Botanical Entanglements: Women, Natural Science, and the Arts in Eighteenth-Century England

Women faced greater barriers in entering scientific professions in earlier eras, but Botanical Entanglements reveals how women's active participation in scientific discourses of the eighteenth century was enabled by the manipulation of social and cultural conventions. By taking advantage of the intersections between domesticity, femininity, and nature, the writers and artists studied here laid claim to a specific authority on naturalist subjects. The book pairs studies of well-known authors with less attention to offer a nuanced portrait of the diverse strategies women employed to engage in scientific labor. It also illuminates the emotional and physical intimacies between women, plants, and insects to reveal an early precursor to twenty-first-century theorizing of plant intelligence and human-plant relationships.

Format: Hardback
Length: 294 pages
Publication date: 18 August 2022
Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Women have faced significant barriers in pursuing scientific professions throughout history, particularly in earlier eras. However, in her book Botanical Entanglements, Anna Sagal explores how women actively participated in scientific discourses of the eighteenth century by manipulating social and cultural conventions that were often seen as limiting factors. By leveraging the intersections between domesticity, femininity, and nature, these writers and artists claimed authority on naturalist subjects, ranging from botany to entomology to natural history more broadly.

Botanical Entanglements pairs studies of well-known authors such as Eliza Haywood, Charlotte Lennox, Maria Edgeworth, and Charlotte Smith with lesser-known authors and artists such as Priscilla Wakefield, Maria Jacson, Elizabeth Blackwell, Henrietta Maria Moriarty, and Mary Delany. This approach offers a nuanced portrait of the diverse strategies women employed to engage in scientific labor. By utilizing socially acceptable forms of textual production, including popular periodicals, didactic texts, novels, illustrated works, craftwork, and poetry, these women advocated for a more substantive and meaningful engagement with the natural world.

In addition to examining the literary and artistic entanglements between women, plants, and insects, Botanical Entanglements sheds light on the emotional and physical intimacies that existed between these entities. This exploration provides an early precursor to twenty-first-century theorizing of plant intelligence and human-plant relationships. By recognizing these entanglements, we gain a deeper understanding of the multifaceted relationship between women and the natural world in eighteenth-century England.

Overall, Botanical Entanglements is a valuable contribution to the field of eighteenth-century studies, offering a fresh perspective on the role of women in scientific discourse and their complex relationships with the natural world.

Weight: 582g
Dimension: 156 x 236 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813946955