Sarah Robinson Scott (1721-1795) was a writer, translator and social reformer, and younger sister of Elizabeth Robinson Montagu (1718-1800), the famous Bluestocking patron. The letters Scott wrote to her sister reveal her to have been a witty, even savage, commentator on eighteenth-century life. Scott turns her observant eye on family and friends, fashionable Bath society, potential suitors, the vagaries of the postal service, modes of dress, events and political scandal. While Scott's letters provide us with a window on to her own experiences and expectations, they must also be interpreted...

Focusing on eighteenth-century constructions of symbolic femininity and eighteenth-century women's writing in relation to contemporary utopian discourse, this volume adjusts our understanding of the utopia of the Enlightenment, placing a unique emphasis on colonial utopias. These essays reflect on issues related to specific configurations of utopias and utopianism by considering in detail English and French texts by both women (Sarah Scott, Sarah Fielding, Isabelle de Charriere) and men (Paltock and Montesquieu). The contributors ask the following questions: In the influential discourses of...