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A Description of Millenium Hall: And the Country Adjacent Together with the Characters of the Inhabitants and Such Historical Anecdotes and Reflections ... Excite in the Reader Proper Sentiments of
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194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1762
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About the author
Sarah Scott
85 books9 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Sarah Scott (née Robinson) (21 September 1720 – 3 November 1795)[1] was an English novelist, translator, and social reformer. Her father, Matthew Robinson, and her mother, Elizabeth Robinson, were both from distinguished families, and Sarah was one of nine children who survived to adulthood. Although born in Yorkshire, Sarah and the other children spent a great deal of time in Cambridge, England and at Cambridge University.
Sarah Scott (née Robinson) (21 September 1720 – 3 November 1795)[1] was an English novelist, translator, and social reformer. Her father, Matthew Robinson, and her mother, Elizabeth Robinson, were both from distinguished families, and Sarah was one of nine children who survived to adulthood. Although born in Yorkshire, Sarah and the other children spent a great deal of time in Cambridge, England and at Cambridge University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
July 19, 2020
This is an interesting novel published in 1762. It isn’t easy to read because it has that irritating eighteenth century habit of needing to be didactic and morally improving. It was written by Sarah Scott and describes a female run and populated community run on what might be described as utopian lines.
Sarah Scott was a well-educated woman from a good family. Her sister, Elizabeth Montagu is better known for setting up a female literary salon which became known as the Blue Stocking Society. Sarah Scott was married in 1751. This was short-lived and her family removed her from the marital home in 1752. She then lived with Lady Barbara Montagu where they pooled their resources and became active in helping the poor. Scott wrote primarily to provide an income, writing several novels and some histories. Millennium Hall is partially based on her life with Barbara Montagu.
The novel revolves around a community of women who hold their goods and income in common and whose primary pastime is education. Two gentlemen are touring the area (in East Anglia) and as one is distantly related to one of the women, they visit. They are given various guided tours and hear the histories of several of the women who reside there and how they came to move to the community. There are educational pastimes, music, education for local children, work for those with disabilities, local industrial enterprises, charities and much more.
There is no challenge to society’s structures. There is help and work for the poor and underprivileged, but according to their station. There is education for all children, but the lower orders are directed to appropriate manual work. However there is an interesting approach to disability. Those who are disabled are educated and there is a rehabilitative element to the approach and it is emphasized that they should be treated with respect and care and if they are they will contribute to society. It is also remarkable in that it welcomes older age and deformity in women as positives and bringing benefits.
Running through the novel is an element of divine providence/retribution which is active in favour of the women in the history. A striking example is in the history of one of the women where a man about to commit an act of rape has a stroke and is dies. This illustrates the nature of the men in the novel. Most of them are unscrupulous, self-centred, sexually predatory and generally unpleasant. There are some notable exceptions, but they tend to be older, having learnt from life. There is a redemptive element and for the two men visiting the community it is mediated through the community itself.
This novel has been rediscovered in this century, but is still little known and read. Admittedly it is not an easy read being couched in the sort of language used in novels like Clarissa and there is an irritating piety present. But it is striking and quite revolutionary.
Sarah Scott was a well-educated woman from a good family. Her sister, Elizabeth Montagu is better known for setting up a female literary salon which became known as the Blue Stocking Society. Sarah Scott was married in 1751. This was short-lived and her family removed her from the marital home in 1752. She then lived with Lady Barbara Montagu where they pooled their resources and became active in helping the poor. Scott wrote primarily to provide an income, writing several novels and some histories. Millennium Hall is partially based on her life with Barbara Montagu.
The novel revolves around a community of women who hold their goods and income in common and whose primary pastime is education. Two gentlemen are touring the area (in East Anglia) and as one is distantly related to one of the women, they visit. They are given various guided tours and hear the histories of several of the women who reside there and how they came to move to the community. There are educational pastimes, music, education for local children, work for those with disabilities, local industrial enterprises, charities and much more.
There is no challenge to society’s structures. There is help and work for the poor and underprivileged, but according to their station. There is education for all children, but the lower orders are directed to appropriate manual work. However there is an interesting approach to disability. Those who are disabled are educated and there is a rehabilitative element to the approach and it is emphasized that they should be treated with respect and care and if they are they will contribute to society. It is also remarkable in that it welcomes older age and deformity in women as positives and bringing benefits.
Running through the novel is an element of divine providence/retribution which is active in favour of the women in the history. A striking example is in the history of one of the women where a man about to commit an act of rape has a stroke and is dies. This illustrates the nature of the men in the novel. Most of them are unscrupulous, self-centred, sexually predatory and generally unpleasant. There are some notable exceptions, but they tend to be older, having learnt from life. There is a redemptive element and for the two men visiting the community it is mediated through the community itself.
This novel has been rediscovered in this century, but is still little known and read. Admittedly it is not an easy read being couched in the sort of language used in novels like Clarissa and there is an irritating piety present. But it is striking and quite revolutionary.
