The independence of Jane Austin and Emily Dickenson

In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, the world was a much different place than today. There was not much thought to one's civil rights and societal responsibility for the well being of children. A common right, in current perspective, a public education, was unheard of. In that day, there was no centrally-organized system of state-supported education. Instead, upper-class children might be educated at home by their parents, particularly when young; by live-in governesses, tutors, or by going off to a private boarding school. Of course, women were not allowed t…