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Gender roles in the late 19th century
How are women portrayed through literature
Gender roles in the late 19th century
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Depictions of Beauty in the Victorian Era Missing Works Cited "What is beauty anyway? There's no such thing." (Pablo Picasso) The Victorians' obsession with physical appearance has been well documented by scholars. This was a society in which one's clothing was an immediate indication of what one did for a living (and by extension, one's station in life). It was a world, as John Reed puts it, "where things were as they seemed" (312). So it is not surprising to find that the Victorians also placed great faith in bodily appearance. To the Victorians, a face and figure could reveal the inner thoughts and emotions of the individual as reliably as clothing indicated his occupation. There is abundant evidence of the pervasiveness of this belief in the literature of the period. According to Reed, "Victorian literature abounds with expressions of faith in physiognomy" (336). He quotes a passage from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre to prove the point: "Jane Eyre, for example, trusts her initial perception of Rochester, whose brow 'showed a solid enough mass of intellectual organs, but an abrupt deficiency where the suave sign of benevolence should have risen'" (146; ch. 14, Reed 336). In the Victorian novel, physical appearance was a primary means of characterization (Lefkovitz 1). A hero or heroine's beauty (or lack thereof) was probably the most important aspect of his or character. As Lefkovitz points out, beauty is always culturally defined. How then, did the Victorians define it? For women, that definition is a strange mixture of ideals. The Victorians admired both the strong, hearty, statuesque lady (modeled on Queen Victoria herself) and the weak, fainting beauty, who Lefkovitz uses the French word mourante to define: "dying, languishing, expiring, fainting, fading" (36). The former type was most popular in the first half of the century, according to Federico: A woman's body in the first decade of the century was . . . under considerable scrutiny, and the ideal against which she was measured was tall and statuesque, stately, elegant, refined . . . nothing is considered so outre [excessive] as a slender waist, while the en bon point is the ne plus ultra [utmost point; meaning a towering, powerful-looking woman] of feminine proportions. (30) Many writers embraced this strong, sculpted, large-bodied female type, if only to use her as a comparison to the more delicate beauty that became popular later. According to Lefkovitz, the two conventions meet (and clash) in George Eliot's Adam Bede: "Bessy Cranage .
Victorian Fashion refers to the styles and clothing worn before and during the Civil War era of the United States, 1860-1900. This era was filled with a very difficult way of dressing oneself and to deviate from this line of dress was unheard of, and worthy of being outcaste. Victorian women’s clothing was layers, heavy, and barely manageable to even wear. Many different articles made up the full garment such as the undergarments, the skirt, top, shoes, accessories, and even the hair. How did women ready themselves for the day in this era and how did they deal with all the cumbersome attire?
This novel was one of the most radical books of the Victorian Era. It portrayed women as equals to men. It showed that it was possible that men could even be worse than women, through John and Jane. It taught the Victorians never to judge a book by its cover. The novel would not be as successful were it not for Charlotte Brontë’s talent in writing, and were it not for the literary devices employed.
In order to discern between the Victorian and Romantic themes, Bronte selects certain characters to portray the perfect stereotype of each theme. Mademoiselle Celine Varens is the model of the Romantic attitude. Varens a “French opera-dancer” found herself as the “grande passion” of Mr. Rochester. The amour between Rochester and Varens started in a “complete establishment of servants, a carriage, cashmere, diamonds, dentells, etc.” and ended with Rochester “finding her out” with another man. Varens’ irrationality did not only affect Rochester, but also her child: “she abandoned her child and ran away with a musician or singer.” Celine Varens, a woman in a daring profession, led a life of passion, freedom and irresponsibility. Her life was ballad of adventure idolized by Romantics but frowned upon by society. Mrs. Reed is the perfect representative of Victorian realism. She had all the visual attributes found in a Victorian styled lady. She possessed gentry as the mistress of Gateshead Hall and her material wealth was made obvious by the luxuries found in her home –“a bed supported on massive pillows of mahogany, hung with curtains of damask”—and in her children “in their Muslim frocks and scarlet sashes.” Besides wealth and gentility, Mrs. Reed also maintained Victorian characteristics of insularity and censoriousness.
In the opening paragraph of her article "Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation," Phyllis Trible says that the task she has set before herself, that of relating the words of Hebrew Scripture to the ideology of the Women's Liberation Movement, is considered by many to be "impossible and ill-advised." (Trible, "Depatriarchalizing," 30) Some would suggest, she supposes, that "[t]he two phenomena have nothing to say to each other." (Ibid.) She then quotes Kate Millet expressing one of the more radical views of feminism: that much of the body of scripture in question was written with the express intent of turning the female gender into scapegoats for the ills of the world.