Read
May 13, 2016DNF!
I've given up. I honestly haven't even thought about the book in 2 months, and I know what happens at the end. Nothing eventful is supposed to happen in the rest of the book, and it was hard enough getting through the first part.
I think I read between 1/2-2/3 of the book. I'm done XD
I've given up. I honestly haven't even thought about the book in 2 months, and I know what happens at the end. Nothing eventful is supposed to happen in the rest of the book, and it was hard enough getting through the first part.
I think I read between 1/2-2/3 of the book. I'm done XD
July 19, 2020
I found a copy of 'Millenium Hall' in a library sale for 50p. I hadn't previously heard of it, or so I thought, and was intrigued by concept of an 18th century feminist utopia. Then I noticed the poor average rating on goodreads of 2.8, so didn't actually read it until libraries had been closed for four months. It's hard for me to predict what I'll enjoy reading at the moment, as my brain is emphatically not thriving. In this case, I got lucky and found 'Millenium Hall' much more fun than expected. I appreciated the gently subversive use of a familiar framing mechanism for utopian literature. By chance, a man (and his annoying friend, in this case) stumbles upon an alternative community and is given a tour and detailed explanation of it. He then repeats this in letter form to somebody else. In this specific instance, our interloper gets into a carriage accident and discovers a bucolic country mansion in which a community of women live virtuous and philanthropic lives. Coincidentally, one of the founders of this lovely place is his cousin, who politely invites him and his annoying friend Lamont to stay for a few days and learn about the place.
It was fascinating to read a utopia that appears emphatically pre-Enlightenment in sensibility and grounded securely in Christianity, quite different to Victorian novels like Erewhon. The community depicted resembles a Protestant version of a convent that takes charity, frugality, and chastity very seriously. The women who run it manage their wealth communally and use it to employ and support poor children, the elderly, and disabled people. They establish what would now be termed social enterprises and offer young couples financial support to get married and set up a household. Food, education, and healthcare are provided for all. As the introduction, written in 1985, asserts, this compassion is presented in a manner that seems rather patronising and pious today. As I read the text, though, I was conscious of two other ways of looking at this.
Firstly, within the book itself, this tone is one taken by women conversing politely with uninvited male guests who they very probably want to go away. It reminded me of occasions in my twenties when I wanted a man to stop talking and leave, so I talked in as boring and formal a manner as possible about the spatial planning system. Perhaps I am projecting my 21st century sense of irony onto 18th century sincerity. Nonetheless, within the historical context women would obviously have to display unimpeachable Christian virtue in order to justify the radical step of refusing to get married. Secondly, the obligation to be suitably grateful that is placed upon those the women of 'Millenium Hall' helped reminded me of how, under current grotesque wealth inequality, poor, disabled, and elderly people are expected to be just as grateful for basic subsistence. The support depicted here seems accompanied by fewer conditions and less suspicion than social security benefits in the UK and US. Not to mention the neoliberal theme that governments should be grateful that billionaires are willing to create precarious low paid jobs and workers should be grateful to have them. In other words, there is still a utopian cast to the economics of 'Millenium Hall' aside from the feminist elements. It's a very pastoral preindustrial utopia, however, in which cities are painted solely as sources of dissipation and vice.
The style of writing is of course very much of its time, with long involved bouquets of subclauses. I liked that; others may not. The edition I read, as mentioned, included a 35 year old introduction that left unmentioned what to me seemed like obvious subtext. Consider this quote:
This is especially interesting in light of comments elsewhere in the book on how important it is for the higher classes to set a good example to each other and the lower classes by exemplary behaviour. Of the four 'Millenium Hall' ladies whose biographies are recounted, Mrs Morgan is the only one who has actually been married. She is blackmailed into a marriage she does not want and forced by her unpleasant husband to cut ties with her beloved friend Miss Mancel, because her husband doesn't want his wife to love anyone more than him. Once he's on his deathbed, the two reunite and after his death live happily together at Millenium Hall. Lady Mary Jones and Miss Selvyn likewise prefer the company of their female friends. This might all be romantic friendship, but they could also be a happy commune of lesbians. I was unsurprised to find discussion of 'Millenium Hall' in chapter 4 of Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present when I checked. Indeed, it is cited as, 'the most complete fictional blueprint for conducting a romantic friendship'. So I have come across mention of it before, but didn't remember as I read Faderman's book back in 2014.
Either way, I enjoyed the fact that 'Millenium Hall' is essentially a lecture by a woman to men about the superior moral virtue and financial management of women without men. Given some of the boneheaded emails I've received recently from male colleagues, there was something vindicating about this high tone. It is also notable that the narrator and Lamont actually listen, with only brief interruptions. The message that solidarity between women, across social classes and generations, is essential as men cannot be relied upon retains relevance today. Despite all the trappings of virtue, duty, and Christian worship, the Millenium Hall community still has a certain appeal as its founders navigate Georgian womanhood in quietly radical ways.
