ipl-logo

Sex In The Victorian Era

811 Words4 Pages

The destruction of the mystery of sex has caused that this activity provides less pleasure for modern people. The Victorians did not boast about the sexual experience. Mary is not entirely innocent, she is a peasant. The Victorians are seen as prudish, because of the middle class. A true view of their behaviour, culture can be found in the reports of people who studied it. In this time, premarital sex was something usual, women were getting married when they were pregnant, in order to have somebody who would help to earn money. Families were living in bad conditions, they were often crammed together while sleeping. For this reason, the incest was normal. The first author who tried to write about the sex in the Victorian era was Thomas Hardy. …show more content…

The novel was written in the 20th century, so it is not a Victorian novel. However, the main plot and the style of writing remind those of Victorian era. What is more, none of the authors from the 19th century would venture to produce the story of this type. Above all, the Victorians seem to be very religious people – they are building a lot of churches, nevertheless, one in six houses is a brothel in London. Moreover, the public figures claim that women have to remain chaste until marriage, but they take part in the scandals that contradict what they are telling. The author highlights the hypocrisy of people living in Victorian times by usage of the irony. Fowles emphasises that the ideology of their era had an influence on the Victorians' decisions and knowledge about themselves. Furthermore, the narrator uses the Victorians' history to make a distinction between present and past. The readers have a possibility to consider how contemporary ideas and beliefs shape their own presumptions about the past. The author comments on how the interpretation of different conventions can change depending on the point of view. Fowles claims that the sense of duty was one of the most important part of Victorians' life. In this era, people were morally obliged to act in a specific way. Nevertheless, the society determines these obligations. The author suggests that the Victorian sexuality did not differ from contemporary sexuality. What is more, he acknowledges the difference in sexual norms, however, frequently it had an irresistible impact on

Show More
Related
1209 Words | 5 Pages

The end of the eighteenth - beginning of the nineteenth century England was characterized by the downfall of the revolutionary “Jacobin” movement which advocated for freedom and equality, and symbolizes a return to, as well as an empowerment of the conservative British patriarchal system. This was the context in which Amelia Anderson Opie wrote “her most political novel”(King and Pierce, viii) Adeline Mowbray, a tale which provides a case study about, as Roxane Eberle notes, “progressive ideas that heterosexual relationships can and should exist outside of marriage”(1994: 127). As a result the clash between these innovational type of relationships and the English legal and social norms collide in their representation of models of proper conduct for women. Although Opie’s fiction is roughly known or read nowadays, her writing technique made her be considered one of the representative women authors of that period.

Read More
981 Words | 4 Pages

The Victorian Era is known for a pious, sexless society where women were considered inferior. While strides have been taken, there is still an inherent bias against sexually liberated women. This shame is still relevant to society today because of its abuse by those in power. Day by day, political scandals involving sexual assault and rape are being revealed on the news. This is only indicative of the willingness of the elite to abuse those working under them- especially young naive women.

Read More
1963 Words | 8 Pages

In the 1600’s, there were strict guidelines to how a person should behave. In this time period, it was the man’s job to provide for his family; which is not quite different from today’s views of what a man should do. Men were thought of as powerful masculine beings, who defended honor. When it came to marriage, men owned everything their wife had and after the marriage.

Read More
1592 Words | 7 Pages

Children's Literature is everlastingly framed by variable ideologies; this represented the standards and values of a didactic society in the nineteenth century, which was controlled transcendently by the church. Enforcing religious perspectives on the idealistic family life, gender roles were compulsory in respectability, and a woman's place was inside the home. The nineteenth century was an extremely confusing time, with its firm Victorian qualities, class limits, industrialism and expansionism. It was the time when society was a male dominated society in which women were controlled by the male figures in the society.

