In Victorian England, people were told they should discourage their wives from reading because it would lead them into all sorts of devilish wickedness.
— Marion Bailey
Georgian England was very radical; there were all these new revolutionary ideas, and I think women had more freedom than they did later on.
It's more acceptable for guys to get old and craggy and become wonderful character actors as they get older, but women aren't allowed to get old and craggy in the same way.