will would pre-
her friend’s messy home and she noted the vail should there be differences. Equally
premature &dquo;crow’s feet&dquo; around her unacceptable for his utilitarian view of
friend’s eyes, recording it all in her her was the man who courted her because
&dquo;mental notebook, upon the page headed &dquo;certain of [her] accomplishments would
’Against’&dquo; (Reed, 1909:206-207). Mrs. be a great assistance to a man in his pro-
Esler (1893b:140) counseled the unmar- fession.&dquo; Completely out of the running
ried as follows: &dquo;Occasionally the was the man who would never have ex-
thought that all her old friends are settled cused her from &dquo;the domestic and mater-
in life, and that she will in time be spoken nal duties that you were made for.&dquo; Her
of as an old maid, gives her a slight shock, ideal husband would &dquo;give me encourage-
but when experienced and harassed ment and inspiration to develop in my
mothers of large families say to her, ’Keep chosen field of work as I, in turn, would
as you are, my dear-keep as you are,’ offer appreciative sympathy to him in
she laughingly remembers that celibacy his&dquo; (A Bachelor Maid, 1904:1482-1486).
has its consolations.&dquo; Her demands, made in the beginning of
The experiences of friends did not en- the century, have a very modern ring to
courage single women to make a change them. According to spinsters writing in
in their lives. Nor, often, did the men they this period, men too often seemed to re-
met. To temper their harsh judgments of gard marriage as a practical arrangement
most women’s choice and the nation’s that they sought methodically for their
core institution, some American spinsters own convenience. The well-born Beatrice
censured only the men they had encoun- Potter had also refused a suitor who
tered and implied that under the right cir- would not recognize her individuality.
cumstances they too would marry. Even Active in the East End of London and
Anna Howard Shaw, often savage in her developing her own ideas about poverty
anti-male outbursts, acknowledged the and its alleviation, she feared marriage to
goodness of an ideal marriage: &dquo;But a man who assumed she would yield her
[from] any other kind, Heaven deliver ambitions and judgments to him. Though
us!&dquo; Writing to a friend, she said: deeply in love with Joseph Chamberlain,
Just think of the men along your street, an attractive widower and member of
beginning with old Dr. Whitney, Mr. Craw- Gladstone’s Cabinet, she believed that if

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400

they married, she would &dquo;be absorbed guarantee that it would be so, and certain-
into the life of a man whose aims are not ly not if she married without love or wed a
my aims; who will refuse me all freedom man who hindered her aspirations. &dquo;In a
of thought in my intercourse with him; to transition state I think it would be quite
whose career I shall have to subordinate often a duty and a pleasure not to marry&dquo;
all my life, mental and physical&dquo; (Dobkin, 1979: passim).
(MacKenzie, 1979:1, 27, 86, and passim). Spinsters’ awareness of their indepen-
She ended their relationship and con- dence underlay their specific reservations
tinued studying London’s social and eco- about marriage. As a young woman,
nomic conditions. Although when she was M. Carey Thomas wrote, &dquo;If I have to
30, she had written to her sister, &dquo;So all in give up my freedom in the slightest
all I am to be the old maid of the family,&dquo; degree, I’ll never marry-and I don’t ex-
four years later she married Sidney Webb, pect to anyhow, for if Heavenly Father
a man who sought her ideas and criti- spares my senses I’ll never be dependent
cisms. on any one man or woman&dquo; (Dobkin,
Some spinsters never married because 1979:71). Lady Jeune described a similar
they objected to the injustices and in- desire among young women in England.
equalities of conventional marriage and to &dquo;Every year the increased independence
its severe restrictions on what a woman which girls enjoy and the feeling of the
could hope to accomplish in this world, time in which they live, make them less
especially before the advent of reliable anxious to marry or to marry so early.&dquo;
and acceptable birth control. Vera Brit- She commented further, &dquo;Their position
tain recalled that though she felt trapped with regard to men and the feeling of
in the provincial English town of Buxton camaraderie which exists between the
before the First World War, &dquo;It never young of both sexes does not tend to in-
occurred to me to count on marriage as a crease a girl’s desire to take a husband&dquo;

possible road to freedom. From what I (Jeune, 1897:644).

