Domestic Violence in Victorian England
“Wife beating” was a prominent occurrence in Victorian times. It is socially acceptable and may be seen as a characteristic of the lower classes, but “wife beating” is prevalent in all classes. In William Montagu’s social investigation Round London: Down East and Up West, he tells of women in the hospital: “Sometimes as many as twelve or fourteen women may be seen seated in the receiving-room, waiting for their bruised and bleeding faces and bodies to be attended to […] In nine cases out of ten the injuries have been inflicted by brutal and perhaps drunken husbands” (Montagu). Many incidents of domestic violence in Victorian times are influenced by alcohol. But “wife beating” is present in all classes, not just the lower classes as Montagu portrays. Caroline Norton, a Victorian author in mid nineteenth century England, commonly writes of her husbands continuous “wife-beating.” Her husband being a member of parliament is obviously not lower class. Yet she writes of his “physical violence” towards her and how the servants restrain him from “inflicting serious damage” (Norton 1). Sir Pitt also beats his wife also even though he is considered upper class.
The article “Spousal Abuse” discusses that Victorian perception of religion, domestic principles, and laws allows men to justify “wife-beating.” Domestic violence during Victorian times is mainly attributed to the idea that the man is the ruler in all worlds. The man’s responsibility of being a protector is the main idea in contributing to domestic violence.
In the area of religion the “emphasis of religious based subordination suggested that, for a woman to be virtuous and serve God, she must follow the lead of her husband […] this gave men the impression that they had a God given right to control their wives, even if this mean through the use of physical correction” (Nolte 1). Due to the fact that religion is claimed to be an important Victorian ideal, men believe that for women to lead a virtuous life, she must follow the wishes of her husband. Even if these wishes allow her to be beat.
Domestic principles of Victorian England also promoted the dominance of men. The husband was the supreme being in the house and it was “a husband’s duty to protect his wife […] this authority also allowed for him to use violence, if necessary, in order to keep her in line” (Nolte 3). Caroline Norton gave evidence of this when she disagreed with her husband upon the actions of another lady.
Ulrich shows a progression of change in the way that women’s sexuality was viewed in New England. First, she starts with a society that depended on “external rather internal controls” and where many New Englanders responded more to shame than guilt (Ulrich 96). The courts were used to punish sexual misconducts such as adultery with fines, whippings, or sometimes even death. There were certain behaviors that “respectable” women were expected to follow and “sexual misbehavior” resulted in a serious decline of a woman’s reputation from even just one neighbor calling her names such as whore or bawd (Ulrich 97-98). Because the love between a man and his wife was compared to the bond between Christ and the Church, female modesty was an important ideal. “Within marriage, sexual attraction promoted consort; outside marriage, it led to heinous sins” (Ulrich 108). This modesty was expected to be upheld even as death approached and is seen with the example of Mary Mansfield in 1681. Ulrich describes Mary to have five neck cloths tucked into her bosom and eleven caps covering her hair. “A good wife was to be physically attractive…but she was not to expose her beauty to every eye”. Hence, even as she died, Mary was required to conceal her sexuality and beauty. However, at the end of the seventeenth century and throughout the
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
Prior to the twentieth century, men assigned and defined women’s roles. Although all women were effected by men determining women’s behavior, largely middle class women suffered. Men perpetrated an ideological prison that subjected and silenced women. This ideology, called the Cult of True Womanhood, legitimized the victimization of women. The Cult of Domesticity and the Cult of Purity were the central tenets of the Cult of True Womanhood. Laboring under the seeming benevolence of the Cult of Domesticity, women were imprisoned in the home or private sphere, a servant tending to the needs of the family. Furthermore, the Cult of Purity obliged women to remain virtuous and pure even in marriage, with their comportment continuing to be one of modesty. Religious piety and submission were beliefs that were more peripheral components of the ideology, yet both were borne of and a part of the ideology of True Womanhood. These were the means that men used to insure the passivity and docility of women. Religion would pacify any desires that could cause a deviation from these set standards, while submission implied a vulnerability and dependence on the patriarchal head (Welter 373-377).
The early, twentieth century was not a positive time for females and marital relationships. As depicted through countless novels, there were two main female roles in society and neither created much opportunity for females. Whether a woman was a humble housewife or a mysterious mistress, there was controversy in every aspect of both roles. These roles also placed females in oppressive relationships that almost always decreased the qualities of honesty and loyalty that are necessary in relationships. From the beginning of the twentieth century all the way up until now, the treatment of females thrust into these roles has caused controversy and problems in countless marriage and all throughout our society.
On a personal note, in researching a paper on marriage and divorce a few semesters ago, I found that in the early Victorian era (1935-1901), a woman entering marriage had almost no rights. All her property automatically became her husband's. Even if she had her own land, her husband received the income from it. A husband had the right to lock up his wife. If he beat her, she had no legal redress. The law mostly removed itself from marital relations. Married women were put into the same category as lunatics, idiots, outlaws and children, and treated as such.