It was fascinating to read a utopia that appears emphatically pre-Enlightenment in sensibility and grounded securely in Christianity, quite different to Victorian novels like Erewhon. The community depicted resembles a Protestant version of a convent that takes charity, frugality, and chastity very seriously. The women who run it manage their wealth communally and use it to employ and support poor children, the elderly, and disabled people. They establish what would now be termed social enterprises and offer young couples financial support to get married and set up a household. Food, education, and healthcare are provided for all. As the introduction, written in 1985, asserts, this compassion is presented in a manner that seems rather patronising and pious today. As I read the text, though, I was conscious of two other ways of looking at this.
Firstly, within the book itself, this tone is one taken by women conversing politely with uninvited male guests who they very probably want to go away. It reminded me of occasions in my twenties when I wanted a man to stop talking and leave, so I talked in as boring and formal a manner as possible about the spatial planning system. Perhaps I am projecting my 21st century sense of irony onto 18th century sincerity. Nonetheless, within the historical context women would obviously have to display unimpeachable Christian virtue in order to justify the radical step of refusing to get married. Secondly, the obligation to be suitably grateful that is placed upon those the women of 'Millenium Hall' helped reminded me of how, under current grotesque wealth inequality, poor, disabled, and elderly people are expected to be just as grateful for basic subsistence. The support depicted here seems accompanied by fewer conditions and less suspicion than social security benefits in the UK and US. Not to mention the neoliberal theme that governments should be grateful that billionaires are willing to create precarious low paid jobs and workers should be grateful to have them. In other words, there is still a utopian cast to the economics of 'Millenium Hall' aside from the feminist elements. It's a very pastoral preindustrial utopia, however, in which cities are painted solely as sources of dissipation and vice.
The style of writing is of course very much of its time, with long involved bouquets of subclauses. I liked that; others may not. The edition I read, as mentioned, included a 35 year old introduction that left unmentioned what to me seemed like obvious subtext. Consider this quote:
As the ladies' conduct in this particular was uncommon, I could not forbear telling them, that I was surprised to find so great encouragement given to matrimony by persons whose choice shewed them little inclined in its favour.
"Does it surprise you," answered Mrs. Morgan smiling, "to see people promote that in others which they themselves do not choose to practise? We consider matrimony as absolutely necessary to the good of society; it is a general duty; but as, according to all ancient tenures, those obliged to perform knight's service, might, if they chose to enjoy their own firesides, be excused by sending deputies to supply their places; so we, using the same privilege substitute many others, and certainly much more promote wedlock than we could do by entering into it ourselves. This may wear the appearance of some devout persons of a certain religion who, equally indolent and timorous, when they do not choose to say so many prayers as they think their duty, pay other for supplying their deficiencies."
This is especially interesting in light of comments elsewhere in the book on how important it is for the higher classes to set a good example to each other and the lower classes by exemplary behaviour. Of the four 'Millenium Hall' ladies whose biographies are recounted, Mrs Morgan is the only one who has actually been married. She is blackmailed into a marriage she does not want and forced by her unpleasant husband to cut ties with her beloved friend Miss Mancel, because her husband doesn't want his wife to love anyone more than him. Once he's on his deathbed, the two reunite and after his death live happily together at Millenium Hall. Lady Mary Jones and Miss Selvyn likewise prefer the company of their female friends. This might all be romantic friendship, but they could also be a happy commune of lesbians. I was unsurprised to find discussion of 'Millenium Hall' in chapter 4 of Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present when I checked. Indeed, it is cited as, 'the most complete fictional blueprint for conducting a romantic friendship'. So I have come across mention of it before, but didn't remember as I read Faderman's book back in 2014.
Either way, I enjoyed the fact that 'Millenium Hall' is essentially a lecture by a woman to men about the superior moral virtue and financial management of women without men. Given some of the boneheaded emails I've received recently from male colleagues, there was something vindicating about this high tone. It is also notable that the narrator and Lamont actually listen, with only brief interruptions. The message that solidarity between women, across social classes and generations, is essential as men cannot be relied upon retains relevance today. Despite all the trappings of virtue, duty, and Christian worship, the Millenium Hall community still has a certain appeal as its founders navigate Georgian womanhood in quietly radical ways.
March 26, 2016
It's hard to describe this book as it comes on the heels of reading other 18th century reading but it is interesting that women at that time were so subjugated that their response to their condition is to fantasize about a society that is all women. That this would be an ideal way to live; a female utopia. I wonder how much has changed for women in the world
December 14, 2020
i ripped out a good chunk of my eyebrows while reading this book
February 7, 2019
I really enjoyed this early take on a feminist society. Although steeped in religious virtue the women who are running the house offer an interesting look on what freedom looks like for women who are able to withdraw from the rest of society.