already knew of men, it seemed only too By the 1890s, these spinsters were

probable that a husband would yet fur- among the &dquo;new women&dquo; over whom
ther limit my opportunities&dquo; (Brittain, commentators fussed. Daughters of
1933:53). M. Carey Thomas, although middle-class families and often better
surrounded by seemingly successful mar- educated than their mothers, they looked
riages, questioned the institution from for new ways to give meaning to their
girlhood. Resolved from the age of fifteen lives. Without the church to structure and
to prove that women were men’s intellec- limit their nondomestic activities, and
tual equals, she decided early that it with job opportunities opening up for
would be impossible to marry and devote them, single women could reject the gen-
herself to improving women’s oppor- tility of their mothers and try moving in
tunities. She argued that she had nothing unfamiliar directions. Those new paths to
against &dquo;a girl with freedom of choice satisfaction encouraged women to test
considering marriage with a man whom themselves and their new lifestyles against
she loves,&dquo; but that &dquo;public and family the model of the traditional wife and
opinion is such as to force them into mar- home. By living alone or cooperatively
riage as a profession.&dquo; &dquo;It is,&dquo; she went with other women, by socializing on the
further, &dquo;no woman’s duty to marry.&dquo; A job with men and women, by earning and
woman might hope for marriage as a spending more money without inter-
completion of her life but there was no ference (although this is not to say that

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 401

these spinsters were without financial them, and so busied with them that I

obligations to their families), and by find- should have no room for the thousand
ing interesting work and contributing to and one helpful works which the world
society’s needs, these women tasted alter- needs&dquo; (Hill, 1980:93-94).
natives and learned to be skeptical about Few spinsters catalogued so carefully
received wisdom.’ The real problem, per- the advantages of freedom, but occa-
haps, was not dull men or male adherence sional comments indicate that, like Gil-
to the image of an old-fashioned mar- man, they enjoyed more or less coming
riage, for some spinsters admitted the and going as they pleased, spending
attractions of a home and family. But free money as they wished, and working out-
not to marry, and possessed of a new self- side the home. The &dquo;latch-key girl&dquo; in
confidence, women had begun to see what both England and the United States
women had always given up for the finan- became a synonym for one type of new
cial support of marriage. As one author woman-the responsible and independent
noted, &dquo;The chains of love may be sweet woman who had her own flat or rooms in
bondage, but freedom is hardly less dear&dquo; the city, left early in the morning for work
(Reed: 1909:206-207). and returned, often late (so the story
Before she married (and afterwards to writers described and parents feared),
the marriage’s detriment), Charlotte after an evening at the theater or her club.
Perkins Gilman experienced promptings Able to live alone or with a friend respect-
of independence that she feared she would ably, and employed at a job that provided
be unable to repress easily. Two days after income sufficient for rent, food, clothing,
Walter Stetson proposed, Gilman and possibly gifts and travel, she had a
methodically listed her arguments in favor freedom of action scarcely dreamed about
of spinsterhood, creating a document she by women in the earlier part of the cen-
told herself she was &dquo;to hold to if the ...
tury.8I
force of passion should at any time cloud Urban improvements and reforms
my reason.&dquo; She was &dquo;fonder of freedom facilitated this new freedom of action.
than anything else,&dquo; and she loved being Women gained mobility by traveling on
with friends &dquo;but only when I want improved public transportation in the
them.&dquo; In personal matters such as cities and on bicycles in the countryside
&dquo;dress, habits, diet, hours, behavior, (Rubenstein, 1977:47-72; &dquo;Cycling for
speech and thought,&dquo; she liked &dquo;to have Ladies,&dquo; 1896-1897:310-319). The late
my own unaided will,&dquo; and she enjoyed nineteenth century also saw the develop-
the freedom &dquo;to select for myself, to buy ment of the women’s club movement.
for myself, to provide for myself in every Playing an important part in the social life
way.&dquo; A husband and family would con-
strain not only her independence but also
her ability to become involved in the Important studies of the American middle-
8
serious work of the world. &dquo;If I were class working woman include Rodgers (1978), espe-
bound to a few I should grow so fond of cially the chapter on "Idle Womanhood: Feminist
Versions of the Work Ethic," 182-210; Aron (1981);
Gibbons-Wilson (1979), especially the chapters on
For discussion of the "New Woman," see
7 "The City in Transition" and "Employment"; and
"Character Note: The New Woman" (1894); Walsh (1977). The principal recent studies for Eng-
Deland (1910); E. B. Harrison (1894); Wilcox lish middle-class women are Holcombe (1973); Mar-
(1901); "What is the Role of the ’New Woman’?" tindale (1938); and Kelsall (1955). Published much
(1898); Filene (1974:1-127, passim); Lasch earlier, but still important, are Bodichon (1857) and
(1967:3-68). Collet (1902).

