Timeline- Millenium Hall

1652-1660: English Republic (Commonwealth)

This is the period after the Second English Civil War and the execution of Charles I. After the execution the Rump Parliament took control. In 1653, the Rump Parliament was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell, an army leader of the New Model Army, who turned England into a military dictatorship. Cromwell was known as the “Lord Protector” and the time of his rule became known as the Protectorate. During this time, England was divided into military districts with a commander in charge of each district. Because military rule was expensive taxes went up. Cromwell was offered the crown, but declined. He did, however, nominate his son Richard to succeed him after his death, but he could not maintain the policies of his father. The Rump Parliament was recalled and the monarchy restored. This period that England was not controlled by the monarchy arose out of the multitude of ideas about how England should be governed.

This time period is significant to Millenium Hall because, according to the notes in the book on the novel, “in seventeenth century England, Puritan republicans saw the millennium as a ‘fifth monarchy,’…and many equated it with the Commonwealth or English republic. Later on, republicans and commonwealthmen were sometimes called ‘fifth monarchy men.’ Thus ‘Millenium Hall’ suggests both a Christian tradition and a political one, except that this ‘fifth monarchy’ is ruled by women.” (27). The women of Millenium Hall try to create a new form of government with their own religious and political traditions.

1673: Makin Essay

Bathsua Makin published an essay in 1673 titled An Essay to Revive the Ancient Education of Women. This essay discusses that educating women better will in turn make them better wives, a sentiment that is shown within Millenium Hall. We see this idea in the novel with the charity that the women employ to educate women and find them husbands within their community. We can also see the idea of further educating women throughout the whole novel, as the women at Millenium Hall are themselves educated on at least some level and aspire to be cultured through literature, music, and art. We can also assume that Scott had this essay in mind while writing her novel due to the fact that Makin helped to educate Scott’s own grandmother.

1748: Friendship with Lady 'Bab' & Bath

After the death of her mother, Sarah Robinson traveled to Bath with Elizabeth Montagu. While on this trip, and before her marriage, Sarah met Lady Barbara Montagu, a woman who would become her best friend throughout life; some even later questioning if the two women weren't actually a couple. This relationship/friendship became something very dear to Sarah and one of the great highlights of her life, as her later marriage to George Lewis Scott was one that ended up being short lived and quite unhappy. Being able to develop such a relationship with another woman, Sarah Scott was sure to realize the type of conversations and authority that women could possibly carry on their own; if not dominated by a patriarchal world. These types of ideas resonate all throughout Millenium Hall, as the women hold positions of authority and are able to operate their daily lives on their own.

1750: Bluestocking Assemblies

Bluestocking feminism was a movement among upper and middle class women that appeared around the middle of the 18th century. Generally, bluestocking feminism sought to address the oppression of women from the viewpoint of the group while remaining interested in economic politics as well. Essentially the Bluestocking ladies sought to further the capitalist agenda while gaining more rights for women within this economic viewpoint. These ideas are largely represented in Millenium Hall as it is, through the perspective of the women, a female utopia. To further align the novel with bluestocking ideologies, the women in the novel are very concerned about “entrepreneurship [and] investment,” two capitalist practices that the bluestocking women applied (Kelly). During their assemblies the women were also interested in becoming well-groomed, so to speak, that is educated and cultured, an aspect that certainly appears among the women at Millenium Hall who all paint or write or read or play an instrument to pass the time. Another connection drawn between the novel and the Bluestocking assemblies themselves arrives through Scott’s own involvement in Bluestocking feminism as well as her sister’s involvement on a much greater level.

1751: Sarah Scott’s marriage to George Lewis Scott

In 1751, Sarah Robinson married George Lewis Scott for only a few months. According the introduction in Millenium Hall, the bond was formed more from mutual inclination and respect than family interest. George was a highly respected mathematician and musician. He was thought to be witty, well-mannered, agreeable in company, and was well known in society. George was well connected at court and was made the sub-preceptor to Prince George, who would become George III. Sarah Robinson was thought to have an interest in politics of the day, which made the pair well suited. After they got married, the couple moved to a house in the neighborhood of Leicester Fields in London. The marriage, however, lasted only a few short months. The reason for the separation is not known, but her family supported her leaving him, which would suggest abuse or an affair on George’s part. According to the introduction, “her brothers persuaded her husband to provide a decent allowance, though this gave him power over her and made her continually anxious as to whether or not he would keep up payments” (21). The couple never actually obtained a divorce because of the laws of the time.

Sarah Scott’s short marriage is significant to Millenium Hall because of its inspiration on her writing involving female communities. Her failure in marriage could be linked to her ideas of marriage displayed in Millenium Hall. The duties she was expected to observe in her marriage could be part of what inspired her writing against such matrimonial duties. Her marriage could have influenced her writing about female communities where the women are not required to follow such duties to marriage.