ABSTRACT
The image of the spinster teacher changed during the inter-war period and became increasingly negative; the idea of her as an embittered, thwarted woman with overtones of sexual frustration or deviance developed. This can be seen in the substance and tone of the many attacks which were made on single women teachers by the press, by anti-feminist men teachers and sometimes by the local authorities which employed them. I shall examine the terms of this increased hostility and suggest some reasons for it, and then go on to look at the response made by women teachers to it in the context of inter-war feminism.