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402

of the bachelor woman, these clubs pro- the club’s constitution: &dquo; ‘Old Maids no
vided members with overnight accommo- longer exist! Unmarried women, until
dations, a place to meet and entertain they reach the age of thirty, shall be
friends, and a place to read and relax known as bachelor ’girls,’ and after that
(Levy, 1888:364-367; Anstruther, 1899: age they shall be known as ’bachelor
598-611; Filene, 1974:14-15). women.&dquo;’ She goes on to say that such a
As Eliza Chester described these club &dquo;promises to bring about a revolu-
women in America, &dquo;The single women I tion in society-and forever explode the
know between thirty and thirty-five are a idea that women remain single from ne-
delightful set-fresh, happy, active, in- cessity-never from choice.&dquo;
telligent and usually well-dressed.&dquo; Much The suffrage movement also con-
of this position came from her employ- tributed to the new self-confidence of
ment. &dquo;The power of earning our living spinsters in both countries. Unmarried
by doing something for which we are women, with more time and freedom to
fitted by nature is the first step toward the pursue their personal interests, formed a
freedom which is working such wonders majority of the active members in the
for us. It is seldom now that we hear the English and American suffrage organiza-
mournful cry of one of George Eliot’s tions (see Claus, 1975; Hume, 1982;
heroines, ’God did a cruel thing when he Rosen, 1974 and 1979). Emmeline Peth-
made a woman&dquo;’ (Chester, 1892:71). The ick-Lawrence (1935:215) described the
new spinster in England was similar, suffrage campaign as &dquo;our Eton and Ox-
&dquo;The gentlewomen of today are the ford, our regiment, our ship, our cricket
daughters of an alert and self-reliant age, match.&dquo; Participation in suffrage
in which marriage is no longer the simple societies brought women, as did charity
solution of every girl’s life&dquo; (Wimble, work and pressure-group involvement,
1896:104). Lady Jeune described her out of the home. Joined together in the
further, saying that it was no longer possi- public sphere, they began to demand
ble &dquo;for women to remain the colourless, equality. Although both the American
dependent creatures of the past ... as and English governments’ delaying tactics
they have become emancipated, they have often frustrated them, they gained a new
more or less chosen their own careers, and sense of self-respect and the realization
thousands of women are now living that women had to rely on themselves.
proofs of the advantages of a change that The militant campaign especially encour-
has given an aim in life which they can aged a sense of comradeship and self-
pursue successfully&dquo; (Jeune, 1897:643). worth. Lady Constance Lytton, who had
In an article critical of men, an English led the restricted life of a semi-invalid,
writer described &dquo;the girl of yesterday joined the Women’s Social and Political
who will grow up a vastly different Union where she found &dquo;the delights of
woman. She is being braced by mental that full, unfettered companionship.&dquo; &dquo;It
and physical exercise; her eyes are opened was,&dquo; she said, &dquo;the first time in my life
to everything in the universe; she will have that there has ever seemed to be any use
little or no use for man&dquo; (By a Spinster, for me and the sensation was wondrously
1905:192). In one of the articles in the invigorating&dquo; (Lytton, 1929).
&dquo;Our Sisters Across the Sea&dquo; series in The The spinsters described by Eliza
Young Woman (1894:288), an English Chester and Lady Jeune numbered among
author described the formation of an the fortunate few who enjoyed a good in-
American Bachelor Girls’ Club, quoting come and interesting employment. But

