Flora Tristan views prostitution in England during the Victorian Period as something like a disease, a “diabolical debauchery” that women were forced into by economic necessity, hunger, and inequality between the genders.

Tristan uses forceful language to express her disgust at the way prostitutes conduct their daily business and are forced to live their lives, as well as the lack of “commiseration for victims of vice” through the church or society. She also blames England’s greed (primarily the growing market economy/ public sphere) and corruption alongside rigid gender expectations. With growing poverty came a need for women to provide for themselves in any way they could. The “love of money” breaking down the young man’s wants for domestic affection or compassion further aggravated treating the women like animals. Overall, Tristan does not blame the women for their profession, saying that they are “driven to” it, placing her ire toward English society.

MarkerPuThomas Hood’s “The Bridge of Sighs” also sympathizes with the prostitute. In the poem, the speaker urges the reader to empathize with the dead body of “one more Unfortunate,” (Hood 1) and recognize her as a human being. It is almost as if Hood is making the reader invision picking up the woman’s dead body from the street, preparing it for a proper burial. This gives the poem a somber tone, yet also an active urge for a change. Hood writes that the woman should be thought of “gently and humanely,” (17) humanizing her by questioning who she was and how she felt while looking for clients.

Hood also mentions gender through domesticity and “home,” specifically in the 7-9^th stanzas. Unlike Tristan, Hood seems to view domesticity as a saving grace for women. Without a home, in the physical and ideal sense, the woman had no ties to humanity or society and nowhere to turn besides prostitution. Tristan seemed more focused on blaming society as a whole— and while Hood does the same, he uses a narrow lens to view sex workers.