The Reading Woman

Nicola here. Today I’m talking about women and reading. At the start of this year I bought what was possibly the most pointless item of 2020, although at the time I didn't realise it. It was a 2020 desk diary in which I planned to write all the dates of the talks I was going to be giving this year, details of bookshop visits, conferences and literary festivals. This week I looked at its blank pages and although I was sorry I hadn't had the chance to use it, I still appreciated the illustrations because it was The Reading Woman Diary.

I love the idea of "the reading woman" and I love pictures of women reading. It's a celebration of something we all enjoy doing. In the introduction to the diary there are a few paragraphs about paintings of reading women and how they have always been a popular subject for artists through the ages. The reading women “turn to books for entertainment, insight and revelation.” They are educated, literate and they have the leisure to read. “Within these often-intimate portrayals lies the opportunity for enlightenment and the seductive retreat from the concerns of every day,” the diary says.

Well, this sounds a pretty good deal to me. Who doesn’t want a bit of quiet time to escape the concerns of the present, especially
when that present can be so challenging and stressful? Most of the images in the book, though, were from the Victorian era, and this set me wondering about female literacy and when – and which – women first had the leisure and the education to read. So I did a bit of research and here are my slightly rambling finds.

Firstly I had no idea that there were paintings of women reading as early as the 14^th century. These were mainly Christian religious pictures of the Virgin Mary reading (usually the bible) which were a play on the Christian concept of “the word made flesh.” In this historical period it was already the thing for upper class women to read, they being the ones who had both the leisure and the money to buy books. The Royal court led the way on this; Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II, owned many books of religious devotions, an encyclopedia, two history books and at least ten romances, which in those days was the name given to any work of fiction although they often had an element of love story in them. Not only did she read them herself but she also loaned them to friends and family. The royal library, housed in the Tower of London, had 340 titles. 

What is also fascinating is that this is the era when the book club is recorded – there are descriptions of ladies having reading parties in the gardens of aristocratic houses, enjoying food and drink as they do so. Reading was also a private, indoor pastime for the lord and his family. Most people, though, enjoyed their books as audio stories in those days, read aloud or told by minstrels – only 1 in 20 of the rural population was literate so their storytelling was very much an aural tradition.

Jump forward a few centuries and ladies were still reading much the same variety of books: sermons, romances and non-fiction.  In 1653 Dorothy Osborne recorded in her letters that she would get up early, go around the house to make sure everything was in order and chivvy the maids along, then she would read in the garden for a little while. After lunch she would spend some more time reading and maybe read in the evening as well! She was fortunate enough to have plenty of time for leisure as well as a big book habit!

One of the earliest images in my diary of a woman reading is this famous one by Fragonard. It’s called “Young Girl Reading” and it was painted in 1769. Like almost every other picture in the book it shows reading as a solitary activity and the girl looks completely engrossed. It’s also clear that she is very well-to-do in her gorgeous golden gown and with her big cushions! This really is an example of a young woman who has the opportunity to escape into a good book.

From a slightly later period comes this other image, this time of Queen Marie-Antoinette with a book.  Depictions of Marie-Antoinette in art are weighted with all sorts of things – her role as Queen of France, the fact that she was a foreigner and unpopular. There are plenty of other paintings of her in a more traditional female role, picking flowers or shown with her children. Showing her with a book is perhaps an attempt to suggest a more serious and educated side to her. This portrait was painted by a woman, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, and so perhaps there is more interest is showing Marie-Antoinette as a well-read woman.

One of the articles I read on women in paintings suggested that male artists are fascinated by the image of women reading but have historically tended to place them in a pastoral setting, in the gentle benevolence of nature or a garden, in order to master “the wild act of reading.” Every Victorian picture in my diary conforms to this idea – they are gorgeous pictures but they are all idyllic and many of them show women outside, idling their time away happily. Or they are sitting inside but are pictured next to a huge vase of flowers, which is the next best thing!

I’d never imagined reading to be “wild” or subversive but I can see that if you accept the idea that in a patriarchal society a woman reading is a threat to men because pleasure and wisdom are in her own hands, then this would be an issue for the Victorians. In this period it feels as though you really couldn't win as a reading woman - so often they are depicted reading love letters or romances or magazines - something “light” and unimportant. At the same time the social commentators are condemning them for reading fiction! This is despite the evidence that throughout history women have always enjoyed a wide variety of reading matter.  

(A brief note here on men reading in paintings - the books, newspapers, etc are usually included as a sign of his profession or wisdom.)

