Born in 1854, Mona Caird is an oft forgotten yet highly significant figure in the literary first wave feminist movement. Her first novel was published in 1883, but one of her most notable works was an article simply entitled “Marriage”, published in the

in 1888. It is a work that Margaret Morganroth Gullette credited with getting the 1890s, a decade famous for social change, “going a little early” (Gullette 1989, 493), owing to Caird’s radical views on marriage. From 1883 to 1931, Caird was one of the more prolific writers of ‘New Woman’ fiction, a literary sub-genre mostly populated by women authors writing complex, insightful tales of the dangers of Victorian patriarchy and the rebellious women who struggle to escape it. Caird’s work is politically…

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Citation: Duff, Caitlin. "The Daughters of Danaus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 July 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1120, accessed 23 November 2024.]