June 22, 2016
Well, this was fascinating. I had no idea that feminism had begun so early. Not the feminism of my youth, the 1970's, when it was all about sexual freedom - in this novel, Chastity and Virtue are paramount - but the ideas that women can make choices, manage their own money, commission, build and run entire villages (though in a somewhat paternalistic way, if that's not a gendered contradiction), are all here. It's a Utopia, yes, but an attractive one. That was surprising enough, but then add in that these women believed in positive discrimination, giving disabled people their full place in the society, and it makes for a remarkable piece of writing which foreshadows much of what we now take for granted.
November 2, 2017
a really interesting read. Scott creates an entire community of what appear to be female Utopias, existing outside of the world of men and public society.
of course from a more critical view, this text is a lot more than just these female Utopias and the commentary that it is making on sentimental society's relationship with women is very interesting.
of course from a more critical view, this text is a lot more than just these female Utopias and the commentary that it is making on sentimental society's relationship with women is very interesting.
March 8, 2024
Not my favorite but it was interesting to discuss in class
October 9, 2020
Difficult to really judge - Millenium Hall is very obviously a book from another time, and its obsession to impart a moral (Christian) lesson to its reader could not be more glaring. However, there are some very interesting aspects in this story that tells me about the origin stories of the first inhabitants of this 18th-century feminist utopia in the English countryside. The narrative is very interesting, framed as it is by two men arriving at the estate, and them urging one of the women (who happens to be a cousin) to tell the stories, interrupting and questioning every now and again, and closing the story by directly addressing us, the reader. Moreover, the novel is fascinating in its way it must justify its inherent paradox: how can these feminist icons, these unmarried women, devout Chrsitians, explain why they do not follow their "duty" to society and God and get married? Effectively, we follow along as Sarah Scott concucts complex narratives of danger, faith, misfortunes (though not economic ones - these women sure do have their money sorted), love and learning to justify that, at the end of the day, a woman can never be freer than if she remains unmarried.
Some critical aspects that definitely have my 21st-century mind reeling: the truly amazing classism, the blatant and abjectly painful ableism and treatment of disabled people, the fact that the "she dressed like she wanted it" excuse had already been employed by men, how much women judge other women (but will still show solidarity in front of men, you go girls). And perhaps I am also left wishing the ladies had stood up against the masculinist institutions of the Church and science they view as the cornerstones of a good person (i.e. faith/virtue and reason/learning) and seen that maybe some of these ideas were designed to "not benefit" women (think of the way in which "female" interests like fashion were apparently already then disregarded as mindless, because the mind is male). But hey. They had a big ass house and garden, manufacturies, money, they took in other girls and young women, and at the end of the day, carved out a space in a society set up against them. I still have to respect Sarah Scott's vision, and grieve for the fact that in a way, much has still not improved today.
Some critical aspects that definitely have my 21st-century mind reeling: the truly amazing classism, the blatant and abjectly painful ableism and treatment of disabled people, the fact that the "she dressed like she wanted it" excuse had already been employed by men, how much women judge other women (but will still show solidarity in front of men, you go girls). And perhaps I am also left wishing the ladies had stood up against the masculinist institutions of the Church and science they view as the cornerstones of a good person (i.e. faith/virtue and reason/learning) and seen that maybe some of these ideas were designed to "not benefit" women (think of the way in which "female" interests like fashion were apparently already then disregarded as mindless, because the mind is male). But hey. They had a big ass house and garden, manufacturies, money, they took in other girls and young women, and at the end of the day, carved out a space in a society set up against them. I still have to respect Sarah Scott's vision, and grieve for the fact that in a way, much has still not improved today.
October 23, 2022
Sarah Scott was a British author and philantropist who, like a later Mary Shelley, lived through a number of hardships, despite her upper-class background, when, forced into an unhappy marriage, she divorced and was cut off by her father. Her smallpox-scarred face also affected her deeply, making her seek female friendship rather than male companionship, and making her devote herself both to literature and to help others affected by deformities and cripples. A prolific writer, she published both novels, political texts, educational texts and books on history.
Millenium Hall is not sci-fi per se, but an interesting book in the line of utopias, being one of the very first descriptions of a feminist utopia. The book takes the form of a frame tale and a series of adventures, and how some of the female residents arrived at the female Millenium Hall. The Hall the characters live in is a model of mid-century reform ideas. Society is permeated with a form of proto-socialism and equality, and is a haven for women who have fallen on misfortune, often at the hands of men, or poverty, injury or deformity. Property is held in common, and education is the primary pastime. The old and weak are taken care of, and they do their part for the good of the society to the extent they are able. In one secluded part of the garden is a small village for dwarves, where they can live in peace. Men are not banished, but apart from the dwarves, cannot become permanent residents, but rather guests of the resident women. First and foremost of all ideologies in Millenium Hall is Christianity.
The book is well-written, even if it perhaps lingers a bit too long on the melodramatic parts of the women's stories. It's ideas are remarkably progressive considering it was written in the mid-1700s, and despite its strong religious undercurrent it is certainly the most progressive of the utopias written in the 17th and 18th century.
