Conclusion

Abstract

Morrissey concludes the book by illustrating how the domestic occupations studied upset the boundaries between physical and psychological endeavour, and between work and leisure. A better way of conceptualising women’s different daily activities, the chapter argues, is through recognising their shared status as forms of human action. Through this, the chapter reconsiders the relationship between the long eighteenth-century ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres. Since both are arenas for human action, both carry the possibility for self-expression and unanticipated interpersonal consequences, emphasising their essential continuity. Morrissey finishes by acknowledging that human endeavour remains locked in an ongoing struggle against the cultural norms which drain its power for self-realisation.