Introduction - Women in Victorian Literature

This blog is a collection of writings, commentary, examples, insights, analysis, and my own personal ponderings of how women are portrayed and analyzed in literature of the Victorian period.

The required scholarly introduction is divided among numerous literary works that I have analyzed, while the Bibliography is found at the very bottom of the page of entries, as well as a list of the works of literature I have referenced in the various entries.

Where needed, important female characters are explained before analysis of the writings.

To read the different sections, select a category above.

Why do I care?

"Gender consciousness was central to Victorian England's Political scene in a number of significant ways.  At the beginning of the Victorian period, middle-class women were shut out of most remunerative employments and institutions of higher education, could not vote, and had few legal rights.  By the end of the century, the situation did not, on the surface, look radically different - universal female suffrage, for example, was not achieved in Britain until 1928 - but several key developments heralded the changes to come in the twentieth century." (Arnold XLIX).

Looking back at where femininity started gives a framework with which to see how the culture has progressed or how it has remained unchanged.  Knowing the history of a people helps us identify with and understand why they are who they have become.

Has the idolization of women disappeared or remained unchanged?
Is there really a changed set of expectations placed upon women?
Are there more or less opportunities for women in our world today?
How does the insight into Victorian society changed your view of current society?

Annotated Bibliography

• Armstrong, Nancy, and Leonard Tennenhouse, eds. The Ideology of Conduct: essays on literature and the history of sexuality. New York: Methuen, 1987.
• Here we read various different perspectives on the roles of women in literature. There are many different issues brought up by these articles – women in the home, sexuality, manners, and expectations.
• Arnold, M. (2012). The Buried Life. In J. Black, L. Conolly, K. Flint, I. Grundy, D. LePan, R. Liuzza, et al. (Eds.), The Broadview Anthology of British Literature (2 ed., Vol. 5, pp. 456-457). Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.
• This poem illustrates the need for women of the nineteenth century to show their true personalities and exemplify what they can do. I found this poem to be very motivating for Victorian women, because it was written by a man to give women a boost towards action.
• Arnold, M. (2012). The Victorian Era In J. Black, L. Conolly, K. Flint, I. Grundy, D. LePan, R. Liuzza, et al. (Eds.), The Broadview Anthology of British Literature (2 ed., Vol. 5, pp. XLIX). Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.
• This anthology has a great introduction to the Victorian era which gave me a great springboard to understanding the time-period so that my analysis had a better framework.
• Braddon, M. E. (2012). Lady Audley's Secret (Oxford World's Classics ed.). New York, New York: Oxford University Press.
• A novel centered around a woman and her decisions. Her actions drive each character and influences how they react towards her. The main female character is really useful when studying Victorian class-system advancement and the roles of women in that time. Arguments about madness can be made from this story.
• Bronte, C. (1997). Jane Eyre (Signet Classics 3 ed.). New York City: Penguin Books.
• Another story where the protagonist is a woman. Like Lady Audley’s Secret, this story centers around a woman in the Victorian era. The influence of men in this story is interesting, though the heroine firmly maintains her character and does not change because of their influence.
• Bronte, E. (1995). Wuthering Heights (Signet Classics ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books.
• This is a very interesting look into character development. The situations and characters are so isolated from the rest of society that the reader cannot compare them to real scenarios and must, therefore, take what the author presents and dissect it to find out what each character represents.
• Browning, R. (2012). A Woman's Last Word. In G. Editors (Ed.), The Broadview Anthology of British Literature (2 ed., Vol. 5, pp. 325-326). Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.
• A male perspective on women of the Victorian era. This short poem illustrates how love, or the striving for power, drives a woman’s actions towards the men in her life.
• Collins, W. (1973). The Woman in White. New York: Oxford University Press.
• I wanted to balance my analysis with both male and female authors. Wilkie Collins has a lot of female characters, and none of them are the same. Many stereotypical characteristics of Victorian women are exemplified in the main characters. Women’s roles are addressed in how the men and women interact.
• Dickens, C. (1991). A Christmas Carol (Dover Thrift ed.). New York, New York: Dover Publications.
• Though the protagonist is male, I wanted to use this story because of Scrooge’s interactions with women. How he treats them, as well as how they react, is what I wanted to take a closer look at.
• Dickens, C. (2011). A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books.
• More than just a view at the interactions of class, this story shows various types of women. Each woman character is unique and each shows a different perspective on how men view women.
• Dickens, C. (2008). Great Expectations (Penguin Classics ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books.
• The female characters in this story are very harsh and revengeful, which is quite a change as compared with the other authors I chose to include. Men’s actions are what drive each of these women to act and be the way they are.
• Dickens Studies Annual, 15(1986).
• Because I used three different Dickens stories, I wanted to find some studies on his writing style and how he chose the personalities of the female characters. This particular collection covered Great Expectations in great detail. There are a lot of feminist debates in a few of the articles, which helped me to solidify what was expected of women in the nineteenth century.
• Gaskell, E. (1996). North and South. New York: Penguin Books.
• This book is very indicative of Victorian problems. Because it is set around a factory and the working conditions that many people in the nineteenth century endured, this story was a great source in studying female personality and expectations.
• Gaskell, E. (2005). Wives and Daughters. New York City: Barnes & Noble Books.
• Elizabeth Gaskell is a good source to follow when delving into relationship and societal commentary. She does a great job of portraying various types of women from close class circles. Her writing style gives a realistic view of women during the nineteenth century.
• Keats, J. (n.d.). La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Retrieved October 4, 2012, from English History: http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/labelledamesansmerci.html
• Stepping away from analyzing novels, Keat’s poem treats the woman as a mystical creature; something unrecognizable and unreachable. This aspect is a little different from the other commentary.
• Poovey, Mary. Uneven Developments: the Ideological Work of Gender in mid-Victorian England. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
• This book covers various topics about women and women’s roles. Topics discussed include divorce, societal expectations and roles, as well as duties of a woman in Victorian England.
• Shires, Linda M. ed. Rewriting the Victorians: Theory, History and the Politics of Gender. London and New York: Routledge, 1992.
• This article was really helpful in my understanding of the Victorian class system and the power associated with those of certain classes; or the lack thereof. I learned a great deal about the cultural and historical points of the society and how gender roles fit into it.
• Tennyson, A. L. (2012). Morte d'Arthur. In G. Editors (Ed.), The Broadview Anthology of British Literature (2 ed., Vol. 5, pp. 185-189). Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.
• Tennyson’s poems Morte d’Arthur and The Lady of Shalott take British culture and history back to the renaissance and ancient view. Looking at how the Victorian writers portrayed women of another time-period allows the reader to see the societal stereotypes much easier.
• Tennyson, A. L. (2012). The Lady of Shalott. In G. Editors (Ed.), The Broadview Anthology of British Literature (2 ed., Vol. 5, pp. 179-181). Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.
• In contrast to Morte d’Arthur, this poem is all about a woman. Her frustrations and struggles are very evident. How she deals with them are quite in-your-face. This story is about her.
• Thackeray, W. M. (2003). Vanity Fair. New York City: Barnes & Noble Books.
• This novel is written by a man and uses his perspective of a woman, climbing the social ladder and leaving her unwanted life behind. Similar to Lady Audley’s Secret this story has intrigue and crime.
• Warhol, Robyn R. Gendered Interventions: Narrative Discourse in the Victorian Novel. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1990.
• I got a great insight into feminist arguments as presented by Warhol. Gender roles are discussed and debated. This source got me thinking about what I was going to write about and discuss in this project, especially with Great Expectations.

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