Victorian Female Sexuality

female sexuality which is suggestive of a ‘sex-negative culture;’ many women were afraid or unaware of their sex and the denial that ‘women possess sexual feelings’ was commonplace in the Victorian period. This resulted in many women never being able to express their sexual desires through fear that this was unnatural, unfeminine and disgraceful. However, the other end of the spectrum shows the reaction to women that did not contain themselves, through the diagnosis of conditions such as ‘nymphomania’ which was the ‘uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire’ of a woman. There seemed no middle ground; either a woman was sexually passive and therefore respected, or she expressed her sexuality and was then cast out of society as a deviant

In 1859 Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published, which discussed evolutionary biology and became a popular and well known reference and point of discussion due to the unintentional application of his theories to the progressive nature of Victorian Britain. However, Max Nordau then published a book in 1895 suggesting theories of degeneration and devolution that provided a catalyst for social and economic fears and anxieties regarding the future. These factors had the combination of creating fear of the unknown other, whilst simultaneously developing a curiosity and keen interest that was exploited within literature and art, as the subject matter was highly topical and relevant. In relation to fear of the unknown, ‘Freud suggested that realistic anxiety deals with a known danger whereas neurotic anxiety copes with what is yet to be discovered (“neurotic anxiety is anxiety about an unknown danger”); in this sense, he argued...entire cultures could be said to be neurotic.’ This source exemplifies how the New Woman figure became so controversial, as the ‘sexual anarchy’ she was causing ‘by heightening sexual consciousness, candour and expressiveness’ was new to Victorian culture, and therefore the future impact on society could not be predicted, and so was feared. Due to her rebellion against traditionally upheld beliefs, the New Woman became associated with the theory of degeneracy which only increased the negative image of this modern