ABSTRACT
Charlotte Shaw, E. Nesbit Bland, and Beatrice Webb present three variations of paradoxical behavior: each professed one set of views about the nature of women and behaved according to another. Charlotte Shaw was the most clearly feminist of the three. After her introduction to advanced ideas on the subject, Charlotte became concerned with expanding women’s opportunities through access to the vote, to administrative and political positions, and to professional training. According to Sidney Webb there was no “woman question,” women were merely undereducated, underorganized, somewhat less productive, and more prone to absenteeism. If women remained in the home, raising children, the race would be stronger and they themselves happier. Since the Fabian Society’s overall response to the “woman question” was in the final analysis most congruent with the views of Sidney Webb, Beatrice’s failure was a significant one. Yet what was true of the Webbs was also true of the Blands and Shaws.