Millenium Hall is not sci-fi per se, but an interesting book in the line of utopias, being one of the very first descriptions of a feminist utopia. The book takes the form of a frame tale and a series of adventures, and how some of the female residents arrived at the female Millenium Hall. The Hall the characters live in is a model of mid-century reform ideas. Society is permeated with a form of proto-socialism and equality, and is a haven for women who have fallen on misfortune, often at the hands of men, or poverty, injury or deformity. Property is held in common, and education is the primary pastime. The old and weak are taken care of, and they do their part for the good of the society to the extent they are able. In one secluded part of the garden is a small village for dwarves, where they can live in peace. Men are not banished, but apart from the dwarves, cannot become permanent residents, but rather guests of the resident women. First and foremost of all ideologies in Millenium Hall is Christianity.
The book is well-written, even if it perhaps lingers a bit too long on the melodramatic parts of the women's stories. It's ideas are remarkably progressive considering it was written in the mid-1700s, and despite its strong religious undercurrent it is certainly the most progressive of the utopias written in the 17th and 18th century.
October 28, 2025
Below you will find an outline I completed ten minutes before I had to present it in class:
What categorizes male/female relationships?
Possessiveness
Women “free from that littleness of mind, which makes people value a thing the more for it being possessed by no one but themselves.” (64)
Scott contrasts selfish ownership w/ Christian benevolence
Women of M.H. virtuous precisely b/c do not value people or things that exclusively belong to them
Rather, affections/material worth shared for common good
Posessiveness–whether over property, women, or social power, cast as male vice
Women’s freedom from this “littleness” makes them morally superior/intellectually freer
Social and gender commentary
Marriage as form of possession (laws literally made property)
Possessive impulses can be seen in Mr. Morgan’s restriction of friendship
Mrs Morgan was so well convinced before of the littleness of his mind that she was more afflicted than surprised at this instance of it (130)
Mr. Morgan’s “littleness” manifests in inability to trust while jealousy makes him spiritually small
Treatment of women also coincides w/ rise of homosocial
Confronted before in Boswell’s non-sexual male attractions in constant pursuit of fatherly figure + need to connect intellectually/socially w/ respected men
Homoerotic undertones of men looking around at lurid paintings vs. virtuous, independent creative pursuits of women at Millenium Hall
Homosociality (level of closeness b/w men) means only need to rely on women for sex rather than intellectual/emotional connection
Nature of female friendship
Women of M.H. make no mention of sex, seem to therefore not require men at all b/c of depth of connection can have amongst friends
Multiple mentions of lifelong friendships based in trust, growth, affection, and mutual respect
Incompatibility of Sexes
“Man and wife are often nothing better than assistants in each other's ruin; domestic virtues are exploded, and social happiness despised as dull and insipid.” (164)
Marriage as moral ruin, where entity that should foster virtue/companionship actually hastens moral decay
Corruption of both sexes
Men become tyrants
Women become degraded by dependency
B/c of solidity of incompatibility’s presence in general society, makes social separation a necessity
“Could she without the loss of reputation have fled to a remote part of the kingdom, and have hid herself in some obscure cottage…she would have thought it a state far more eligible than becoming Mr Morgan's wife” (127)
Immobilized by societal structures b/c loss of reputation operates as social prison, mechanism through which patriarchal society enforces obedience
However, fantasy of withdrawal foreshadowed becomes real, allowing for exploration of genuine relationships b/w women rather than ones based in slanted power dynamic
Most notable example: Mrs. Morgan and Ms. Mancel, whose separation is equated to a severing of connection b/w body and soul
“Mrs Morgan's condition was still more deplorable; more dead than alive, she followed Louisa's steps with eager eyes, till a turning in the road robbed her of the sight of her friend; and then, as if her eyes had no other employment worthy of them left, they were again overwhelmed in tears.” (132)
Operates on two levels: Socially safe sentiment/coded romantic grief
“More dead than alive” visceral in language of death/mourning to describe separation of two living women
Relationship not casual friendship, but life-sustaining intimacy
One so central to identities that rupture feels like annihilation
“Eager eyes” show sensory, desperate expression of love, one that is “robbed” from her in language of theft that evokes loss of something precious/vital
“Have no other employment worthy of them” showing her gaze and by extension her emotional energy belong entirely to her friend
Intimate undertones of Mrs. Morgan’s collapse of vitality/bodily function after separation shows potential dependence beyond friendship, very one that Mr. Morgan feared/sought to suppress
Queer readings in Millenium Hall and across era
Female same-sex desire appeared in many genres across print culture
Pamphlets, novels, medical tracts, satire, pornography, letters, diaries
Readers often had to decode lesbian meaning “between the lines.”
