Quotation: “How light and free I felt! When man first set woman on two wheels with a pair of pedals, did he know, I wonder, that he had rent the veil of the harem in twain? I doubt it, but so it was. A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering. I felt it that brisk May morning as I span down the road with a Tam o’Shanter on my head and my loose hair travelling after me like a Skye terrier.” (Allen, Chapter 5)

Comment: This quote stuck out to me for a few reasons. First, in comparison to the other novels we’ve read, this is the first time a woman has travelled uninhibited and without a man to accompany her. Like Augusta in Mr. Meeson’s Will, Juliet takes agency over her professional and personal life, however unlike Augusta, she has no male intervention whatsoever. Her bicycle is representative of her freedom and agency. It’s shown that she is also aware of her position of a woman in a new era. I feel like this quote really highlights the change of women’s personal agency, especially as we look back on earlier novels read this semester.

Question: Going along with Juliet’s question (“did he know, I wonder…”), I’m wondering how readily available bicycles were. I’m assuming that if a woman could get one at this point in time, it wasn’t rare to see them around. Was there any controversy surrounding women riding bicycles as a result of their availability?