My research also told me that male artists saw reading as an erotic act by a woman (who knew?)
Evidence to support this theory is the way that books are described: Their words are said to “touch” people or “hold” them. All of which apparently goes to show that when we take up a book and enjoy our reading experience there is so much more going on than us simply processing words on a page! Escapism, education, enjoyment, communal or solitary, where there is reading there is a lot happening.

When I flicked through my empty diary, I had no idea that finding out about women reading would lead me down such a rabbit hole. The thing I enjoyed the most, though, was the idea of women down the ages enjoying our reading experience in different ways and in different places, from the reading parties held by aristocratic medieval women in their gardens, to enjoying a book at bedtime now, from listening to a story told by a minstrel to turning on an audio book as we drive or do the ironing. Where and how do you most enjoy reading? In a book group, or as a solitary activity, in the garden or the bath? Share your reading secrets with the Wenches!

Comments

[Margaret Webb]

I have always loved books from a very early age, they are my escape from the real world. I love to read at bedtime, to sit in bed with a book and a hot drink is a great way to unwind from the day.

[Mary T]

What an interesting post. Love the pictures you have included.

Reading has always been a solitary activity for me. In my younger days, I always had a book crammed into my giant purse. I'd read on the bus, on a break at work, or my lunch break. Any place I had a few moments to myself.

Now that I'm retired, I can read anytime I want to. I prefer a comfortable spot. Actually, when I read I feel like I go into the book, so my surroundings don't seem so important. I did try reading in the tub many years ago. It did not end well (smile).

[Keira Soleore]

Love your post, Nicola. Reading is a solitary act, but I do sit with my kids sometimes and read. I read in my bed quite a bit in the nights, though I also read in a red rocking chair by day or at my desk when I am reading nonfiction, because I sit with a pencil and sticky notes. I read everyday. I review for a website company and a newspaper, but also on my blog. I love talking about books, and right now, belong to the weekly Sunday Twitter Book Club. Before the pandemic, I used to also belong to a monthly in-person book club that used to meet in a quirky cafe.

[Pamela DG]

Most of the time I read at night in the warmth of my bed. But in the summer when the chores are done, I'll read on my back porch with my cats lounging in their cat trees as birds come to the birdfeeders. Occasionally, I get distracted by watching the cats birdwatch.

[Pamela DG]

I read in the cozy comfort of my bed at night with a cat or two at the end of the bed and a reading lamp blazing until I'm drowsy enough to slip under the quilts and sleep. In the summer after the chores are done, I'll be out on the back porch in a lounge chair with the cats lounging in their cat trees. We have bird feeders so I'll take a break from reading and enjoy the cats birdwatching.

[Anne Harris]

I enjoy reading most as a solitary occupation. I can recall, however, having reading parties, so to speak, with my sisters, in which we all had our own books, and read to ourselves, having a cocoon of silence and acceptance. In our circles, there were so few girls that read for pleasure, as we did. Sad to say.

[Nicola Cornick]

That does sound lovely and relaxing, Margaret. I used to do the same until I found I was thinking about the book I'd been reading and then it kept me awake! I really regret not being able to read at bedtime any more.

[Sue McCormick]

There is no place that I do not enjoy reading — except in the bathtub, where I didn't indulge because the book might get wet — and also the shower, both because of the water and because showers are for speed. I read to wake up and I read to get to sleep (and both work). I read at the table if eating alone. (I also do word puzzles for pleasure, and that should count as a form of reading.)

And that is just reading for pleasure. I cannot begin to mention the number of times and places where I read for information — from the label on a medicine bottle to a long article on the internet and from the recipe in a cookbook to the entire volume of one of my "how to" books.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Mary, I'm delighted you enjoyed my ramblings! I love the thought of you carrying a book with you wherever you went. Reading is so special, the way it takes us away from the world around us. It's lovely to think the surroundings don't even matter sometimes.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Keira. I adore the sound of your red rocking chair! I wonder whether those people who read on their own but also in a group find it a different experience?

[Nicola Cornick]

That sounds absolutely blissful, Pamela! I love the peaceful idea of you and the cats sitting down together...

[Nicola Cornick]

Sorry, folks, comments are currently being eaten by the spam filter for some reason. I am going in to release them so please don't worry about re-posting. Apologies for the technical problems!

[Nicola Cornick]

Anne, that truly sounds wonderful. I also enjoy reading (silently) in the presence of other people. There is something special about the quality and us all being in our own worlds. There are so many different, great ways to read!

[Nicola Cornick]

That's always the risk with the bathtub, isn't it, Sue! Fascinating that reading works to both wake you and help you go to sleep. I've never heard that before. It's so interesting when we start to think of all the times and places we read and the different materials. It is such an integral part of our lives.

