The status of Women in the Victorian society

cultură – societate – educaţie

Victor PopescuScoala Gimnaziala Nicolae Iorga, Iasi22 feb. 2023

The status of women in the Victorian society

author : Victor Popescu

               This article epitomises the ideology about womanhood in a conservative and puritanical XIX th century British society.
        In the Victorian age ( 1837 – 1901 ), woman's place was truly in the home – the sphere wherein she ruled supreme: the man's that of the wide world where the whole scope of human endeavour was open to him. In his own lectures on the separate roles of man and woman: “ of King's Treasuries ' and “ Of Queen's Gardens “ ( 1864 ), Ruskin likens the woman's sphere to a walled garden or a hothouse; and points out that it is only within these protective confines that intrinsic female qualities might flourish, and woman exercise her special gifts as ideal daughter, wife and mother. This orthodoxy, based on the recognition that the complementary roles of husband and wife should be strictly observed, was frequently celebrated in art .
The idea of the home as a sanctuary, and as a sort of moral laboratory for the next generation, is crucial to our understanding of the Victorian mores. The popular moralist, Samuel Smiles, called the home “ a training ground for young immortals, a sanctuary for the heart, a refuge from storms, a sweet resting place after labour, a consolation in sorrow, a pride in success, and a joy at all time.
The moral theme of the home was the responsibility of the wife and mother.
Mrs. S.C. Hall, wife of the proprietor of the Art Journal, defined the primary duty of womankind as the care of future generations. “ The strength and glory of England are in the keeping of the wives and mothers of its men “, she wrote; it is within the English home, woman's special domain, where “ our heroes – statesmen – philosophers – men of letters – men of genius are shaped. “
By the Victorian era, the concept of “ pater familias “ , meaning the husband as head of the household and moral leader of his family, was firmly entrenched in British culture. A wife's proper role was to love, honour and obey her husband, as her marriage vows stated. A wife's place in the family hierarchy was secondary to her husband, but far from being considered unimportant, a wife's duties to tend to her husband and properly raise her children were considered crucial cornerstones of social stability by the Victorians. Women seen as falling short of society's expectations were believed to be deserving of harsh criticism.
Mrs. Hall was averse to the Women's Rights' movement which she described as “ pregnant with incalculable danger “, believing that the displacement of women “ from their proper sphere would not only convulse, but shatter the fabric of the society “.
The ideal Victorian woman was pure, chaste, refined, and modest. This ideal was supported by etiquette and manners. The etiquette extended to the pretension of never acknowledging the use of undergarments (indeed, they were sometimes generically referred to as "unmentionables"). The discussion of such a topic, it was feared, would gravitate towards unhealthy attention on anatomical details. As one Victorian lady expressed it: "[those] are not things, my dear, that we speak of; indeed, we try not even to think of them" .
Woman thus provided an exact complement to the man, exerting a silent and unseen moral influence which was capable of “ purifying his heart, and heightening the tone of his aspirations “. Such notions were by no means confined to the more conservative elements in society. Frederick Harrison, liberal lawyer and committed positivist, was another who paid tribute to the essential function of woman: that of the “ purifying, spiritualizing, and humanizing of society” through the moral influence which she exerted over husband and family. Successful career women like Arabella Kenealy, who was a qualified physician, were generally agreed that the well-being of society depended on the majority of women retaining a domestic role. Dr Kenealy defined the feminine influence as a kind of atmosphere, “ a species aura, magnetic charm, nerve essence, call its impalpable and subtle existence by what name you will - … it is a womanly potency imparting rest and infinite refreshment... With it her mere presence is a charm, greater than cleverness, more potent than speech, a stronger influence for purity and noble aim than is to be found in philosophies or creeds. “
Those inbred qualities – psychological as well as physical – for which women were most cherished and valued were precisely those which unfitted them for public life. The comparative physical weakness of women was self-evident, and a corresponding mental weakness was also assumed. Traditionally, women had been regarded as, by nature, emotional and instinctive rather than rational and intellectual, and modern scientific research was called on to support this. Sir James Paget, a leading physician whose patients included Queen Victoria, approvingly quoted J.C.Lavater's belief that : “ The most rational women are little, if at all, capable of thinking. “ ; and in a detailed examination of The Real Differecens between in the Minds of Men and Women, one anthropologist concluded that a woman educated to the utmost of her capacity could not reason on an equal level with an uneducated man.
   Some psychologists argued that evolution had been restricted in women in order to conserve energies for childbirth; others that the mental capacity of women was in inverse relation to fertility.
Artists not only painted subjects which upheld the orthodox view of a woman's place, but also attempted to suggest something of the spiritual aura to which Dr. Kenealy refers as the hallmark of woman's nature; belief in which was central to the mystique which had built up around her.
Motherhood was regarded as sacred. The pure love between mother and child held an almost mystical place in the gamut of Victorian emotions ; the most universal and civilizing of all feelings and influences. James Grant called it the strongest human instinct in every human being, from the savage to the sage; so that “ The most untutored African regards his mother with as pure and ardent an affection as ever burned in the breast of Sir Isac Newton. George Henry Lewes, who lived with the less than maternal George Eliot for many years – nevertheless insisted that “ The grand function of woman...is, and ever must be, Maternity. “ This he regarded “ not only as her distinctive characteristic, and most endearing charm, but as a high and holy office. “
Through her moral influence, the mother supplied the bedrock of family life, and ultimately of society itself. Any threat to this from the cause for women's emancipation was bad enough; but the more immediate effects of an immoral wife and mother were incalculable. Samuel Smiles commended a “ shrewd “ man for dismissing his intended wife after discovering her at home with her hair untidy and her dress unpinned – omens of much worse faults. A similar unwomanly carelessness is indicated in one of Charles West Cope's pair of contrasting Mothers – the one “ who is ever watchful over the physical and moral welfare of her children”, and the one who, “ addicted to French novels, and whose household is in confusion, “ neglects her duties.
Women were not freely offered the opportunity to study subjects of an extended, classical, and commercial nature. This made it difficult for a woman to break free from the societal constraints to achieve independent economical status. Education was specialised by gender. Women were provided with the opportunity to study refined subjects such as History, Geography and general literature which would provide them with interesting but noncontroversial topics for discussion. Despite the restrictions and stigmatisation, some women did excel in "male" subjects such as Law, Physics, Engineering, Science and Art. These women pioneered the path for the much improved gender equality in modern education in the UK. Women were rarely given the opportunity to attend university. It was even said that studying was against their nature and could make them ill. They were to stay more or less an " ornament of society “.

Well done!

Alexandra Naghi acum 1307 zile

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