Date Thesis Awarded
4-2019
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Melanie Dawson
Committee Members
Francesca Sawaya
Deborah Morse
Alexander Angelov
Abstract
This thesis will explore the ramifications of changing women’s property rights in England from 1880 to 1910. Through its reading of The Portrait of a Lady (1880-1881), The Spoils of Poynton (1896) and Howards End (1910), this paper will expose the social tensions underlying property and ownership. All three novels consider the question of female inheritance and ownership. By tracing the increasing independence and propriety of women, this thesis narrates the trajectory of dependency to increasing self-possession for married women in England at the turn of the century.
Recommended Citation
Llewellyn, Kelsey, "A Portrait of Women’s Property: An Analysis of Married Women’s Property Rights in The Portrait of a Lady, The Spoils of Poynton and Howards End" (2019). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1427.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1427
