Victorian Period Literature- Status of Women
Women in English literature have always found a subservient place akin to that of a second-class citizen. It was more pronounced in the Victorian period when it was believed that marriage was the only possible career for women. They were expected to prepare themselves for courtship, make themselves skillful enough to be liked by men and finally land themselves a good husband. That was the be-all and end-all of their lives. However not everyone subscribed to that viewpoint and some tried to raise a voice against the status of women in the society and how it was contributing to their poor standard of lives and deteriorating lot. Interestingly one such person was Elizabeth Barrett Browning whose ballad "Lord Walter's Wife" was refused publication in 1861 on the grounds that it could lead to public outcry since it talked of man's love for a woman. The person refusing this publication was none other than William Makepeace Thackeray who himself had written more openly about love and passion than Browning could ever be accused of. In his rejection letter, he said:
"…one of the best wives, mothers, and women in the world writes some verses which I feel would be objected to by many of our readers . . . . In your poem, you know, there is an account of unlawful passion felt by a man for a woman, and though you write pure doctrine, and real modesty, and pure ethics, I am sure our readers would make an outcry, and so I have not published this poem." (Barrett Browning, Letters II 444, 77)
Browning was well aware of her poem's...
(Boardman 100-101) There is a clear sense that men and male children in particular were considered precious, and in many ways comparatively much more precious than women and girl children but this is in part because of women as the position of wife was subservient to the position of mother in law. The assurance that one day the wife would hold the household power of the mother in-law was only
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Gender in Poetry / Literature Lesson Lesson Duration mins Rational: This is an introduction to the gender issues which were so prevalent in the Victorian era, and a backdrop to show why they still exist today and the harm they can inflict. Syllabus Outcome: This part of the lesson helps meet outcome 1, or the ability to interpret meanings and themes within texts. By using abstract thinking processes, the students will make connections between
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