Essays on Various Subjects, Principally Designed for Young Ladies

Young women entering society are the intended readers of Hannah More's essays on manners, learning and moral conduct. Published in 1777, the collection addresses conversation, envy, emotional attachments, meekness, education, religion and wit. More presents her advice as a set of observations rather than a complete system of rules. Her dedication to Mrs. Montagu connects literary achievement with the example set by a person's daily behaviour.

The introduction argues that women and men should cultivate different abilities and occupy different social roles. More praises women's imagination and taste while placing firm limits on their intellectual ambitions and public activity. Those assumptions make the book useful for examining the expectations surrounding women's education in the eighteenth century. Readers interested in the history of advice writing can see how appeals to virtue, caution and propriety shape both the subjects discussed and the author's view of her audience.