Women Readers.

Because they possessed the ability to expand the horizons of their readers, novels achieved great popularity among women, who discovered that fiction gave them access to a sphere beyond that of their own homes and families, exposing them to new experiences and possibilities. More entertaining and easier to read than traditional forms of literature such as philosophy or history,.novels served an educational purpose for their readers. The process of reading improved women's literacy and encouraged them to think for themselves, making them part of an intellectual world that had traditionally excluded them.

Criticism of Novels.

Deeply rooted presumptions about female inferiority fed continuing hostility to the novel. Critics charged that novels were dangerous because they encouraged women to follow their passions and emotions, inviting women to immorality and corrupting the minds of weak women ill-equipped to resist the...