Authors

The present article deals with the issue of how family members, education and instruction they provided influenced the transformation of life strategies of women in France from the middle of the nineteenth century up to the beginning of the twentieth. The research draws upon the primary sources including memoires of Judith Gautier, Louisa Michele, Cora Pearl and Sara Bernard. In the middle of the 19th century the French traditional family underwent several changes caused by the social, culture and economic factors. Even at the beginning of the nineteenth century a woman was considered to be a family keeper, who was always under the control of her husband. She did not have any social rights and a chance to decide her own fate. However, in the middle of the century the situation started changing. A woman became more integrated into society. Family members were trying to educate their daughters, give them necessary skills, financial autonomy. As a result, women became more independent, were able to choose their own life strategy. They started working, could manage property. They had husbands, lovers and children, but the new attitude to life made them free.