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 403

even if few in numbers, they helped set the courts of higher learning and ... winning dis-
tone for the &dquo;new spinster&dquo; and provided tinction in all the higher professions. She is
a model for other single women. When becoming at ease in commercial spheres in the
business offices of the world.... She is
the English periodical The Lady, directed
proving, over and over again ... that
as were many others toward upper- women’s bodies, brains, powers of constant
middle-class women (and those who and effective activity and moral characters
can withstand the strain of manual, clerical,
aspired to be), began a monthly column
titled &dquo;New Openings for Women,&dquo; it professional and artistic service on a high
level of competition with men.
assumed the importance of what we now
refer to as role models. &dquo;It is always a Other models were more self-centered
and frivolous, though possibly just as
subject of interest to women to hear of
fresh paths in which some of their pleasing to young women. One American
numbers are finding success. The story of narrator in an autobiographical sketch de-
another’s undertaking will often suggest scribed her visit to her married sister’s
to a girl some direction in which she may home. On her way home from a concert,
profitably and pleasantly employ her wearing a new hat, she told her sister that
she was going to join friends for dinner.
capabilities&dquo; (&dquo;New Openings,&dquo; 1901:
With both time and money to spend as she
619). New employment opportunities for
middle-class women-poorly paid as they liked, she also claimed a sophisticated
view of the world that came from having
may have been-radically altered the lives
of late nineteenth-century spinsters. No many male acquaintances while her sister
suffered &dquo;the narrowing results of
longer restricted to needlework or
governessing, they could now work and specialization&dquo; (O’Hagan, 1907 :107-
retain their respectability. 112). The picture of a married woman
featured in an 1878 edition of Punch illus-
By the 1880s, somewhat as a result of
the efforts of groups such as the Society trated the constraints under which the
for Promoting the Employment of married woman lived. Unable to join her
Women (founded in London in 1859) and spinster friend at her club because she
the Working Ladies’ Guild (established in must care for &dquo;Poor Bolly&dquo; (her hus-
the United States in 1876), but principally band), she sighs with &dquo;regret for the free-
because of the rapid expansion of the dom of spinsterhood and the charms of
white-collar and professional work force, club life&dquo; (Levy: 1888:364). Others speci-
fied the importance of controlling their
many new occupations opened up that
were acceptable to middle-class women. own expenses. In noting the &dquo;solaces&dquo; of
her life, one American spinster remarked,
An optimistic contemporary observed,
&dquo;When I overhear the wife ... asking
&dquo;Fortunately, the range of choice in voca-
tions widens every year, and it seems to be humbly for the money for new clothes,
generally accepted that a woman may do explaining what she did with the money
whatever she will&dquo; (Rose, 1895:6; see also given to her last week, meekly accepting
references given in footnote 8). The spin- rebukes over her poor little expenditures,
ster employed as a teacher, lawyer, doc- then I take out my bank book and ...
tor, civil servant, executive secretary, or gloat over my financial independence&dquo;
store manager provided a serious model (&dquo;Autobiography of an Old Maid,&dquo; 1905:
for other women. Anna Garlin Spencer 839-844). Another wrote that she de-
{1972:103) described her as follows: lighted in being able to come and go with-
out explanation or opposition and then
She is opening, in this her day, new avenues
of work for woman.... She is thronging the added that the idea of being compelled to

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404

ask for money, and perhaps meeting with and lack of purpose. One day they would
refusal ... [was] &dquo;a deterrent upon in- wake up alone: worried, they would
cipient love&dquo; (Reed, 1909:211). These marry hastily, if they could, and probably
spinsters assumed that if married they badly (Shipman, 1909:338-346). But
would be confined to the home, unable to spinsters, with work to fill their days and
earn an independent income or enjoy provide a sense of security, remained un-
some of the freedoms of the unmarried convinced that they needed to marry to
woman. They also feared the deteriora- assuage future loneliness. They pointed
tion of their standard of living. In answer out that marriage did not guarantee com-
to a query about the relative standards of panionship to the grave. Some period of
living of married and single women, one loneliness was in store for most people.9
spinster replied, &dquo;There isn’t a married Spinsters were aware of the problems
friend of mine who has anything like the they faced as they aged. For older single
money for dressing that I do.&dquo; Another, women, perhaps even more than for
responding to the same question, added younger, an income made the essential
that &dquo;business girls live better and have a difference. There was still truth in Jane
great deal nicer time&dquo; (&dquo;Fianc6es-Why Austen’s comment in Emma (1957:65)
Not?,&dquo; 1910:588-594). that &dquo;it is poverty only which makes celi-
Since studies have shown that working bacy contemptible to a generous public! A
women’s salaries were meager, it was single woman, with a very narrow in-
probably their sense of autonomy, and come, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable,
not their lavish lifestyle, that they were in old maid! ...but a single woman, of
fact relishing. An American survey of good fortune, is always respectable.&dquo; To
single women and the reasons for their this one could now add &dquo;a single woman
spinsterhood did not specify a preference of good employment.&dquo; If provided for, or
for independence, financial or otherwise; able to provide for themselves, spinsters
yet the reporter, perhaps editorializing, could lead contented, pleasant, and useful
cast into verse a summary of her findings lives, as did Emily Hobhouse, a rector’s
which conveyed the importance of free- daughter involved in political activism
dom : and good works, and Mary Hallwood,
I have a good job; another rector’s daughter who became a
I earn a good living; caseworker in the East End of London.
I am contented and happy;
Many spinsters, throughout this period,
Why be encumbered? (Davis, 1928:167) were active in the efforts to improve

III women’s secondary and college education

-the names of A. Jemima Clough, Doro-
Critics cautioned single women that the
thea Beale, and Emily Davies come to
pleasure of self-indulgence was likely to mind in England as do Mary Lyons and
be temporary, something to be enj oyed in M. Carey Thomas in America. Other
their twenties. In time these joys would
spinsters, such as Fanny Monkhouse, an
pale as women realized that &dquo;living alone
for oneself is in the long run scarcely
worth the trouble&dquo; (Tompkins, 1907 :468-
Some of this insecurity was alleviated in Eng-
9
471). Arguing that women needed to land after the passage of the 1908 old-age pension
&dquo;have some living thing to care for, if it act. See also Michael Anderson’s comments in "The
be only a cat,&dquo; some commentators Social Position of Spinsters in Mid-Victorian Bri-
warned women of impending loneliness tain" in this issue of the Journal of Family History.

