The Shirley of the title is a woman of independent means; her friend Caroline is not. Both struggle with what a woman's role is & can be. Their male counterparts
- Louis the powerless tutor & Robert his cloth-manufacturing brother
- also stand at odds to society's expectations. The novel is set in a period of social & political ferment featuring class disenfranchisement the drama of Luddite machine-breaking & the divisive effects of the Napoleonic Wars. But Charlotte Bronts particular strength lies in exploring the hidden psychological drama of love loss & the quest for identity. Personal & public agitation are brought together against the dramatic backdrop of her native Yorkshire. As always Bront? challenges convention exploring the limitations of social justice whilst telling not one but two love stories.