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

Craft examines the usual roles of the Victorian men and women, passive women especially, requiring them to “suffer and be still”. The men of this time were higher up on the important ladder of that era. Craft believes the men are the “doers” or active ones in

Read More
1830 Words | 8 Pages

Ceara Cavalieri HIST107H Waddington Puritan Sexuality in the 17th Century The typical stereotype of a Puritan is widely described as religious extremists whom held strong beliefs against sexual pleasure in its entirety, causing them to be sexually oppressed. Although there have been instances of deviancy being punished for sexual acts, for the most part these acts received lighter sentencing than their laws were said to uphold. This is due to the Puritan ideology that man is flawed and deserves forgiveness. Puritan sexuality was extremely complex—more than many realize.

Read More
1010 Words | 5 Pages

Society and literature have presented constant concepts throughout all texts, notably, individual desire has been a universal standard through which love and social expectation can be explored. However, whilst this is a universal theme, differing contexts can produce new explorations and perceptions of classical beliefs, reinforcing distinctive qualities within texts. Notably, Elizabeth Barret Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese challenged literary and societal standards of the Victorian era, whilst Scott. F. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby similarly challenges the extravagance and cultural devaluation of the ‘roaring 20s’.

Read More
858 Words | 4 Pages

One of the many characteristic features of the Victorian culture was its patriarchal ideas about women. This culture looked upon sexual activity as a negative matter amongst women. The theme of sexuality is very significant

Read More
149 Words | 1 Pages

During the Victorian era, the nineteenth century, sexuality was being repressed in European countries such as in Britain under Queen Victoria's direct rule. This repression could be seen in matters such as self-pleasure. " Masturbation was deemed an unacceptable outlet," for a man's sexual urges (Oakes 545). The way that the Victorian male would manage his urges was by participating in physical tasks instead of in the bedroom. American culture, as a result, in the second half of the nineteenth century rebelled against these traditional rules of the Victorian era.

Read More
968 Words | 4 Pages

The series focuses on sexuality, gender, and social through the eyes of Miss Astley and her self-discovery as a young woman in 19th Century London. The Victorian era was the beginning of women questioning the patriarchal standards of society. Women were oppressed, and confined to the house. Society expected women to have children, raise them and run the household while the husband had opportunities to work and to even make something of themselves in society by working their way up. The working class women had the

Read More
188 Words | 1 Pages

The Victorian Era was the period of Queen Victoria‘s reign (1837-1901). It was an exciting period in which many relevant figures appeared such as artistic styles and literary schools. Moreover, it was a complex age where the importance in the imperial expansion road and political reform marked prosperity at this time. It was a time where it was reintroduced the importance of the good manners and the protocol, among women. By this time women were considered to be the inferior sex with no rights, all of her properties and offspring were possessions of the father to her or her husband.

Read More
933 Words | 4 Pages

Charlotte Brontë´s novel Jane Eyre is considered one of Britain´s most classical literary work. The story consists of a hybrid of three genres, the Gothic novel, the Romance novel and the Bildungsroman and many critics have praised the novel. Though, the novel got a great deal of good criticism in contemporary time, its immediate reception was controversial. The story plays out during the Victorian period in Britain where the social norms were strict and there was a big gap of equality between the genders. This essay will analyse how the gender roles are portrayed and if they are modern or traditional.

Read More
1429 Words | 6 Pages

Another important idea in the Victorian era is the slow recognition of sexual repression and the start of liberation that opened up better opportunity for women to express themselves. Back then, women were seen as the weaker, more innocent sex who had little or no sexual desires. It was difficult for women to gain social status as equal to men. This character is portrayed by the

Read More
2008 Words | 9 Pages

This is mirrored in the French Lieutenants Woman as there is a significant difference in how women and men view sex and how they are expected to engage or refrain from engaging in it. In light of this, it is difficult for a modern day reader to imagine certain aspects of this gendered attitude towards sex. The norms and conventions of the society in which the novels are set is also very interesting when considering the societal divisions between novels. The fact that in The French Lieutenants Woman, Fowles questions key Victorian principles and social conformities leads the reader to believe that the novel is mostly postmodernist however, the novel also encounters a Victorian farm girl who disregards social convention and the Victorian notion of womanhood and this affirms that the novel is also historical.

Read More
1438 Words | 6 Pages

• The education of Victorian Women with Reference to the

Read More

More about Sex In The Victorian Era

Related Topics

Open Document