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 405

Englishwoman who lived outside Lincoln, and contentment. Other spinsters specifi-
spent their days in traditional upper- cally enjoyed not having the full responsi-
middle-class pursuits-gardening, visit- bility for children. One wrote that she
ing, and, in the twentieth century, liked playing with her friend’s six children
bicycling, and playing tennis and golf. for as long as it suited her and then re-
Both English and American spinsters turning them. For all their sweetness,
derived emotional fulfillment from rela- &dquo;They are heavy to carry sometimes and
tives and close friendships. Vida Scudder, they make enormous confusion in the
looking back on her life, admitted that darning bag.&dquo; She preferred to borrow
until she was 30, she had &dquo;wanted terribly children for short periods and she dis-
to fall in love.&dquo; Aware that as a spinster covered that she had &dquo;yet to see the
she might have missed &dquo;something mother that is not glad to lend me one or
perhaps, humanly speaking, supremely two.&dquo; In fact, she read a &dquo;kind of leaping
precious,&dquo; she also realized that had she envy at my freedom&dquo; in the mother’s eyes
married &dquo;how much it would have ex- (&dquo;From an Old Maid,&dquo; 1915:121).
cluded!&dquo; Speaking of intimacy, she Another single woman went even further,
added, &dquo;I want to register my conviction claiming that &dquo;an amazingly large num-
... that a woman’s life which sex in- ber of supposedly happy wives and
terests have never visited is a life neither mothers would have been only too glad if
dull or empty or devoid of romance&dquo; the privilege of motherhood had not come
(Scudder, 1937:212). Winifred Holtby, a to them&dquo; (By One of the Sisterhood,
spinster and a novelist, defended unmar- 1922:81).
ried women from the charge of being frus- Although loneliness was a great worry
trated. Writing in the 1930s but comment- for spinsters, often they did not live
ing on spinsters in the earlier twentieth alone. Some shared lodgings, as did Har-
century as well, she noted that although riet St. Leger and Dorothy Wilson,
spinsters might have been referred to as friends of Frances Power Cobbe’s. Others
superfluous &dquo;in actual fact many circum- lived, as did Mary Hallwood, with an un-
stances may prevent this singleness from married sister. Many, such as M. Carey
being at all unenviable. The spinster may Thomas, Octavia Hill, and others, had
have work which delights her, personal in- close friends with whom they lived and
timacies which comfort her, power which traveled. In the nineteenth and early twen-
satisfies her&dquo; (Holtby, 1978:131). tieth century, women living together, even
Children could also provide an emo- for a lifetime; did not occasion scandal.
tional outlet. One contributor to The Nonetheless, where to live posed a crucial
,/OM~M~ who never mar-
Home Journal,
Z~~y’ TYcw~
Ladies’ question for these women, young and old.
ried because she did not find a man who A look at some of the Enumerator’s
would make her happy, adopted a little Schedules for the 1871 Census of England
boy and girl (By an Old Maid, 1890:4). and Wales reveals that while young, an
Another spinster, writing in The Indepen- unmarried woman usually lived with her
dent, had fallen in love with a man who parents. In the parish of Holy Trinity,
did not reciprocate her feelings. She Brompton, in Kensington, most unmar-
wanted children and moved into the city ried women under 25 lived with their fam-
and lived in her own apartment with a ilies. But, as Frances Power Cobbe and
young girl (&dquo;Why I am an Old Maid,&dquo; Frances Marion Eddy discovered, there
1915:399). For the women who adopted would come the sad day when a parent
children, family life provided pleasures died and a middle-aged spinster had to

