Written by Tasya
Happy Women’s History Month! For those of you who aren’t aware, March is known as women’s history month in the United States, along with International Women’s Day on March 8th, to celebrate women’s contribution in history and modern society. In honour of all of the great and talented women out there, we have featured female directed movies and must-read female grim dark authors. Today, we will bring you some talented historical female authors, of whose timeless work defied the rules at its time or contributed to the feminist movement.
Read on to discover our picks of great historical female authors and tell us if you will be checking one of them out!
Jane Austen
One of the most famous female authors of all time with Jane Austen’s most famous work is undoubtedly Pride and Prejudice. Her books often filled with satire and critique towards the society of her time, which usually revolves around marriage for standing and money, as well as the division between social classes. Throughout her life, she wrote seven books as well as other works, but she lived in a time where women have to marry and were not allowed to work, so she defied the rules by being an author and remain unmarried.
The Bronte Sisters
The Bronte sisters consist of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte, all of whom penned their own books during the nineteenth century. Charlotte Bronte is the author of Jane Eyre, while Emily and Anne wrote Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of the Wildfeld Hall. Their family was close friends with fellow female author, Elizabeth Gaskell, whom eventually wrote the first biography of the family.
Harper Lee
Harper Lee is the person behind one of the most beloved classic, To Kill A Mockingbird. The book brings up the theme of racism and courage, something that was a very sensitive topic at the time of its publication. Harper Lee did not publish anything else since, until Go Set A Watchman in 2015 at the age of 88 before she passed away the following year.
Virginia Woolf
One of the most famous modern female authors is Virginia Woolf, who is credited as a pioneer in using stream of consciousness style of writing. She wrote many books in her life, however, her books were more appreciated after her death in 1970s with the rise of the feminist movement.
Agatha Christie
The Queen of Mystery’s life is as mysterious as her books, but she’s listed as the best-selling author of all time. Her famous characters include Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, they have been subject of countless adaptations, the latest is Murder on the Orient Express, which was released in 2017.
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan is one of the leading figures in the second wave of feminist movement in the 1960s. In fact, it is her book, The Feminine Mystique, that sparked the movement. Despite not liking it personally, I could see how the book made such a big impact towards the society at that time, and I really enjoyed the insight I got from it. Her other book, The Second Stage, talks about the extremist in the feminist movement.
Margaret Atwood
She’s the author of the The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace, which were adapted into television series in 2017. Margaret Atwood is quite the talented one as she have many other awards and nominations for her books.
You mentioned Elizabeth Gaskell had written Charlotte Bronte’s biography and didn’t also list as her among the great female writers. I would argue that she belongs in the list too for creating strong heroines and writing about themes that highlighted social class differences and the double standards against women.