Lady Mary Montagu Turkey Embassy Letters

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Lady Mary Wortly Montagu wrote The Turkish Embassy Letters in 1717. She edited the letters herself and published them after her death. Liberty is her major concern in her letters. Being aristocratic, she was supposed to have an amount of freedom compared to other ladies. The woman, Lady Mary, lived at a time when women had limited choices. Women were powerless in so many ways. She embarks on her journey with her husband. She went to Italy and spent years away from him until he was dead. She is an 18th century British woman who had broken the social norms. Her letters, The Turkish Embassy Letters, were very popular at the time. These travel narrative reproduce a comment on gender relations and liberty. Lady Mary Montagu’s husband …show more content…

She often defended the Turkish culture. Yet, she attacked the literature that was produced back then by some colonialist male travelers who often described the Eastern culture as backwards and oppressive. “Montagu makes a point to explain that these travel narratives were fictitious: “I have now entertained you with an account of such a sight as you never saw in your life, and what no book of travels could inform you of.” Tis no less than death for a man to be found in one of these places” (Anon, 2013). She constantly compared British women to the Turkish ones. She spoke highly of the freedom that Turkish women enjoyed. One of the concepts of femininity that she tackled is “the lustful, vain, foolish and malicious woman Nussbaum mentions. Then there is her counterpart, the “angelic woman”, who is virtuous and selfless and therefore lives in order to serve the needs and desires of the persons around her. In contrast to her the learnt woman follows her own passion for knowledge, is interested in public affairs and in an active pursuit of her own

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