Step into the elegant but precarious world of the Dashwood sisters in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The rational Elinor and the impetuous Marianne share a sisterly bond that endures despite all outside challenges.

Sisterhood was a key theme in many of Jane Austen’s best-loved novels from the close relationship of Lizzy and Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice to the difficult relationship between the Elliot sisters in Persuasion.

So how does literature reflect reality and Jane’s own lifelong intimacy with her sister Cassandra?

Elizabeth Gaskell may not have known sisterhood in her personal life, but she explored it through her novels including the ‘Amazons’ of Cranford – a neighbourhood of women maintaining social respectability with wit, courage and tea.

From the gentle Miss Matty and her formidable sister Deborah to the wider sisterhood of their community, Elizabeth Gaskell portrayed the intricacies of female friendship.

She looked at sisterhood again in Wives and Daughters with the complex stepsister dynamic of Molly Gibson and Cynthia Kirkpatrick. Does their contrasting character deepen their sisterly bond?

So, how does sisterhood define these two classic women writers? And is it a bond that endures for readers today?

Part of Jane Austen’s House Spring Fling! Festival and Elizabeth Gaskell’s House Short Stories – Cranford season

Sunday 3 May, 8-9pm