Domestic Ideology and the Theory of Separate Spheres was a big topic amongst Victorians and Modernists of Mid 19th to 20th century. Women and men were meant to fulfill different roles in society and out of the two genders, women were more restricted on what was considered “acceptable behavior” while men had much greater freedom. A person’s image in society was highly valued because anything that distracted from the pleasure of society was frowned upon. Meaning if someone deviated from the societal norm, they weren’t accepted among the majority in society. Oscar Wilde touched on this idea in his work, The importance of Being Earnest. Wilde’s character, Lady Bracknell, follows society’s norms like one would follow their religion. Lady Bracknell valued her image and social standing over her and her daughter, Gwendolyn’s, happiness. However, Gwendolyn doesn’t feel the need to follow all of society’s norms like her mother does because when told she is perfect she responded by saying, “Oh! I hope not that. It would leave no room for development, and I intend to develop in many directions” (Greenblatt p.830). Developing in many different directions deviated from the role of a women; women were meant to be perfect and pure. “Women were shy, weak and emotional compared to men. She was supposed to be pure and quiet…The concept of the ideal women was extremely important. She was pure and clean” (Gender Roles of Victorian Era for Men and Women).

 

The ideal women can be seen in the work of Coventry Patmore’s, The Angel in the House, and in John Ruskin’s, Of Queen’s Gardens. Patmore describes women as “an object to be worshiped” (Greenblatt p.654), reinforcing the idea that women are meant to be pure and not rise over men because they are an “object” and objects can’t rise over men. In Of Queen’s Gardens, Ruskin further supports this idea statin how women should be; “…wise, not that she may set herself above her husband, but that she may never fail from his side…” (Greenblatt p.662). Women were educated/coached at a young age on how to look and act (Gender Roles in the 19th Century), because women were discouraged to be unmarried. To be considered marriageable, women needed to be graceful and act in a feminine manner. When women chose to follow intellectual paths, the term ‘blue-stocking’ was used. Blue-stocking is a well-educated women who spends her time studying and learning and therefore is not approved of by some men and can be considered unmarriable because they are going against men’s ‘natural’ intellectual superiority (Gender Roles in the 19th Century). In fact, “some doctors reported that too much study actually had a damaging effect on the ovaries, turning attractive young women into dried-up prunes. Later in the century, when Oxford and Cambridge opened their doors to women, many families refused to let their clever daughters attend for fear that they would make themselves unmarriageable” (Gender Roles in the 19th Century).

 

The separate spheres for men and women of the time were very black and white; there was no shade range between the two colors or in this case genders. Women were meant to stick to their lane and so were men. Authors of the time wrote about this in different ways. Many referred back to religion and myths in order to romanticize their work or give the sense of greater power. When authors talk about old gods or religion in their works, it gives the message that ‘oh, it’s always been this way like its set-in stone’ or ‘This message is coming from a higher power, so it must be followed’. Patmore described women to be an Angel in, The Angel in the House. He praised women and complimented them in this piece of work and I’m sure many women liked the praise and the idea that they were pure and wanted to live up to the praise. Algernon Charles Swinburne’s, Hymn to Proserpine, is about the speaker’s conflict between following the old gods and the Christian God because he had more freedom when worshiping the old gods in comparison with the Christian god. The Church had a fierce control on society. Queen Victoria was ‘divinely chosen’ to rule and she believed gods will was for women to be submissive. To read more on the Church during this time period, click the link below:

http://victorian-era.org/victorian-religion-of-christianity.html

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Work Cited:

• “Gender Roles in the 19th Century.” The British Library, The British Library, 13 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century.

• “Gender Roles of Victorian Era for Men and Women.” Victorian Era Life in England. Victorians Society & Daily Life, victorian-era.org/gender-roles-of-victorian-era.html.

• Greenblatt, Stephen, and Catherine Robson. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 10th ed., E, W.W. Norton, 2018.

• “Victorian Religion of Christianity.” Victorian Era Life in England. Victorians Society & Daily Life, victorian-era.org/victorian-religion-of-christianity.html.

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