Cirrus@Austlit

This article deals with two travel narratives written in the mid-nineteenth century by genteel English women and explores issues of nation, empire and gender. These travel accounts record journeys to two different areas of the globe, namely Hungary and New South Wales, and a close reading of these texts reveals a great deal of similarity in terms of their subject matter and writing strategies. The authors were unusual young women who transgressed gender demarcations by bringing out their own publications, intruding into the public domain of men. I will argue that these travel writings, irrespective of their travel destinations, reflected a common cultural and social background that stemmed from English genteel ideals.