Victorian women (original) (raw)

The New Woman in embryo: Masculine women in Victorian Novels

2019

In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft defined the term "Masculine woman" as "the imitation of manly virtues, or (more accurately) the achieving of the talents and virtues that ennoble the human character and raise females in the scale of animal being when they are brought under the comprehensive label 'mankind'" (33). 102 years later, in 1894, Sarah Grand coined the term "New Woman" as the term for a woman liberated from oppressive Victorian standards, who "does not in the least intend to sacrifice the privileges she enjoys…especially of the kind which man seems to think she must aspire to as so much more desirable" (273). In that century between those two terms, there is a history of women fighting for the necessary reforms that would allow them equal freedoms to their male counterparts. In this paper, I will examine three novels-Wuthering Heights, Daniel Deronda, and Jude the Obscure-in the context of Victorian society and women's issues at the time, highlighting how the struggles faced by the heroines in each novel are congruent with the silent struggles of women at the time. Each of these novels features

Gender in Victorian Popular Fiction, Art, and Culture

<1>Issues of gender are at the heart of popular culture studies. To offer just one of many examples, the extent to which heroines such as Joss Whedon's Buffy Summers and Stephanie Meyer's Bella Swan can be seen as role models for young women, and the type of message they may be conveying to their viewers and readers, continues to generate much critical interest (see Jarvis, Levine and Parks). More recently, shows like Transparent (which, at the time of writing, has won numerous awards) have led to much discussion in the popular press about the representation of trans people in the media and what they might teach viewers (both trans and cis). This suggests that discussions about the depiction of gender in popular culture, and how it may influence the public conception of gender, will only continue to become more complex and pressing. <2>These issues were equally pertinent in the nineteenth century. As Walter Besant argues, popular fiction "may be considered as a great educational power. As dealing with different aspects of life, it teaches the nature of the world we live in" (49). This statement is a defense of sensation novels, which, as it was published in M. E. Braddon's own periodical, Belgravia, is hardly free from bias, but it does illustrate a key point: popular fiction educates. Through its choice of subject matter, characterization, narrative voice and plots-particularly endings that seem to reward or punish certain types of behavior-popular fiction can teach its readers about what is and is not acceptable, admirable, and to be aspired to. Popular fiction can also affect readers' opinions on matters of genre, class, race, age, and of course gender. This is true of many genres, not only popular ones, but Victorian reviewers were often most critical of the moral (as well as the literary) quality of popular fiction (as demonstrated in Brooke Fortune's article on Newgate fiction), and so its ability to influence its readers became a cause for concern, especially because popular fiction was popular-read by large numbers of people from different levels and corners of society, numbers so large, and groups so disparate, that their reading, and responses to that reading, could not be effectively controlled or monitored. While

The Sources of Feminism in the Works of Victorian Writers

2020

THE SOURCES OF FEMINIS M IN THE WORKS OF VICTORIAN WRITERS Verovkina O. Ye., Nesteruk S. M. 1. Women's fight for independence and new tendencies in Victorian literature To begin with, it should be pointed out, that before studying the subject of our research, it is necessary to make an investigation of the period and society, in which its people lived, their way of life, traditions and laws in order to pave the way for a study of the Victorian writers' works. So, in this chapter the historical, social and economic backgrounds of the Victorian age will be reviewed, so that to analyze the ways in which these might have influenced the content of literary works of this time. According to Blackwell the reign of Queen Victoria, after whom the period between 1837 to 1901 has been referred to the Victorian Era, was a landmark period in the history of Great Britain 1. This era was marked by country's acquiring new social functions, which were caused by new industrial conditions and rapid population growth. As for personal development, it was built on self-discipline and self-confidence, supported by Wesleyan and Evangelical movements 2 .

An Overview of Feminism in the Victorian Period

This paper examines the concept of the “New-Woman” in Victorian literature in all genres written by men and women.The “New-Woman” was also referred to at this time as the “Woman Question”.In this paper the “New- Woman”, the “ Woman Question” and feminism are interchangeable. This write-up handles four issues: the problem faced by the Victorian woman, events, legislation and publications crucial to Victorian feminism, Queen Victorian and feminism and lastly the Victorian writer and the “Woman Question”.The Victorian writer wrote essays, novels, plays and poems.Using the feminist critical theory, the paper argues that the predominant theme in Victorian literature was the presentation of the “New- Woman”.The paper reveals that the “Woman Question” was so preoccupying that no writer could avoid it during the Victorian period and that feminism really or essentially started during the Victorian period when women were given or got remarkable improvements in their lives.

Masculinity and the New Imperialism: Rewriting Manhood in Victorian Popular Literature, 1870-1914

2014

It funhers the University's mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education. learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/978no7o66o76 Masculinity and the N cw Imperialism: Rewriting Manhood in British Popular Literature, 1870-1914 / Bradley Deane. pages cm -(Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ; 91} Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-r-107-06607-6 (Hardback) I. English literature-19th century-History and criticism. 2. English literature-20th cencury-History and criticism. 3. Masculinity in literature. 4. Imp~rialism in literature. I. Title. PR468.M38043 2014 820.9 1 3521-dc23 2014002056 ISBN 978-1-107-06607-6 Hardback

Gender Studies and Eighteenth-Century British Literature

Literature Compass, 2007

A chronological sketch of the kinds of questions and methods characteristic of recent work in eighteenth-century gender studies, drawing on representative book-length studies as examples. It compares the histories and purposes of Women's Studies, Feminist Studies and Gender Studies, and concentrates on critical work dealing with early novels.

Victorian Women in Literature

CEPOS, 2017

Abstract Many authors began to write about the sufferings and endurances of women in the Victorian Age. More and more novels focused heavily on traditional, typical Victorian female characters and their interactions. As to the movement for the emancipation of woman from the unjust burdens and disabilities to which the five authors made it a subject to reveal the benign qualities of woman, Hardy, Thackeray, Gaskell, Trollope and George Eliot also focused the condition of woman, besides Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters – with a remarkable account of the social institutions of Victorian London. This does not mean that those novelists held feminist ideas, they simply he wanted to give woman her feminine privileges and rights. This study aims to explore most important Victorian writers who wrote about woman to seek the accuracy of Victorian views towards women. Charles Dickens was a pioneer in dealing with the kind of woman that was identified in that era. We also include Thomas Hardy and Charlotte Brontë who had different ideas in this point

CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD IN 19TH CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE

The role of women in the society is constantly questioned, and for centuries, women have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male-oriented. Literature provides a window to the lives, thoughts, and actions of women during certain period of times in a fictitious form. In most of the English novels, the female characters appear as more heroic figures than their male counterparts. This paper focuses on the novels of 19th century England. For the discussion, it choses Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre, Lucie Mannette in a A Tale of Two Cities and Tess D’Urberville in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, as they belong to the group of the most powerful women characters who possess all the heroic qualities like courage, virtue, honesty and strong sense of individuality. The paper argues that they are not only successful in playing their traditional roles as daughters, wives or mothers, but also successful as individuals, retaining their identity under extreme pressure of patriarchic society.