An Uneasy Alliance: Marriage and Education in Atalanta

Kristine Moruzi

Atalanta ； girls ； education ； marriage

小說與戲劇

18卷1期（2007 / 12 / 01）

51 - 73

英文

Because the periodical press is a highly responsive forum through which contested subjects can be presented and debated, in this paper I wish to turn to the middle-class girls' magazine Atalanta to discuss how education for girls was reflected in its pages and the extent to which the magazine betrayed its uneasiness over changes to how and why girls were educated. Unlike The Monthly Packet which, until its last few years, reflected Charlotte Yonge's strenuous disagreement with girls' education outside the home, L.T. Meade's Atalanta as much more progressive about education for girls and advocated for omen's higher education. When Atalanta produced its first issue in 1887, it was targeted at middle-class girls who were interested in study. At the same time, it promoted a feminine ideal that included marriage and motherhood. Through its eleven-year history, there were a number of articles on higher education for women, including specific descriptions about Girton and Newnham Colleges, two of the first colleges established for women. However, despite this tradition of learning and education, Atalanta was troubled by a conflicted and sometimes contradictory response to girls and education. Although it was avowedly in favour of education for girls, it nevertheless remained cautious about the impact this education would have on a girl's life and anted to reinforce the traditionally feminine role of life and mother. Through different genres included in the magazine, Atalanta often reinforced traditional messages that were at odds with how it depicted girls in other sections of the magazine. Moreover, the last years of the magazine before it ceased publication in 1898 saw an increasing focus on fashion within its pages, and less of an interest in higher education for girls, suggesting an attempt to shift its readership away from its scholarly audience to one more interested in the feminine graces. Thus, the girl that is constructed through its pages understood the need for education and the employment that could result from it, but was less clear about how this intellectual life was to be integrated with a life of marriage and children.

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