Representations range from ridicule and repression to coded celebration
Queer readings uncover meaning through literary hints and silences
Historian Margaret Hunt: female same-sex intimacy was common but underrecorded
Women in shared households could form intimate relationships that went unnoticed unless they challenged male authority.
“The day after their marriage, Mrs Morgan asked his permission to invite Miss Mancel to his house, to which he answered, 'Madam, my wife must have no other companion or friend but her husband; I shall never be averse to your seeing company, but intimates I forbid; I shall not choose to have my faults discussed between you and your friend.'” (130)
Possessives of “my wife” and imperative “must” reveal how patriarchy naturalizes control through intimacy
He does not love wife, but rather seeks exclusivity of ownership
In contrast, women of M.H. cultivate affection that is shared, open, emotionally transparent, and built upon moral reflection
Lesbian representation was coded, using irony, allusion, or euphemism (note italicized friend)
Sarah Scott’s Millenium Hall: utopian female community portrayed as virtuous, not erotic.
Due to politics of era and 18th century “gender crisis” w/ rise of domestic virtue and heteronormativity
Lesbianism seen as a threat to national stability and moral order
Same-sex relationships not just taboo, they were unpatriotic/underminded family as cornerstone of social order
Particularly unforgivable w/ women, who existed for their reproductive potential
Narrative works hard to absolve ladies of unnatural desires/man hating
Emphasizes charity, education, art, piety to such extent women fall flat in characterization in order to dispel any rumor of same-sex desire or societal opposition
Promote marriage in others even if reject in themselves
Double standard of class, like knights in feudal system, sending women as vassals to fight in their stead
Even idyllic female community requires telling through approving male frame within novel or w/ roots at Blustocking meetings
Conclusion
M.H. contrasts male possessiveness/patriarchical control w/ model of female relationships based on mutual affection/respect
Scott’s utopia allows women to achieve intellectual and moral freedom as sought in Bluestocking meetings, showing potential for intimacy and independency apart from men
Nonetheless, narrative carefully frames their independence and virtuous/socially acceptable within constraints of 18th century gender norms
What categorizes male/female relationships?
Possessiveness
Women “free from that littleness of mind, which makes people value a thing the more for it being possessed by no one but themselves.” (64)
Scott contrasts selfish ownership w/ Christian benevolence
Women of M.H. virtuous precisely b/c do not value people or things that exclusively belong to them
Rather, affections/material worth shared for common good
Posessiveness–whether over property, women, or social power, cast as male vice
Women’s freedom from this “littleness” makes them morally superior/intellectually freer
Social and gender commentary
Marriage as form of possession (laws literally made property)
Possessive impulses can be seen in Mr. Morgan’s restriction of friendship
Mrs Morgan was so well convinced before of the littleness of his mind that she was more afflicted than surprised at this instance of it (130)
Mr. Morgan’s “littleness” manifests in inability to trust while jealousy makes him spiritually small
Treatment of women also coincides w/ rise of homosocial
Confronted before in Boswell’s non-sexual male attractions in constant pursuit of fatherly figure + need to connect intellectually/socially w/ respected men
Homoerotic undertones of men looking around at lurid paintings vs. virtuous, independent creative pursuits of women at Millenium Hall
Homosociality (level of closeness b/w men) means only need to rely on women for sex rather than intellectual/emotional connection
Nature of female friendship
Women of M.H. make no mention of sex, seem to therefore not require men at all b/c of depth of connection can have amongst friends
Multiple mentions of lifelong friendships based in trust, growth, affection, and mutual respect
Incompatibility of Sexes
“Man and wife are often nothing better than assistants in each other's ruin; domestic virtues are exploded, and social happiness despised as dull and insipid.” (164)
Marriage as moral ruin, where entity that should foster virtue/companionship actually hastens moral decay
Corruption of both sexes
Men become tyrants
Women become degraded by dependency
B/c of solidity of incompatibility’s presence in general society, makes social separation a necessity
“Could she without the loss of reputation have fled to a remote part of the kingdom, and have hid herself in some obscure cottage…she would have thought it a state far more eligible than becoming Mr Morgan's wife” (127)
Immobilized by societal structures b/c loss of reputation operates as social prison, mechanism through which patriarchal society enforces obedience
However, fantasy of withdrawal foreshadowed becomes real, allowing for exploration of genuine relationships b/w women rather than ones based in slanted power dynamic
Most notable example: Mrs. Morgan and Ms. Mancel, whose separation is equated to a severing of connection b/w body and soul
“Mrs Morgan's condition was still more deplorable; more dead than alive, she followed Louisa's steps with eager eyes, till a turning in the road robbed her of the sight of her friend; and then, as if her eyes had no other employment worthy of them left, they were again overwhelmed in tears.” (132)
Operates on two levels: Socially safe sentiment/coded romantic grief
“More dead than alive” visceral in language of death/mourning to describe separation of two living women
Relationship not casual friendship, but life-sustaining intimacy
One so central to identities that rupture feels like annihilation
“Eager eyes” show sensory, desperate expression of love, one that is “robbed” from her in language of theft that evokes loss of something precious/vital
“Have no other employment worthy of them” showing her gaze and by extension her emotional energy belong entirely to her friend
Intimate undertones of Mrs. Morgan’s collapse of vitality/bodily function after separation shows potential dependence beyond friendship, very one that Mr. Morgan feared/sought to suppress
Queer readings in Millenium Hall and across era
Female same-sex desire appeared in many genres across print culture
Pamphlets, novels, medical tracts, satire, pornography, letters, diaries
Readers often had to decode lesbian meaning “between the lines.”
