Abstract
This research observes and illustrates ways in which British women of the mid- to late-nineteenth century used the occult revival and spiritualist movements of the Victorian period to generate spiritual, physical, and financial autonomy for themselves in a culture that sought to confine middle-class women to the home. Using the stories of women in the occult and spiritualist movements, namely the stories of Georgiana Houghton, Emma Hardinge Britten, and Rosa Campbell Praed, this thesis shows that middle class mediums generated more independence and autonomy for themselves by embracing this new cultural movement through the practice of seance, mediumship, public lecture, and publication, in contrast to their non-occultist and non-spiritualist female counterparts.