"The "Deceased Wife's Sister" controversy was about the potential for triangular desire: two women as potential rivals for one man and one man desiring two women -- who, moreover, are sisters" (Chambers). Religion was particularly important in this situation, as concerns regarding rivalry between sisters go back to biblical times. The authorities saw this problem as one that would negatively affect the cleanliness of the English family and the individuals who were involved in the controversy claimed that the government should be able to impose moral laws upon British citizens.
The relationship between biological sisters was apparently one of the strongest connections from the Victorian era, thus meaning that a disruption would severely affect individuals and British society as a whole. It was customary for sisters to live in the same household during the nineteenth century because there were numerous unmarried women in Britain and because families needed assistance in caring for the house and in assisting children as they grew. The relationship between a man and his sister-in-law gradually came to be associated with incest and raised people's alertness regarding the question of morality in Great Britain.
The family was considered to be the most important thing in the British society and it was thus particularly wrong for someone to attack it through promoting marriages between men and the sisters of their deceased wives. Victorian people considered that passion should not be considered more important than family and that it was thus immoral for the government to accept such relationships. They thus concluded that regulations were needed in order to prevent people from committing terrible sins that could destroy the welfare of their community.
In spite of the fact that it provided people with several liberties that they did not have before, Victorian liberalism was still authoritarian and discriminated underprivileged groups. Women, for example, were denied the right to vote because they were...
Victorian Philosophical Anti-Rationalism -- the anti-practical and anti-Utilitarian philosophy of Newman, Pater, and Arnold The Victorian era in England gave birth to Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian philosophy of social governance, to the scientific philosophy of Darwinism, and to the application of scientific principles to social philosophy in the form of Social Darwinism. Perhaps this scientific and methodical era, an era that oversaw the full flowering of the Industrial Revolution's stress upon machinery
Dr. Jekyll and Victorian Literature England during the reign of Queen Victoria was a very rigid, prudish, and regulated society, very different from the world today. In Victorian England, there were very strict rules which dictated the behavior of the citizenry. Those who wanted to be accepted in proper society were heavily restricted in every aspect of their lives. There were restrictions on alcohol and other substances which lesser individuals might
Victorian era Ireland, Miss Julie depends on effective costumes. Costume designer Consolata Boyle delivers, providing the titular protagonist with the requisite garb of the era. Issues of gender and social class are conveyed through clothing in Miss Julie, as the title character wears rich silks and other gleaming fabrics that denote her social status, Likewise, the colors of Miss Julie's dresses are deep jewel tones befitting her wealth and
Art Nouveau & Modernism The time period following the Victorian era was marked by widespread changes in design, styles, and art in general. Two of the most important movements of the time between 1850 and 1929 are Art Nouveau and Modernism. This essay aims to provide a valuable view of both movements through images and words, in order to enlighten the reader on these two very influential eras. The Art Nouveau movement
Victorian Female Sexuality Victorian Sexuality: George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession and Thomas Hardy's "The Ruined Maid" Women in the Victorian era must have suffered enormously under the massive double standards and the shameful image of a woman who wanted to be on her own. It is clear from examining the literature of the period how much discrimination was placed on women in the era. George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession and
Victorian Poetry We may know an era by its poetry - or at least those eras for which poetry was still important. It might be difficult indeed to draw any conclusions about our own days from poetry because it has become so marginal to the lives and experiences of most 21st-century denizens. But for the Victorians, who still read poetry as if it had ability to change the world, poetry was
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