Women in Victorian times:Angels or Whores?

1. Women in Victorian times:Angels or Whores? Rhiannon, Fatimah, Kiran and Apreetha

2. Summary Despite there being different social classes, women were primarily categorised into two groups: Angels and Whores. Angels: lower middle class to nobility. Whores: prostitute to working class. Double standard: men were allowed to carry many faces in public whereas women could only be classified as an angel or a whore.

3. No grey area: The thin line between an angel and a whore made it so the ‘angels’ could easily fall in status to be whores. No grey area: The thin line between an angel and a whore made it so the ‘angels’ could easily fall in status to be whores. Fallen Women: committed adultery/engaged in premarital sexual activity Spinsters: unnatural, barren and selfish EXPECTATIONS: Whores (working class women): • strong-willed, courageous, outspoken • display sexual behaviour • drinking in public • several lovers Angels (higher class): • timid, delicate, submissive • stays in the household • dedication and loyalty to husband

4. QUEEN VICTORIA: Queen Victoria was a contradiction to the typical ‘Angel in the house’ persona; rather than being an idle housewife, she also engaged in public affairs and worked to manage the public. She was the archetype of the 19th Century Victorian woman: • loyal to husband, mourned his death (as was expected of the Angels) • lead the nation and was a motherly figure to the public • obstinacy and confidence Hence she was a fusion of both stereotypes of Victorian women.

5. LITERARY PORTRAYALS OF ANGELS AND WHORES (IN GENERAL): Attempts to build sympathy for Victorian prostitutes by portraying a glimpse of their lifestyles to other women, failed as they resulted in an even wider gap between the angels and whores. Whereas these whores were often purposely juxtaposed against ‘heavenly employers’ to highlight their inferiority in society, making it more difficult for working class women to gain equality with the more ‘superior’ women.

6. Modern Representation of Women In the 21st Century, there is still the idea of women as housewives and mothers or on the other hand they feel like they need to sexualise themselves to get attention. In music videos they are exploited and objectified as objects of sexual pleasure. This gives women and young girls a negative self esteem as they compare themselves to models they are shown and look up to.

7. Women in Leadership Even though women are working now and more politically powerful than before, it is still rare to have powerful women leaders. There is a narrow range of representations and they aren’t as diversely represented as men.Women are not likely to be objects of leading stories.We still live in a world that appears to be made up of a majority of male voices movers and shakers.

8. Modern Representation of Women: Magazines “The girl in the magazine doesn’t look like the girl in the magazine” Women in the media are distorted and we are shown a false imagery of what real women actually are. Women According to magazines, women need to present a sexualised expression of their bodies, or have no expression at all. Magazines tell us that women are always in crisis, falling apart and on the brink. The only successes women have are weight loss and having a baby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYFmdlzff98&NR=1

9. Representation of women in Great Expectations Miss Havisham, Estella and Biddy. Miss Havisham demonstrates the Victorian woman’s social obligation to get married when still young. Dickens suggests that in the Victorian era, once women reach a certain age, they are no longer considered desirable and will therefore most likely never marry. This in itself depicts how Victorian women were seen as objects whose main purpose was to bear children and please men.

10. Estella, although explicitly cold-hearted and insensitive, is seen as a ‘perfect woman’ by many men because of her good looks. Drummle and Pip both fall for her looks and ignore her cold heartedness. Towards the end of the novel, we learn that during Estella’s marriage to Drummle, he abused her which shows that he didn’t truly care for her. This shows how women were viewed as objects and were seen as more of a social accessory for men. In contrast, although Biddy is not represented as a particularly attractive, she is seen as more of an ‘angel’ because of her kindness and moral values. However we learn that her kindness isn’t enough for Pip, who falls in love with Estella who shows no love for him and soon marries someone else. The fact Pip chooses Estella over Biddy (who cares for him deeply) suggests again that women were judged by their looks, and that they were more of an accessory than a partner.

11. Representation of women in Heart of Darkness • often depicts women as the more pure and gentle aspects of human nature. • belief that women live in ideal world and should be protected from such ‘darkness’ “It's queer, how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there has never been anything like it, and never can be. It is too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset.''“the women… are out of it- should be out of it. We must help them stay in that beautiful world of their own lest ours get worse.” • Kurtz’s African mistress and his intended are shown as being representative of a woman's great capacity for love and faithfulness. “she seemed as though she would remember and mourn [Kurtz] forever”

12. Even though the ‘intended’ speaks to Marlow, her real name is never revealed. By lacking an identity, Conrad dehumanized women, as opposed to Marlow and Kurtz, whose names give them a strong masculine identity. The ‘intended’ could be a symbol - to have a plan or purpose. • After Kurtz’s death, Marlow reveals women are dissatisfying and inferior. “My dear aunt’s endeavors to nurse up my strength seemed altogether beside the mark. It was not my strength that wanted nursing, it was my imagination” • Aunt had great influence and with her efforts was able to get Marlow a job • Account of Kurtz’ mistress by Marlow - stripped of those civilized cultural codes of femininity, then objectified solely as typical sexual object from which empowered men may gawk at. “wild and gorgeous apparition of a women”