Dr Johnson is often thought of as a strident,
overbearing conversationalist, a man who famously
asserted that 'Women have all the liberty they should
wish to have'. But in this revealing book Kate Chisholm
argues it is time to consider how Johnson lived his
life, not just what he said. She proposes that the heart
of the man, the truth of his character, can more clearly
be seen via his many - close, generous, equal -
relationships with women. At one end of the spectrum
were Johnson's mother Sarah; his 'painted poppet' wife
Tetty; and the women, like the prostitute Poll
Carmichael and the blind poetess Anna Williams, he took
in when they had nowhere else to go. At the other end
were Mary Wollstonecraft, who refers to Johnson in
Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Hester Thrale,
renowned wit and Johnson's 'dear mistress'; and
Elizabeth Carter, whose translation of Epictetus was an
instant bestseller. In between were the poet and critic
Charlotte Lennox, who invented the serialised novel; the
accomplished portraitist Frances Reynolds, sister of Sir
Joshua; the Derbyshire gentlewoman and Johnson's
spiritual guide Hill Boothby; and the writer and
abolitionist Hannah More.By looking again at this
controversial figure through the eyes of this
extraordinary cast of female characters, we can discover
the essential and unexpected Johnson. Kate Chisholm also
brilliantly brings to life an exceptional moment in the
history of women when, for a short period, talent, wit
and independence were not only possible but
rewarded. |
|