Anna Brownell Jameson

Anna Brownell Jameson was an Anglo-Irish writer whose work joined travel narrative, literary criticism, art history, and arguments about women’s education and labor. The Diary of an Ennuyee grew from a European journey she made with a pupil and appeared anonymously in 1826, combining observations of France and Italy with a fictionalized diary voice. Characteristics of Women followed in 1832 and analyzes Shakespeare’s female characters through groupings such as intellect, passion, affection, and history. Later editions circulated under another Shakespeare title. Jameson discusses figures including Portia, Rosalind, Juliet, Hermione, Cordelia, Cleopatra, and Lady Macbeth, linking close reading with questions about character and social expectation. Her later books turned increasingly toward visual art, including Sacred and Legendary Art and Legends of the Madonna. She also wrote Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada after traveling through Upper Canada. Together, The Diary of an Ennuyee and Characteristics of Women show the range of her early career, moving from constructed travel testimony to criticism of canonical drama.