TUESDAY 5TH MAY 2026

GIRLS BEHAVING BADLY: JANE AUSTEN’S WICKED WOMEN

ANNALIE TALENT

Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy and fearless. Jane Austen’s novels depict a genteel world of country houses in which everyone is expected to be on their best behaviour. But what happens when this world of manners and morals breaks down? During Jane Austen’s lifetime, women – and their fictional counterparts - were expected to be virtuous and biddable; what happens when, like Lydia Bennet, they are not? This lecture explores how far Austen subverted her readers’ expectations and rebelled against what was expected of women in her day. From the riotous and rebellious girls that populate her teenage writings to the more famous heroines of her mature works, this is an enlightening and surprising look at the life and work of a woman who once declared ‘If I am a wild beast, I cannot help it.’

Following a career in teaching, Annalie spent several years working on education programmes at museums and literary houses across the UK, including the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere; Wordsworth House in Cockermouth; Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire; and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. At Jane Austen’s House, Annalie won the Sandford Award for Excellence in Heritage Education; she also worked with the British Library, the Bodleian Library, and Chawton House Library in promoting Austen’s work to young people. Annalie’s lectures focus on aspects of Romantic and Victorian literature. She uses her knowledge and personal experience of literary houses - and their collections - to offer a unique perspective on writers and their works.