Harriet Martineau and her feminine “tail ”

Abstract

Martineau's problematic relationships with major women writers such as Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot have tended to obscure her reliance on a circle of lesser-known women, some also writers, for moral support and advice. A sampling of such women can deepen our understanding of Martineau's struggle to maintain her autonomy and the confidence in herself needed for her writing. Martineau's emotional involvement with admiring women may have had a sexual dimension, but may be most often likened to “mothering ”, “daughtering” or sisterliness.