Representations range from ridicule and repression to coded celebration
Queer readings uncover meaning through literary hints and silences
Historian Margaret Hunt: female same-sex intimacy was common but underrecorded
Women in shared households could form intimate relationships that went unnoticed unless they challenged male authority.
“The day after their marriage, Mrs Morgan asked his permission to invite Miss Mancel to his house, to which he answered, 'Madam, my wife must have no other companion or friend but her husband; I shall never be averse to your seeing company, but intimates I forbid; I shall not choose to have my faults discussed between you and your friend.'” (130)
Possessives of “my wife” and imperative “must” reveal how patriarchy naturalizes control through intimacy
He does not love wife, but rather seeks exclusivity of ownership
In contrast, women of M.H. cultivate affection that is shared, open, emotionally transparent, and built upon moral reflection
Lesbian representation was coded, using irony, allusion, or euphemism (note italicized friend)
Sarah Scott’s Millenium Hall: utopian female community portrayed as virtuous, not erotic.
Due to politics of era and 18th century “gender crisis” w/ rise of domestic virtue and heteronormativity
Lesbianism seen as a threat to national stability and moral order
Same-sex relationships not just taboo, they were unpatriotic/underminded family as cornerstone of social order
Particularly unforgivable w/ women, who existed for their reproductive potential
Narrative works hard to absolve ladies of unnatural desires/man hating
Emphasizes charity, education, art, piety to such extent women fall flat in characterization in order to dispel any rumor of same-sex desire or societal opposition
Promote marriage in others even if reject in themselves
Double standard of class, like knights in feudal system, sending women as vassals to fight in their stead
Even idyllic female community requires telling through approving male frame within novel or w/ roots at Blustocking meetings
Conclusion
M.H. contrasts male possessiveness/patriarchical control w/ model of female relationships based on mutual affection/respect
Scott’s utopia allows women to achieve intellectual and moral freedom as sought in Bluestocking meetings, showing potential for intimacy and independency apart from men
Nonetheless, narrative carefully frames their independence and virtuous/socially acceptable within constraints of 18th century gender norms
Read
January 3, 2024Based on the synopsis (and the brief description of the author’s own life) I was expecting this to be a lesbian-coded novel about a utopia for unmarried women. Although I still think the main characters (based on the author and her lifelong ‘friend’) are lesbians, the novel is far more heavily Christian. This women-only utopia is full of extremely pious Christian women who dedicate their lives to charity. The novel is made up of a series of morality tales about these women. I felt like the author was perhaps partly motivated by guilt - perhaps she felt that she wasn’t living the Christian life this book so clearly promotes?
As others have said, this book appears to be aimed at men, intending for them to understand how their behaviour harms women and how instead they should emulate women in their dedication to Christian values. The author clearly wanted to show that although women were often better off without men, that she considered the Christian duty to marriage to be paramount.
Very weird, heavily Christian, lightly lesbian-coded, 250 year old novel. I can’t say I’ll recommend this to anyone!
As others have said, this book appears to be aimed at men, intending for them to understand how their behaviour harms women and how instead they should emulate women in their dedication to Christian values. The author clearly wanted to show that although women were often better off without men, that she considered the Christian duty to marriage to be paramount.
Very weird, heavily Christian, lightly lesbian-coded, 250 year old novel. I can’t say I’ll recommend this to anyone!
January 3, 2019
**Actual Rating 2.5/5**
I've read this book....and I still can't tell you what its truly about. I've never been so confused reading a book before. From what I can gather it seems these two gentleman find themselves in a women's sanctuary. I can't really think of any other name for it honestly. All the women have either lost their husbands or fallen on unfortunate times and through mutual friends have found Millennium Hall. The novel is comprised of essentially the histories of some of the founding women of this place. How they came to find themselves either in possession of or in need of Millennium Hall and I can't explain more than that.
I can see how it fits into a Utopian genre but my god it was dull. There were that many women that I couldn't quite remember who was who, or if one lady was referred to using multiple names.
Research will be done to fully wrap my head around this one. I'm at a loss at the moment.
www.a-novel-idea.co.uk
I've read this book....and I still can't tell you what its truly about. I've never been so confused reading a book before. From what I can gather it seems these two gentleman find themselves in a women's sanctuary. I can't really think of any other name for it honestly. All the women have either lost their husbands or fallen on unfortunate times and through mutual friends have found Millennium Hall. The novel is comprised of essentially the histories of some of the founding women of this place. How they came to find themselves either in possession of or in need of Millennium Hall and I can't explain more than that.
