Flora Tristan argues that many prostitutes were forced into the business because of hunger and lack of wealth; at the end of the day these women needed to do whatever they could to put food on the table and keep themselves from starving.  Tristian even goes to the London streets one evening to observe the prostitutes.  Most of Tristan’s argument implies that men perpetuate the role of the prostitute in this society, because women are treated lower than men, and thus roles like this exist for them.  Tristan also says that “three or four years is the life period of half of the London prostitutes” because they’re made to drink alcohol and live a life deprived of nourishment, proper medicine and medical care, and the normal cares that life would provide for them.  Towards the end of her argument, Tristan says that men are ideally the cause of prostitution, as they destroy family affections, and allow love to take no part in their lives.

Magdalen by Amy Levy supports the arguments that Flora Tristan makes in her article; Levy does not put blame on the prostitute herself, but rather on the man (and society as a whole) that have put her into the position she is in.  The speaker in the poem is speaking to a man, one that has gotten her ill, and reveals at the end of the poem “the doctor says that I shall die. / It may be so, yet what care I? / Endless reposing from the strife, / Death do I trust no more than life” (Levy).  It is here the audience sees the speaker trusts death no more than life; life being one that has let her down and led her to prostitution, a life that has allowed her to become ill with no medical treatment or care to recover.  The viewpoint of the poem as well as the events that unfold and where the blame is placed all point towards Amy Levy agreeing with Flora Tristan—that society is to blame for the position these women are in.

 

“Hints on the Modern Governess System” is an article that sheds negative light on the idea of governesses.  The article takes a satirical tone to it as it discusses the role of women as governesses, and mocks and demeans the behavior of women who pursue that role in society.  The article says that “Many [women] left their quiet homes for the school-rooms of halls and castles…There was no place left for them but that which they had chosen.  Like much else, it looked best from a distance” (569).  This passage reflects on women leaving their place in the home to become governesses in schools or castles, and essentially says that it looked like a good idea at first, but once the women were on the other side, they regretted their decisions and wanted to go back to their old lives.  By saying this, the author is instilling a false sense of fear in the target audience and making a mockery of the women who had chosen this path. Because of the great numbers of women that fled into the governess path of life, there was a large amount of competition—some had to lower their standards and marry below them just to keep food in their stomachs, while others had to take ridiculous deals from families to ensure that they’d be able to keep themselves from hunger.  The article says:

“The policy of the world is to take advantage of want.  It became apparent that a whole family of daughters might be taught by one of these single women, struggling for bread, for less than it formerly cost to send one girl to school” (570).

Employing them for cheaper than the deserved price was an acceptable act during this time period, and one that the article encourages. The article further mocks the role of governess by saying that “The governess must endure all thigs, or perish.  A low marriage or a slow death are her only loopholes of escape” (575).  The author of the article is arguing that women who strive to be a governess are only burying themselves and putting themselves in a horrible position—there’s nothing positive to come out of this line of work, according to the article.

Charlotte Bronte’s portrayal of governesses in “Jane Eyre” argues against the points made in this article—her novel shows the benefits of being a governess and instills the idea that it is a reasonable path to follow for a woman.  Perhaps it is Jane’s personal situation that makes the role of governess more bearable, but nevertheless, the novel emphasizes that Jane makes a life for herself by becoming a governess and escaping the misogynistic pressures of the Reed household where she had been residing.  Jane has carved a sense of freedom for herself in the role of governess; one she could not have obtained if she had stayed with the Reed’s.  It is through Jane’s motivation to become a governess that she obtains her own freedom and independence from the gender stereotypes and crushing patriarchal values of this time period.  Upon receiving a response to her governess advertisement, Jane says:

“this circumstance was satisfactory: a private fear had haunted me, that in thus acting for myself and by my own guidance, I ran the risk of getting into some scrape; and above all things, I wished the result of my endeavors to be respectable…” (154-55).

It is clear in this passage that the stigma of being a governess and risking their lives, essentially, was on the line.  However, Jane takes the job at Thornfield.  The audience gets a taste of what the argument was saying—that women who were governesses had been putting themselves at risk of debt and putting themselves in a bad situation.  However, it is clear that Bronte, at the very least, supports the efforts of Jane and her role as a governess.  If Bronte were against it, she would have written a story where Jane falls into debt and has to marry beneath her, or one which she refuses any governess jobs.