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406

find her own way for the first time. Cobbe sister at 19 Pelham Crescent. Down the
likened this to the shock and sorrow of road resided a bachelor silk merchant,
widowhood. The most fortunate could George B., and his 64-year-old spinster
find a place of their own or share a house sister, Mathilda, who owned the house.
or flat with a friend or congenial com- Also at the same address (possibly as a
panion. After her father died, Cobbe lodger of some sort) lived a &dquo;retired land-
traveled in the east, then, at age 36, joined owner&dquo; and his 52-year-old sister. At 54
Mary Carpenter in her work with her Re- Fulham Road, Martha Potter, 44, lived
formatory and Ragged Schools in Bristol. with her brother Frank, a draper, as did
At first she lived, with other ladies who Eliza Newman, 36, with her brother John,
were volunteering their time, in Car- a dyer, at 64 Fulham Road. Often unmar-
penter’s house adjoining the Ragged ried siblings shared a household together,
School for which she paid 30s a week for as did the Potters, the Newmans, and on a
room and board. Her health suffering higher social scale, the Dalrymples. The
under this regime, she moved to lodgings household of Charles Dalrymple, Mem-
on her own, her description of which is ber of Parliament and landed proprietor,
worth quoting at length because of the included Charles and his three unmarried
picture it gives of spinster life: sisters, Elizabeth, 40, Henrietta, 32, and’
My new life on Durham Down, though Sharon, 22, and various servants.
solitary, was a very happy one. I had two nice Four spinsters in the parish maintained
rooms in Belgrave House.... My little bed- their own houses. The enumerator de-
room opened by a French window on a bal-
scribed the 48-year-old Eliza Thomas as
cony leading to a garden.... My sitting-
room had a front and a corner view of Bristol &dquo;Independent.&dquo; A 57-year-old spinster at
and the surrounding country.... I walked 24 Onslow Square had a larger household
every week-day into Bristol (of course, I than Eliza Thomas, including a lady’s
needed more than ever to economize ...) and maid, a housemaid, and a cook-all un-
went about my various avocations in the
schools and workhouse till I could do no
married, of course. Mary Campbell, aged
more, when I made my way home as cheaply
66, evidently possessed substantial divi-
as I could contrive, to dinner. I had my dear dend income as her household contained
dog, Hajjin, a lovely mouse-colored Pome- her 64-year-old spinster sister, a house-
ranian, for companion at all times (Cobbe, maid, a cook, two ladies’ maids, and two
1904:252). general servants. Nearby in the wealthier
In 1871 in the Holy Trinity Parish, parish of St. Mary Abbott, Kensington,
Brompton, spinster ladies increasingly most unmarried women under 30 lived
resided in their brother’s or sister’s house- with their parents. Then, as in other
holds as they aged. Isabella and Louisa parishes, once over 30, they tended more
Smith, 23 and 30 respectively, lived with often to live with their brothers or sisters
their father at 40 Onslow Square, all three or brothers- and sisters-in-law. In this
of them living on dividend income. At 11I upper-middle-class / upper-class neighbor-
Pelham Place, Anna Beeton, 61, shared hood, spinsters almost always lived with
lodgings with her brother James, a family members and not as lodgers. What
solicitor. On the same street, John H. is notable in these parishes is the relatively
provided lodgings for three unmarried few spinsters who had to live in lodgings.
women: a 17-year-old niece and a 48-year- Family ties for the middle-class and
old lodger, both from Liverpool, and a upper-middle-class spinster remained
16-year-old lodger from Stackpool. Mari- strong in 1871.
anne Morgan, 41, lived with her widowed Although census material for a direct

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 407

comparison is unavailable, it appears that and Alice Madden, two aging spinster
Cobbe’s experience became more com- sisters in George Gissing’s The Odd
mon by the turn of the century. More Women (1893), lived approximated reali-
middle-class educated young women were ty for too many spinster women. After
living with each other, not with their reviewing case histories of older spinsters,
parents. Many of them lived not only in Frances H. Low decided that &dquo;the dread
shared households like the friends of of illness and the fear of being without a
Cobbe’s, but in settlement houses and all- roof over their heads ... are what consti-
female institutions such as schools, ladies’ tute the grimness, the horror of the strug-
apartment buildings, and nursing homes gle for existence to so many women&dquo;
(Vicinus, 1982:603-628). (Low, 1897:415). Perhaps the crucial
By the end of the century, English and word here is &dquo;older.&dquo; Until a general
American periodicals frequently pub- system of old age pensions and health care
lished articles on housing for single would be instituted, old age was a pre-
women.’° These articles often disagreed carious time for most people. In Victorian
on the availability and suitability of and Edwardian England, a self-support-
ladies’ lodgings and apartments. Some ing spinster might have been able to main-
writers, such as Mary Gay Humphreys tain herself respectably while she could
(1896:600-606), expressed optimism: work, but once old, her situation could
more apartments were being built and easily become desperate.
more women’s clubs formed. Others The dismal picture of aging spinsters in
voiced doubts and pointed out that many The Odd Women reminds us that,
more apartments were needed, as evi- although life for many unmarried women
denced by the fact that the Margaret became more productive and enjoyable,
Louisa Home of New York turned away for most women marriage remained the
two out of every three applicants because ideal. Life without a man and a family
of lack of space (Stein, 1898:397-417). could be difficult. Ina Coolbrith (1921), a
Other articles discussed the difficulties poetess in California who had married
women experienced locating &dquo;suitable briefly then divorced, lamented the state
accommodations&dquo; (Low, 1897:405-417; of the single woman. Writing on Christ-
Orme, 1897:613-619; Shaw, 1897: mas Eve, in poor health and clearly pity-

