Suffer and Be Still: Women in the Victorian Age

258 Pages·2013·9.38 MB·English

by  Martha Vicinus (editor)

Routledge Revivals
Suffer and Be Still
First published in 1972, this book contains a collection of ten essays
that document the feminine stereotypes that women fought against,
and only partially erased, a hundred years ago. In an introductory essay,
Martha Vicinus describes the perfect Victorian lady, showing that the
ideal was a combination of sexual innocence, conspicuous consumption
and worship of the family hearth. Indeed, this model in some form was
the ideal of all classes as the perfect lady’s only functions were marriage
and procreation. The text offers a valuable insight into Victorian cul­
ture and society.
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Suffer and Be Still
Women in the Victorian Age
Edited by
Martha Vicinus
First published in 1972
by Methuen & Co. Ltd
This edition first published in 2013 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1972 Indiana University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Publisher’s Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but
points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes
correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.
A Library of Congress record exists under ISBN: 71184524
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-83647-0 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-203-45827-3 (ebk)
a n d
Women in the Victobian Age
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SPtt0&i and SBe SP&fl
W om en in th e V icto r ian A g e
StUCect uitoi/UAa /%/€c*n«4&
A woman’s “highest duty is so often to
suffer and be still.**
— Mrs. Sarah Stickney Ellis (1845)
METHUEN & CO. LTD
First published in 1972 by
Indiana University Press
University Paperback edition first published in 1980 by
Methuen & Co. Ltd
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
© 1972 Indiana University Press
Printed in Great Britain by
J. W. Arrowsmith Ltd, Bristol
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Suffer and be still.—(University paperback; 720).
1. Women—Great Britain—Social conditions
2. Women—Great Britain—History—19th century
I. Vicinus, Martha
30i.4i'2'094i HQ1593
ISBN 0-416-74340-4
Introduction: The Perfect Victorian Lady
Martha Vicinus vii
4: The Victorian Governess: Status Incongruence
in Family and Society M. Jeanne Peterson
3
2: From Dame to Woman: W. S. Gilbert and
Theatrical Transvestism Jane W, Stedman 20
3: Victorian Women and Menstruation
Elaine and English Showalter 38
4: Marriage, Redundancy or Sin: The Painter's View of
Women in the First Twenty-Five Years
of Victoria’s Reign Helene E. Roberts 45
5: A Study of Victorian Prostitution and Venereal Disease
E. M. Sigsworth and T. J. Wyke
77
6: Working-Class Women in Britain, 1890-2914
Peter N. Stearns 100
/: The Debate over Women: Ruskin vs. Mill
Kate Millett 121
8: Stereotypes of Femininity in a Theory of Sexual Evolution
Jill Conway 140
9: Innocent Femina Sensualis in Unconscious Conflict
Peter T. Cominos 155
40: The Women of England in a Century of Social Change,
1815-1914; A Select Bibliography S. Barbara Kanner 173
Notes 207
Index *35