[Susie Felber]

Great post! I love reading everywhere but recently audiobooks are saving my sanity... to be able to cook, clean, and walk miles and escape into a book without using my eyes, which I must use all day. I think when I was younger I thought audiobooks were cheating or less than... now I know better.

[Christina Courtenay]

Lovely post, Nicola! For me, reading is definitely a solitary activity - I could never be in a book group because I don't like being told what to read :-) But it's fun to discuss books you've read with others afterwards if you find they've read and enjoyed the same ones. And I'm like you - I find it hard to read in bed because I can't go to sleep if I have to leave the book halfway through. My mind will just keep wondering what happens next!

[Jeanne Behnke]

I read anywhere & everywhere. Like someone else said I always carried a book in my purse - now I carry my iPad mini so I have a lot of books in my purse. Many times Hubby & I read our separate books while sitting together enjoying a glass or two of wine. That's probably my favorite, but it's nice being out in nature reading a book too!

[Janice]

My parents never read to me - of if my mother did, I was too young to remember. I have an early memory of being brought a Snow White book and being totally frustrated because the pictures were lovely and engaging but nobody in my house found the time to read it to me, and when the visiting nurse came back, I had to give the book back. So it wasn't until I could read well for myself that I found out what Snow White was about.

Now whenever I pull out an audiobook, I remember that time, and it seems such a luxury to me that I can pull out a cd and be read to. I listen to those at night in bed or sometimes during the day while working. Now that I can see well again maybe I should take up needlework again as well :)

Other than that, I read mostly print, but wherever I am with a few minutes of downtime, I can now pull out my phone and read on its Kindle app. This too is a marvelous advance.

These winter evenings in California, where we're back on severe & punitive lockdown, and it seems like midnight as soon as the sun goes down, I spend an hour or two at least each evening reading print, tucked up in my 221B Baker Street extended throw because it's freakin' freezing suddenly here. I am up to page 319 of War and Peace and I may finish it before the plague ends. When I have topped out on puzzling Russian names and emo characters, I turn to something lighter. I have read Anne's The Christmas Bride; last night it was Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, which I know I read back in the day but did not remember that it also contains an HEA romance along with the horrors of governessing; tonight it's back to Mary Jo Putney's Once Dishonored, which because of its odd inch-wider shape, has been languishing too long in a different TBR pile.

I suspect that the availability of fresh reading matter online as ebooks or physically as boxes from amazon, et al. has kept many of us from going freakin' nutz from this enforced isolation. When you have a good book to read, you are never really alone.

[Kareni]

Thanks for an enjoyable post, Nicola. And, yes, I can appreciate that near empty date book.

I often read on our loveseat which is where I am composing this message. I also read, sometimes for an hour or two or three, in bed before sleeping.

[Vicki L]

Sometimes if I can't get my mind to shut off at night to go to sleep, I read lying in bed until I'm just at the point of going to sleep. But only an old comfort read. It doesn't work if I'm reading something new.

I can and do read anywhere but it works better if it is a solitary experience. I can read while camping with my husband because he doesn't chat too much to me when I'm reading. I can read in a room or camper with my 4 sisters because they will be reading as well. They all respect the reader....

One of my favorite places to read is my screened in front porch. It feels kind of like a tree house as it is elevated off the ground. Birds are in the trees and at the feeders. I live at the deadend of a deadend street so not much activity out there. I Especially love reading curled up under a blanket out there.

In the house anywhere works but not the bathtub. Oddly enough if I'm traveling reading a book doesn't work on a plane. Magazines & newspapers yes, books no. I can't read in the car at all. If I'm waiting for an appointment, etc no books. Magazines & newspapers yes. I think I must not be able to really sink into the book properly. Very occasionally if I'm rereading a book for like the 5th or 6th time I can read it while waiting.

[Anne H]

An interesting article. A year or two ago, I too had a calendar showing women reading books, but my calendar showed paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Gallery of Art. I will look for another for 2021 - especially since it looks like we will still be limiting social interactions because of the pandemic.
I have never been a part of a book club or reading circle other than a study group during university. I read in class beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school. My Grade 3-4 teacher sent me to the principal about that (!) but most of my teachers just tried to catch me out by asking questions about what they were teaching. I was always able to answer until my Grade 11 math teacher, who was teaching a chapter on matrices, changed the matrix on the board subtly. He then told me that I might be able to do 2 things at once, but my classmates couldn't and he'd appreciate it if I'd show better leadership. I'd never thought of that. I did stop reading in HIS classes, and I didn't read anything other than my texts in my university classes.
I now like to read while watching the news or documentaries or movies 🎥 with my daughter. I have always read in bed. I did that while hiding under the covers with a flashlight when I was a child to prevent my parents from seeing the crack of light under my door. I now read in bed with a glass of wine or cup of coffee.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thanks, Susie, I'm so glad you liked the post. Like you I used to think audiobooks were cheating! Now I realise that they are a different but equally special pleasure!

