Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T22:31:59.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - The Worst of It

Blackstone and Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2020

Carolyn Steedman
Carolyn Steedman
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Get access

Summary

Chapter 4 explores the legal position of women through William Blackstone’s pronouncements on the law of coverture. The chapter considers the dissemination of ideas about women’s legal disabilities in marriage through popular literature, educational material and handbooks for magistrates. It concludes that, by the end of the eighteenth century, coverture was far more important for poor women (and men), interpellated by the laws of settlement and removal, than it was for elite women.

Keywords

coverturewomenWilliam BlackstoneCommentaries on the Law of England
Type
Chapter
Information
History and the Law
A Love Story
 , pp. 83 - 109
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Worst of It
  • Carolyn Steedman, University of Warwick
  • Book: History and the Law
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108623506.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Worst of It
  • Carolyn Steedman, University of Warwick
  • Book: History and the Law
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108623506.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Worst of It
  • Carolyn Steedman, University of Warwick
  • Book: History and the Law
  • Online publication: 16 January 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108623506.004
Available formats
×