It was the research of Dobash and Dobash, a husband and wife team from Wales, that first posited that “intimate partner violence is the result of male oppression of women within a patriarchal system in which men are the primary perpetrators and women the primary victims” (McPhail, B. A., Busch, N. B., Kulkarni, S., & Rice, G., 2007). According to Lawson (2012), feminist theories treat the problem of intimate partner violence as fundamentally related to the patriarchal domination of men over women. Historically, patriarchy was the dominant social structure from early Greek and Roman civilizations where women were considered to be the property of their father, if unmarried, and their husband if married. As such, women were often beaten, burned, and killed for not being obedient to a man’s
Historically, legal and social traditions in the United States have permitted and supported the abuse of women and children by the male head of household. This historical phenomenon helps explain why women are the primary victims of domestic violence. In this country, civil rights and legal responsibilities were first granted to free, property-owning men. Wives, children, and slaves were considered "chattel" or personal property of male citizens who were held responsible for their public behavior.
Balls, formal dinners, and social gatherings dominate people’s view of the nineteenth century. Upper-class women lived a life of splendor and grandeur, and the white, gentle hands of those women hardly lifted to do any work. Most would strive to attain such a life because of its outward appearance; however, masked behind the smiles and parties, suppression ran high. Men dominated their households, and they repressed their wives. Life did not live up to the expectation of many women as they struggled against the controlling and authoritative male figures in their lives.
During the Victorian Age, 1830-1901, society had firm opinions on how they believed women should behave. The opinions, however, changed and varied a great deal over the span of the 71 years that made up the Victorian period. Towards the beginning of that era women were seen as the fairer sex, and the majority of their early lives were spent preparing for marriage. Over the course of the Victorian era, however, society made many different social, political, and economic changes, as well as witnessed the creation of many new gadgets. As society evolved throughout the Victorian era to be more advanced, it also became more aware of the need to treat women as equals in regards to rights, jobs, pastimes, and opinions. An example of inequality that women faced during that time was when men would keep up the appearance of being in a loving family, meanwhile they would be cheating on their wives and betraying their families (Frost 196). As Horrible as husbands cheating on their wives was, that was not what was seen as the issue at that time. The part of cheating during that era that bugged society was that if a woman committed the same trespass and was unfaithful in a marriage she would be publicly shamed (Frost 196). It is because of this injustice to women, and the many other examples of inequality that they faced that during the Victorian era, that the English wished to reform marriage. They felt that the structure of marriage was unfair to the females involved. By the end of the era, there had been a significant amount of ground laid towards female equality. The literary works The Lady of Shalott and The Goblin Market address and respond to the conflicts and roles of women as they changed over the course of the Victorian era. Both p...
Two hundred years ago, during the reign of Queen Victoria in England, the social barriers of the Victorian class system firmly defined the roles of women. The families of Victorian England were divided into four distinct classes: the Nobility or Gentry Class, the Middle Class, the Upper Working Class, and lastly, the Lower Working class . The women of these classes each had their own traditional responsibilities. The specifics of each woman’s role were varied by the status of her family. Women were expected to adhere to the appropriate conventions according to their place in the social order . For women in Victorian England their lives were regulated by these rules and regulations, which stressed obedience, loyalty, and respect.
But in reality, a male narrator gives a certain sense of understanding to the male audience and society’s understand of the male and females roles and responsibilities in a marriage. Just as men were expected to cut the grass, take out the trash, pay the bills and maintain the household as a whole, women were expected to cook, clean, nurture the children, and be a loving and submissive wife to their husband. The only stipulation required for this exchange of power was to establish a mutual love. In the Victorian age love was all it took for a man to take or alter a woman’s livelihood and
The scold’s bridal was an instrument of power in order to control the woman and enforce the submission of her. But the necessity of such a device might also illustrate the fear of men that the existing patriarchal order was threatened. Why did its popularity grow during the seventeenth century, especially in English towns such as
The 19th century was a time of male dominance more extreme than has been seen ever since. Dew portrays the woman as a weak and dependent creature that needs to be protected by "the shield of woman", Man. Therefore, she is to be confined to a sphere of her own: Home. This reflects two of the cardinal characteristics of True Womanhood (as defined by men, of course), the ideal woman of this period. Those are submissiveness and domesticity. It was widely believed that women were created inferior to men, and should therefore be commanded "within the domestic circle".
One of the main reasons why men need sovereignty over men is to have “Freedom to do as we please” (112). Many husbands with their wives have to have the ability to do whatever they want instead of them being bossed around their husband doing this and doing that. In the Canterbury Tales
Throughout the early 1800s, British women most often were relegated to a subordinate role in society by their institutionalized obligations, laws, and the more powerfully entrenched males. In that time, a young woman’s role was close to a life of servitude and slavery. Women were often controlled by the men in their lives, whether it was a father, brother or the eventual husband. Marriage during this time was often a gamble; one could either be in it for the right reasons, such as love, or for the wrong reasons, such as advancing social status. In 19th century Britain, laws were enacted to further suppress women and reflected the societal belief that women were supposed to do two things: marry and have children.