620-627). The garret in which Virginia ing herself, she told a friend that she had
been &dquo;worried and troubled in all ways.&dquo;
She went on to say:
10 distinguished between accommoda-
Writers I have made up my mind that a woman in this

tions available for middle-class spinsters and world without a man has no right to be in it,
working-class women. Commentators almost uni- for she is without comfort and protection.
formly described lodgings for working-class women But when one does not find a man she could
living alone as substandard and depressing, if not marry or cannot marry because of the great
conducive to actual immorality. See Tentler (1979: responsibilities thrust upon her during her
115-233); Richardson (1972); Ashmore (1893); marrying years, why, what is she to do. Just
Goldin (1980). For conditions in England, refer to be the victim that she is and find herself in
Higgs (1910) and Marlborough (1911). Associations age alone, unprotected and uncared for.
to promote the building of housing for single work- Selah! and blast it!!t
ing women were formed in England, such as the Na- Novelists and story writers also re-
tional Association of Women’s Lodging homes,
vealed women’s ambivalence toward spin-
and, in the United States, the Working Women’s
Society and the Women’s Apartment House Associ- sterhood. Unlike the bachelor women
ation. who wrote with the intent of explaining or

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408

justifying their singleness, novelists could tells Marion that she knows her husband
deal with women’s ambivalence about is home only because she sees the news-
their choices. Aware of the appeal that the paper behind which he is hiding. Marion’s
&dquo;new woman&dquo; with her independence former college teacher underlines the dif-
and more varied experience had for their ficulties by referring to her own unhappy
readers, writers frequently used the &dquo;new marriage as &dquo;luckily brief.&dquo; Two happy
spinster&dquo; for their heroine. But the ma- spinsters appear briefly to complement
jority of their stories conclude by re- the portraits of unhappy wives. The
affirming marriage as the profession of women are delighted that Marion’s
most women. Often not attempting to mother had the foresight to leave her an
reconcile their spirited heroine with the independent income, seeing it as a key to a
woman who, in the end, meekly decides to comfortable spinsterhood or a safety
marry, novelists presented two different valve in a bad marriage. &dquo;Unmarried girls
faces of women of the times. They recog- have literally every kind of fantastic
nized the spirit of revolt, but shied away notion before they meet the touchstone of
from its consequences. A short story in the financial question with a husband face
the English periodical The Lady’s Realm to face.&dquo; But at the story’s end, Marion is
epitomizes this approach. Helen Quin, a about to marry, as is a more radical
&dquo;new spinster&dquo; on holiday, meets a friend, and Mrs. Romaine reaffirms her
gentleman who, upon seeing her, mur- love for her husband. As a justification of
murs, &dquo;’Devilish independent! Oh, ... their reversals, the heroine states that
woman, lovely woman! How femi-
... women cannot solve their problems by
nine !’ ...He did not know Miss Quin themselves, but must first convert men
was a New Woman.&dquo; She defends the into helpful allies, a task best pursued in
single woman’s life in the city: &dquo;’It’s my marriage (C. C. Harrison, 1899:33, 143).
life, anything else is stagnation.... I have Many spinsters, if not truly sorry about
my work there ... my flat and ...’ their state, at least continued to dream of
’Latch-Key,’ he inquires shyly. ’My marriage. An American who would &dquo;not
friends, clubs, the theatres, gaieties, all hang [her] head&dquo; admitted she wanted to
the things you do not understand.&dquo;’ A marry but had not met any eligible men.
successful journalist, she could spend as Teaching in a boarding school in the
much as she liked on clothes and travel, winter and serving as a counselor at a
&dquo;‘Oh, it is a lovely free life.&dquo;’ When the girls’ camp in the summer, she never saw
subject of husbands arises, she retorts, a man &dquo;from one month’s end to
&dquo;’Don’t talk nonsense.... Nothing of another&dquo; (By an Unwilling Celibate,
the sort! Men! Husband! Bah! Give up 1909:966-969). An English spinster, be-
my liberty, my work, plenty of money to tween 28 and 30, complained about the
do with as I please.&dquo;’ In the end, having lonely life teachers led. &dquo;I don’t know a
discovered that he was a landowner and man up here, and I long-it is most un-

