“An Untiring Zest for Life”: Images and Self-Images of Old Women in England

Abstract

The prevailing view among historians and contemporaries is that old people were more highly regarded in the past and that old women were regarded more negatively than men. This article questions such simple changes over time and the uniformity and negativity of attitudes in the present. A variety of sources—diaries, letters, biographies, social investigation, and personal testimony—indicate how much can be retrieved about the images and self-images of old women. They suggest how varied these images have been. Older women, rich and poor, could belie and contest negative stereotypes and could be well respected.