ABSTRACT
How did women writers negotiate the demands of the celebrity news media that emerged at the end of the nineteenth century? In what ways did the publication of time-sensitive celebrity news in newspapers and periodicals affect the sorts of domestic arrangements, sexual identities, and professional opportunities women could pursue? In this essay, I address these questions by examining a selection of celebrity features published in newspapers and periodicals at the end of the nineteenth century. Of course gallery portraits, court circulars, and profiles of famous writers were a staple of periodical print culture throughout the century; however, it wasn’t until the 1870s that celebrity news became a ubiquitous feature of the popular press.Six-penny weekly newspapers founded in the 1870s, such as the World (1874-1922) and the Whitehall Review (1876-1912), included gossip pages, interviews, illustrations, and other features designed to provide intimate knowledge of the lives of Victorian celebrities.