This essay has recognised the way in which Bronte's romantic Gothic novel Jane Eyre portrays the supernatural, paranormal happenings and imagery throughout the story. It is important to recognise that her portrayal of Jane as a passionate woman with a strength of feeling which matched that of a man would have been seen as shocking and abnormal to Victorian sensitivity. Whilst Charles Dickens was able to paint a picture of blank facades which hid unsuspecting depths within, it would have been a revelation to Victorian readers to delve into the female psyche and its supernatural representations. (Branflinger and Thesing, 309) Thus Bronte created a masterpiece which has stood the test of time being relevant to the nature and supernatural of the modern world.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
The lavish way of life these women exhibited was outwardly apparent in the fashions of the time . Noble class women were adorned in ornate dresses, extravagant jewels, and the finest accessories. The best way to describe the look of upper class women in Victorian England is to say that she looked like a porcelain doll .
In her poem, “Lady Lazarus,” Sylvia Plath uses dark imagery, disturbing diction, and allusions to shameful historical happenings to create a unique and morbid tone that reflects the necessity of life and death. Although the imagery and diction and allusions are all dark and dreary, it seems that the speaker’s attitude towards death is positive. The speaker longs for death, and despises the fact the she is continually raised up out of it.
When used correctly, satire has the ability to capture an audience and persuade their beliefs and ideas. In “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift does just this. Through his use of rhetorical appeals, Swift is able to present an idea, shock his audience, and convey both his argument and purpose of the piece. While Swift is not serious about eating Ireland’s children, he is serious about addressing Ireland’s problems. The poverty, famine, and way of life in Ireland are all clearly addressed. Swift does achieve his purpose of motivating his audience to create change and establish his argument that change needs to occur, in his piece, “A Modest Proposal.
Victorian women lived according to strict social conventions, which dictated their actions, emotions, and beliefs. These conventions were often presented in antithetical pairs: private versus public spheres, the angel in the house versus the fallen woman. One of the most complex paradoxes for women to master was that of beauty versus vanity. Society’s rules required a young lady to be attractive, but not provocative; diligent about her appearance, but not overly so; aware of her beauty, and simultaneously unconscious of it. Balancing these meticulous distinctions, then, became an almost unattainable feat, but a crucial one, as success or failure directly translated into a woman’s moral status. In Adam Bede, George Eliot contrasts the idealized preacher Dinah with the fallible dairymaid Hetty by illustrating two very different examples of feminine beauty. Eliot directly addresses the complicated understanding of “moral” Victorian beauty through her physical presentation of these women and their actions throughout the story.
Jonathan Swift's story, Gulliver's Travels, is a very clever story. It recounts the fictitious journey of a fictitious man named Lemuel Gulliver, and his travels to the fantasy lands of Lilliput, Brobdinag, Laputa, and Houyhnhmn land. When one first reads his accounts in each of these lands, one may believe that they are reading humorous accounts of fairy-tale-like lands that are intended to amuse children. When one reads this story in the light of it being a satire, the stories are still humorous, but one realizes that Swift was making a public statement about the affairs of England and of the human race as a whole.
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer who suffered from depression. The death of her father, when she was only eight years old, was what triggered her depression. And because of that, most of her work revolve around the death of her father and her attempts of suicide. In her poem Lady Lazarus is about her attempts of suicide and how she feels about death. This theme of death and suicide can also be seen in the poems Daddy, which is about her deceased father, and Edge which is about a person who is about to commit suicide. Sylvia plath´s poetry centrally tends to discuss suicide and death as the main subject, which can be exemplified by the poem Lady Lazarus.
In the novel ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, Jane shows self-confidence throughout the novel by having a sense of self-worth, and a trust in God and her morals. Jane develops her self confidence through the capacity to learn and the relationships she experiences. Although an oppressed orphan, Jane is not totally with confidence, she believes in what is right and shows passion and spirit at an early age. Helen and Miss Temple equips Jane with education and Christians values that she takes on throughout her life. Jane later also blossoms in self confidence under Mr. Rochester’s love and her family, the Rivers and newly discovered wealth. Bronte uses dialogue and 1st person narration to give an insight of the characters for the reader to see what the characters are saying and suggest what they are really thinking, and it shows Jane’s self-confidence growing in every stage of her life.
In conclusion, Plath’s style of writing is respectable. She has a way with words that makes her poems flow very smoothly. Plath has written over four hundred poems. Instead of her poems relating to one topic, each stanza she writes discusses a different topic. For instance, in one of her poems, it talks about her father’s death and she somehow related her father’s death to the Holocaust. She did not bring any actual historical evidence or background to her poems, she just implies by her word usage. Her death was tragic; so much so that it was listed on a website titled “Disturbing Literary Deaths,” and described her death in a very straightforward manner. “Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) American Poet- Stuck head in a kitchen oven” (Alternative Reel). Plath was a great woman and deserved a better ending to her life than what it resulted.
The definition of beauty is varying among different people in the world. Even though almost everyone knows the term beauty, many people are struggling in defining it and persuading others to agree with their opinions. Beauty is defined by a combination of qualities existent in a person or thing that fulfills the aesthetic feels or brings about profound gratification. Many people define beauty as a term to describe a person’s physical appearance; they often think that beauty comes from magazines, video girls, or even models. Although the term beauty can define a person’s physical appearance, true beauty lies in the way one acts and thinks rather than the way one look.