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Fin De Siecle Diana: The New Woman Discovers The Maine Woods, Nan Cumming Ma

All Student Scholarship

Women's roles were in flux during the late nineteenth centuury and early twentieth century. Faced with neurasthenia and other health problems, many upper and middle class women accepted the suggestions of doctors and social reformers that they take more exercise, usually in the form of calisthenics and bicycling.The quest for genuine experience in the increasingly artificial and overpopulated cities brought many male sports to Maine's untamed woods and, by 1890, women joined them in increasing numbers.

This study explores the attraction that the Maine wilderness held for upper and middle class Victorian women.