Spinster still has a chance to be married." Yet other sources on terms describing a never-married woman indicate that the term applies to a woman as soon as she is of legal age or age of majority (see bachelorette, single). The title "spinster" has been embraced by feminists like Sheila Jeffreys, whose book "The Spinster and Her Enemies" (1985) defines spinsters simply as women who have chosen to reject sexual relationships with men. In her 2015 book, "Spinster, Making a Life of One's Own," Kate Bolick has written, "To me, the spinster is self-reliant and inscrutable. We think we know what
Spinster family caretaker for their family of origin or for a married sibling's children, "poor relations" who would work "to earn their keep" as nannies or unpaid domestics. For example, being a governess was the fate expected by rejected titular orphan in Charlotte Brontë's novel "Jane Eyre" (1847); Eyre retained that status until the man she loved was widowed and available. A common theme in the fiction writings of author/poet Sandra Cisneros is marital disillusionment; for example. in the poem "Old Maids" (1994). In the Charles Dickens' classic "Great Expectations", the primary antagonist is Miss Havisham, a spinster embittered by being