The Project

"It is amazing to me,'' said Bingley, ``how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are.''

``All young ladies accomplished! My dear Charles, what do you mean?'' 

``Yes all of them, I think. They all paint tables, cover skreens, and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished.'' 

``Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,'' said Darcy, ``has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse, or covering a skreen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.'' 

``Nor I, I am sure,'' said Miss Bingley. 

``Then,'' observed Elizabeth, ``you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished women.'' 

``Yes; I do comprehend a great deal in it.'' 

``Oh! certainly,'' cried his faithful assistant, ``no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.'' 

``All this she must possess,'' added Darcy, ``and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.'' 

``I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.'' 

-Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen

I must first off say that I do not intend to pursue this project as a devotee of Ms. Jane Austen's, but I did find the passage wonderfully appropriate to its ends, and it is a reference with which most readers will be familiar.

I suppose I am obliged to lay down what possessed me to begin this project (or at least, formally announce it in a way that makes myself and my progress answerable to others!), but if we're being perfectly honest, it has stemmed from staying up all night going down an historical rabbit hole of research that has led to very little more than a feeling of utter inadequacy.

You know the feeling- it usually involves Pinterest, possibly a spontaneous 2am attempt at "that crafty thing that looked really easy but in retrospect who were you kidding?", and an optional undisclosed amount of red wine, or, if you're me, copious amounts of caffeinated beverages.

In this particular instance it was watching Ruth Goodman getting excited about early 20th century vacuum cleaners on BBC's "Edwardian Farm," and let's be honest, once you've gotten to that point, there's really no turning back.

Before that point, this idea had been brewing in my head for a while.  I have always loved history, and I have always loved sharing it with others, so this seems the logical medium with which to execute this project.

So!  Getting to the point.  What exactly is this great, hazelnut coffee-induced idea?

The Idea:
I am going to determine (by examination of primary sources, etc.) those accomplishments which have been "requisite" for a well-bred lady between approximately the years 1200-1960.

The Goal:
I will then determine certain tasks that would serve as proof of proficiency for each accomplishment and work towards that goal.  While I can think of a few of the top of my head, I hope that you, dear readers, will be able to help me in the formation of this list!

The Time Frame:
Obviously such a project cannot be limited to within a certain time frame (it took ladies years of education to become truly accomplished- and if we're to trust Mr. Darcy, some of them never did!- I am hardly going to do it in less time with twenty odd years to catch up on!), but I will be posting my progress, probably posting and tagging per accomplishment so you may if you wish to look at the progression of just one, you may do so easily.

After deciding upon the accomplishments, a list will be added to this post that you may more adequately browse!

Until then, anon!