Live and Online Lecture: The Englishwoman and the Horse by Rupert Isaacson

The horsey Englishwoman is a well-known cliché. Our literature abounds with characters based on the motif. From PG Wodehouse's fearsome, fox-hunting, braying Aunt Dahlia, to the demure but dashing Sophia Western whom Fielding's Tom Jones pursued over hedge and timber, to the lesser known 19th century heroines of Surtees novels - Lucy Glitters and Lady Scattercash, working their way up from the slums through the circus via their equestrian skills to marry aristocrats and captains of industry. Clichés are based on fact but often miss the point. In England, the special love affair between women and horses has to do with something that struck terror into the hearts of the male writers of those times - freedom and power.