very attractive, she agrees to marry him, enlightened and retrograde, isn’t it?-for
&dquo;with a great light in her eyes, quite for- the society of a sensible man&dquo; (Low,
getting she was a New Woman&dquo; (Boggs, 1897:416). Such spinsters worried that,
1905:553-558). with age, they would be left with the &dquo;sen-
Marion Irving, the heroine of the sations of one who has planned to take a
American novel A Bachelor Maid, begins nine o’clock train and found that it went
to question marriage. She observes what at eight-thirty&dquo; (By a Daughter of New
she judges to be the unsuccessful union of England, 1911:434).
one of her friends, Mrs. Romaine, who Faced with growing old alone, spinsters

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 409

worried and dreamed. Although they re- the distinction of being rebels, and there
garded themselves as &dquo;rebels to a great was glamour in their lives, represented in

command,&dquo; they suspected something im- material goods and independence. Well
portant was missing in their lives. Unable dressed, in good health, and with richer
to describe accurately the loss, some em- worldly experience than women of earlier
bellished it. As one spinster admitted in a generations, spinsters could compare
revealing statement about the lives and themselves proudly to the old maids they
conversations of spinsters, &dquo;This great had known or had heard people talk
realm of human experience from which about as children. They were not meek,
we are shut out occupies our minds almost dried-up, or sour, and they were not a
morbidly.&dquo; Calling spinsters &dquo;sickeningly burden to some male relative. But neither
sentimental,&dquo; she speculated that &dquo;most were their lives complete. For if they
of the erotic novels and the purplest of the looked to their lives and those of former
passionate poetry .. , are written by spin- old maids or to wives and were pleased by
sters&dquo; (&dquo;Autobiography of an Old the comparisons, they were less satisfied
Maid,&dquo; 1905:843-844). Not knowing by what they saw when they compared
marriage, they talked about it, wondered their lives to those of male colleagues.
what they were missing, and went on Men, after all, did not have to give up
dreaming that they might yet discover it. marriage when they pursued a career.
One of the spinster’s consolations, stated Spinsterhood had the patina of a feminist
so conventionally by one of the sister- critique of marriage, but it was those who
hood, was the faith that &dquo;the Prince may expressed misgivings about what they
yet come&dquo; (Reed, 1909:217). missed by not marrying who would set the
even with the satisfactions
In old age, feminist agenda of the future in both
of asuccessful career, spinsters could countries by insisting that individuals and
regret not marrying and counsel women institutions adapt to allow women, like
to make other choices. In her autobiogra- men, to have it all. Women’s wavering be-
phy, written at age 82, Ida Tarbell said tween single blessedness and marriage,
she resolved on spinsterhood very early: recognizing the flaws of each, might be a
&dquo;One thing by choice left out of the plan I transitional stage. For, in spite of the
carried from high school was marriage. I ambivalence some spinsters expressed and
would never marry.&dquo; Yet she believed in the fear of a lonely old age, the bachelor
marriage’s naturalness and work’s crip- woman who chose not to marry-or at

pling effects on woman’s nature. Young least to postpone marriage-made an im-

people, she hoped, would be made to portant contribution to the history of
realize the essential barrenness of the women. Although statistics reveal that
career woman’s triumph (Tarbell, 1939: more women began to marry as the twen-

36; 1912: passim). Immersed as she was in tieth century progressed, the revolt of the
society’s problems, especially conscious spinster was not without lasting effect.
of the poverty, corruption, and exploita- The lament of Lady Louisa Stuart in
tion of the Progressive era in America, 1822, &dquo;The truth is, woman has a natural
Tarbell may have worried that challenges dependence on man which, do what she
to the family would only add to the prob- will, she can never quite shake off. I do
lems. More likely, however, was Tarbell’s believe (in earnest believe) it part of the
recognition of changing times. The 1890s curse originally laid on Eve&dquo; has been re-
were a boom time for being single. The placed by the attitude articulated 100
first generation of bachelor women had years later, &dquo;An intelligent woman

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410

demands a husband who will be a con- Barnes, Earl

1915 "The Celibate Women of To-Day." Popu-
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