I can see how it fits into a Utopian genre but my god it was dull. There were that many women that I couldn't quite remember who was who, or if one lady was referred to using multiple names.
Research will be done to fully wrap my head around this one. I'm at a loss at the moment.
www.a-novel-idea.co.uk
October 25, 2020
probably would’ve never read something like this if it weren’t for my “Women & the Country House” seminar but now that I’m here, this was kinda fun. it starts a bit tedious as these older novels often do but I like the episodic narrative structure so you can finish a portion and then move on to a different one in a mock argument process of how these women found their way to an 18th century feminist utopia. has the conduct theme going on so it’s also infuriating at the same time that it proposes an utterly liberaring and frankly quite sapphic communist scheme for this delicate society. as Virginia Woolf said, we owe it to these foremothers of women’s writing that we’re here now in rooms of our own, thus rendering Millenium Hall a valuable artifact of our progress.
3/5
3/5
March 2, 2020
For uni module reading the body in eighteenth century literature.
This novel focuses on Millenium Hall, a school like residence and a vision of female utopia and equality. This was an interesting concept to read about and I enjoyed that we got to hear the origin of multiple of the female residents.
However I thought the male narration was problematic and didn’t enjoy the invasion of the men into the female sphere who made it their duty to report what they had found and the world the women had built for themselves.
This novel focuses on Millenium Hall, a school like residence and a vision of female utopia and equality. This was an interesting concept to read about and I enjoyed that we got to hear the origin of multiple of the female residents.
However I thought the male narration was problematic and didn’t enjoy the invasion of the men into the female sphere who made it their duty to report what they had found and the world the women had built for themselves.
July 30, 2020
I liked the concept. I tried to keep my perspective about when it was written, but it didn't help my opinion of it. The language was heavy, not in a use of big words way, but in it's feeling. There were some lovely passages, but most of it was a drag. The thing is, I can't lay that on the time period itself because I've read other books from the era that were more enjoyable. This was a lot like listening to a sermon - Maybe not a Catholic sermon, more like a Protestant one, but probably not a very liberal one.
August 21, 2018
Loved the concept, and I acknowledge the critical potential of the novel, but it was interminable, anecdote over anecdote riddled with moral tale. Exhausting. Perhaps it's because I'm used to dealing with the poetry of the period, and not its prose.
October 29, 2018
I could not get through this. The premise was interesting enough (who doesn’t love a book advertised as a lesbian feminist utopia?) but that is far from the truth. The execution is poor, I’d put it up there with Crusoe in terms of how much I hated reading this book.
December 28, 2018
At times the narrative was mildly interesting. Problem with utopias is there isn’t much conflict and conflict is rather necessary in a novel. However, Scott adds some tiny bits of conflict in the sub-stories. Little too sentimental for my taste.
December 15, 2019
This is a pretty fascinating book; half utopian planning, half (ok, 2/3) moral tales about the problems of marriage as an institution. The imaginativeness is more in the political vision than the fiction, but it’s definitely a text that begs to be taught.
Read
October 23, 2023women really out here deciding to make a safe place for the girls&disabled without men because they were interacting with too many idiots
update my professor said "this book is about girls who would say 'i'm not like other girls'"
update my professor said "this book is about girls who would say 'i'm not like other girls'"
March 5, 2024
Got this mostly because of the author’s name, same as a friend’s. Only read a little bit of it. Giant snoozefest because all of the characters are such goody two shoes. The introduction was interesting, the book was not.
October 29, 2024
«One only hope remains, that you, my first and dearest friend, will not abandon me; that whatever cloud of melancholy may hang over my mind, yet you will still bear with me, and remove your abode to a place where I may have the consolation of your company.»
November 5, 2024
Bluestocking feminism.
Ugh. While I am all for feminism in general, this book is classist and masturbatory, praising the women for how wise and spiritual they are, deigning to do good deeds for the poor and sick, while still profiting off of a system of servants, slavery and colonization.
Ugh. While I am all for feminism in general, this book is classist and masturbatory, praising the women for how wise and spiritual they are, deigning to do good deeds for the poor and sick, while still profiting off of a system of servants, slavery and colonization.
September 18, 2025
This was an interesting book. I had to read it for one of my classes. I enjoyed how the narration was presented, but I feel like I would have preferred it written as a short story collection, but I understand what Scott was trying to do with this.
March 29, 2018
If you take it for what it is, a feminist dystopian "novel" written in the 18th century and overlook its flaws, it's not a bad read.
March 27, 2019
Cool in theory but difficult to read and man I don’t have the patience
April 12, 2021
Nearly indecipherable prose.
January 4, 2022
some interesting ideas here, but difficult to get at given the prose and 'narrative'.
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