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL,Christina! A book group doesn't work for me either although I know many people love them and as you say, it is fun to discuss books you've enjoyed with like-minded people. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't sleep if they read a good book at bedtime!

[Nicola Cornick]

It's great that the iPad has enabled us to have multiple books in our bags now! Sitting together and reading separately is a great pleasure, I think. I don't often read outside though I must try that more.

[Nicola Cornick]

Janice, I was so sorry to hear of your Snow White experience as a child and so glad that you were able to discover the story for yourself when you were older. Being read to is such a pleasure whether it's on cd or in person.
It sounds very cosy to be reading tucked up in your throw on these chilly nights! I'm so glad you've enjoyed Anne's lovely book and that you've still got Mary Jo to curl up with!

[Nicola Cornick]

A loveseat! How gorgeous, and perfect for reading.

[Nicola Cornick]

Vicki, it's interesting that you can read comfort reads at night but not new books. I tell myself sleep stories to help me go to sleep - the familiarity and repetition is helpful and I guess that's the same as reading.

I love a family that respects the reader. And you have so many lovely places to read! Like you I tend to resort to magazines and newspapers when I am in a situation where I can't concentrate for long or really get into a book. These reading habits people are sharing are all fascinating!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Janice--I'm wincing at the thought that no one had the time to read Snow White to you!

As for Once Dishonored being an inch wider--I hadn't noticed that it's a different size! I just looked and yep, it's larger. It's a strange old world these days!

[Annette N]

Love the post. Would you believe? On my screen saver pictures there are about 20 paintings of women reading. Some famous artists, some not so famous, some old and some more modern. Each one is beautiful.

I guess if I am honest, pictures of reading women simply make me feel at home.

But, Monet has never painted me while I am reading. Alas.

I hope everyone is taking care and staying well.

[Annette N]

I appreciate this post.

Would you believe that on my screen savers, there are about 20 pictures of women reading. Some by famous artists, some by artists not so famous. Some old, some more modern.

They pictures make me feel at home.

But, Monet has never painted me while reading.

I hope everyone is taking care and staying well.

[Annette N]

I appreciate this post.

Would you believe that on my screen savers, there are about 20 pictures of women reading. Some by famous artists, some by artists not so famous. Some old, some more modern.

They pictures make me feel at home.

But, Monet has never painted me while reading.

I hope everyone is taking care and staying well.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Janice. I do think reading and the continued availability of books on line has helped many people with this time of isolation. And books that end positively, which is all I want to read these days.

[Karin]

I have always been an avid reader, everywhere, but I have never been interested in reading with other people. I read in bed at night, but nothing scary or upsetting that will keep me awake at night. I love to read on my back patio, where I can also birdwatch. When I was lucky enough to take the train to work, I read on the train. I read in the park, or in a local library on my lunch hour. I don't even mind long plane trips, because it means hours of uninterrupted reading time with no outside distractions!

[Teresa Broderick]

Reading is like breathing to me. Essential!! I've always been a solitary reader but I joined GoodReads a few years ago and became more active on it in the last two years. I've joined a few groups on it and we read a book a month and discuss. I enjoy it but lately got bogged down with it because there was so many books I wanted to read myself. So I've taken a bit of a break. I'm at this moment reading Anne Grace's The Christmas Bride. I do like to read seasonal stories at this time of year.
Love the pics that went with this post.

[Teresa Broderick]

I just put up a post and it disappeared!!!

[Nicola Cornick]

I think (hope!) we have finally fixed the problem! Thanks for your patience.

[Nicola Cornick]

I'm so glad you liked the post and the pictures, Teresa. There are so many beautiful reading women paintings to choose from!

[Nicola Cornick]

Karin, isn't it wonderful to have such a variety of interesting and relaxing places to read!

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Annette! What a fantastic idea for a screensaver! I hadn't thought of doing that but I love it!

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi anne! That's such a funny story about you reading in class - it sounds as though there was just no way of stopping you!

[Annette N]

I apologize for the comment that will not die. I posted and for some reason it did not appear, so I tried again, and still no appearance. Now I see they were all waiting to make an entrance together.

[Elsie Grant]

Great post, Nicola! I've always been fascinated by "At Breakfast", a painting by L.A. Ring in the Swedish National Museum. It shows a woman reading a newspaper!!!

http://collection.nationalmuseum.se/eMP/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultListView/result.t1.collection_list.$TspTitleImageLink.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfieldValue&sp=0&sp=2&sp=3&sp=SdetailList&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=T&sp=2