Fictional depictions of feminine reading and writing practices reveal transformations in expectations of women's roles due to changes in economic, political, social, and familial structures during the eighteenth century. Luce Irigaray's concern with the relationship between cultural influences and individual development offers a new perspective for considering female authors' representations of literary women and femininity. This dissertation utilizes Irigaray's cultural and psychoanalytic critiques of masculine discourse to develop a methodology for analyzing women's reactions, as they are revealed through fictional characters, against prohibitions that limited their engagement in literary activities.

Female protagonists challenge social boundaries through their reading and writing in Aphra Behn's Love-Letters Between a Noble-man and His Sister, Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote, and Amelia Opie's Adeline Mowbray. Behn's Silvia chooses love over family obligations, Lennox's Arabella demands male submission to her feminine perspective, and Opie's Adeline struggles to determine the validity of parental and societal authority. The protagonists in these novels engage in writing, acting, and interacting with women in order to begin the process of self-definition to generate a femininity that encompasses more than a reaction to masculine ideals. Ultimately, these female characters achieve individualized success through their writing, reading, and learning, thus validating their literary activities and their authors' work.