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A look under the bonnet at those who waited on Austen's heroines
The Guardian
|July 08, 2025
After Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice, walked 3 miles across fields to visit her sick sister, she came in for scandalising criticism of her "blowsy" hair and petticoats "six inches deep in mud".
But what of the women who restored Elizabeth's hair to coiffed curls and washed the filthy petticoats?
Jane Austen's novels include mentions of working women, such as housekeepers, maids and governesses, but now an exhibition puts their stories in the spotlight.
Beyond the Bonnets: Working Women in Jane Austen's Novels is being shown in Austen's home county by the Hampshire Cultural Trust as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of her birth.
This story is from the July 08, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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