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Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview, 1999. Print.

“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine November 1844: 567-577. Print

 

I came across an interesting topic in Lee Jacksons “The Dictionary of Victorian London”, which spoke of the opinions on abortions during the Victorian era.  The opening sentence states that there is no greater sin than “the destruction of the child while yet in the womb of the mother” (Jackson). Language, such as the word sin, allows the audience to understand that the article takes a religious stand-point on the topic of abortion, and that murder is one of the worst sins you can commit.  The act of abortion is even called murder and infanticide within the opening paragraphs of the piece—two strong words used to describe abortion; both of these words are sharp and invoke certain feelings and connotations with them.  The article uses many other strong word choices to negatively describe the act of abortion: “new-born are put to death”, “condemned to death”, “self-destruction”, and “moral-degradation”.

The article says that abortions are wrong, as they “avoid the cares, the expense, [and] the duty of nursing and tending a child” (Jackson); the accusatory remark only points fingers and attempts to shame women of this time period by arguing that the only reason they abort their children is to avoid the responsibility of having them.  The speaker continues to list various parts of the world and their common reasons for abortion, most of which include deformities in the child, or their mothers dying.  In contrast, it says that the women of Victorian England only had abortions for selfish reasons, like the ones aforementioned.

The majority of the article touches on cases of abortion where mothers had sick children, deformed children, or severe health risks, mentioning quite a few cases of women in New York.  The article itself was originally written and published in America, but was later republished in London.  The very closing of the article says, “and now I leave it with confidence that He who founded this great nation … will not leave it to self-destruction and moral degradation” (Jackson), meaning that the speaker is confident that God, the founder of the nation / world, will not allow such a sinful act like abortion to continue on in this world.

The article does not take a scientific approach to the topic of abortion, and models the views that would have been accurate for the Victorian time period—especially involving a highly religious view on the matter.  The religious view is not only accurate for this time period, but also stands with a lot of people in the current time period.

 

 

“Victorian London – Sex – Abortion – Opinions.” The Conjugal Relationships as Regards Personal Health & Hereditary Well-being. Victorian London Dictionary.  Web. 14 February 2016.

http://www.victorianlondon.org/sex/infanticide.htm

Hey there, my name is Christine Fahnestock, and I am an English Major, with a minor in Creative Writing.  I don’t necessarily have a favorite author; there are so many wonderful people to choose from and it really changes from week to week.  The past week I’ve been reading a lot of Rudy Francisco’s poetry, if that counts. (If I absolutely must choose someone I’ll think wisely and edit this).

James Fordyce’s “Sermons for Young Women” sets an outline of sorts for the sort of behavior that is expected of women, especially during the time period of “Pride and Prejudice”. I’m leaning more towards the fact that “Pride and Prejudice” seems to sort of be mocking texts or ideals such as those spoken about in Fordyce’s piece—Fordyce advises against women being witty beings, and says “let me proceed to warn you against the affectation and the abuse of [wit]” (398).  Fordyce goes on to say that “[Wit] is especially, I think, dreaded in women” (400).

In Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” we see wit embodied and used quite frequently by one of the main characters—Elizabeth.  In several moments of dialogue between herself and Mr. Darcy, her wit shines through.  An early exchange between Elizabeth and Darcy in chapter XI is perhaps one of the best examples of her wit so far.  Elizabeth says “That is failing indeed! …. Implacable resentment is a shade in a character.  But you have chosen your fault well.—I really cannot laugh at it.  You are safe from me” (91) in response to Darcy discussing his faults, saying that they’re not funny.  Elizabeth’s retort to Darcy’s dialogue is full of wit and irony

It’s the aforementioned language and wit that Elizabeth uses that Fordyce argues against in “Sermons for Young Women”—language like that is believed to cause dread and bad images against women.  In conclusion, I do in fact believe that “Pride and Prejudice” is sort of mocking the ideas that Fordyce argues for.