Gender

Developing An Understanding

~ n02565783 ~ Leave a comment

Flora Tristan believes that prostitution, though it can be physically deadly to women, killing them usually in three to four years (eight if they’re lucky), definitely kills their soul.

It is the oppression of women, forced to constrain to the social acceptance of what men want, that leads women into the life of prostitution. They are required to choose an oppressed life as a wife with an unbreakable marriage or be a social reject in which the only way to make money is to use the only property given in this world: their own bodies.

Tristan then discusses the economical distress many women are forced into purely because of their gender, with male heirs receiving most inheritance, while “girls have only small dowries unless they have no brothers”(2 Tristan). This is another reason she offers as to why women would be forced into the occupation. Poverty and hunger are also key players in Tristan’s understanding for why women would enter into prostitution.

After discussing her beliefs for possible cause of prostitutes, Flora continues on to describe her own experience at a tavern on Waterloo Road where many women converged with pimps and customers, her shock and disbelief at the “revolting” occurrences amongst the aristocrats that visit such places and the “diabolical debauchery” forced onto the women, such as their dresses becoming covered in random stains (4 Tristan).

Thomas Hood has a sympathetic attitude throughout his poem “The Bridge of Sighs” towards the prostitute that kills herself in the poem, throwing herself into the Thames River; a very common death amongst the prostitutes of London. Throughout the poem he speaks of the woman with tender words, “Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care”, repeated in lines 5-6 and 80-81 for emphasis. He treats the woman with the respect she was not given in her life, “loving, not loathing” (14). He wants to make us aware of her pain and suffering, to not dismiss her as she was in life, “Picture it—think of it, Dissolute Man! Lave in it, drink of it,”, Hood forces us to pay her that attention, painting for us the image of her dripping wet, with blindly staring eyes (76-78).

In the fifth stanza, we are able to surmise her life occupation, discussing her “rash and undutiful” acts that are “past all dishonour” (23-24). Instead, in her death, she is free of all of those ugly acts, leaving behind nothing but her young beauty, taken too soon. The last stanza also references “Her evil behaviour” that she leaves behind by entering the afterlife (104).

I think the poem represents the struggle of prostitution from the women’s perspective better than Flora Tristan tries to in her article because her opinion remains too strong throughout her account. Though she is trying to come to an understanding in a world she herself is not apart of, her opinion of the “horrible” situation remains, showing her true feelings though she is trying to bypass her prejudice opinions, comprehending how these women could possibly find themselves in this situation, willing to give so much of themselves for only money. Hood however treats the poor woman with a tender care, her life’s actions having no affect on his opinion. Before line 67 he discusses her standing in the March wind before the flowing river, trembling not from fear of death but merely the cold, “Mad from life’s history, Glad to death’s mystery,” (67-68). We get an insight into her mind, her desperation but at the same time her acceptance in what her life was and the happiness to be rid of it. There’s no undertone of disgust in Hood’s poem, as there is throughout Tristan piece, though she does attempt to understand the act of prostitution in a way hood bypasses, focusing entirely on the woman herself and forgoing the sinful acts in her life.

It is not the act of prostitution, however, that causes the woman to kill herself, at least not entirely. If I’m reading the poem correctly on line 52 “Love, by harsh evidence,” means she has become pregnant such as the harsh evidence pregnancy would provide, though it could also be some sort of disease I guess. You could say it was a man’s fault for her death, but I do not think the poem is intentionally blaming men, not in the way Tristan does throughout her critique.

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and the Victorian Position of Governess

~ Rachel W. ~ Leave a comment

The position of governess in Victorian society is an awkward one. The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” views the governess system as problematic for both governesses and the families they serve. The author writes:

Whether it be right or wrong, as a general rule, for mothers to delegate their most sacred trust to hired strangers, we are not here to discuss. The fact exists. Is the system carried out fairly for all parties? Is there any question astir as to its abuse? Philanthropic eyes are scanning many social evils. (570)

The author is particularly concerned with the plight of the governess. They are concerned that governesses are not paid enough, that they are not viewed as an equal to the mother of the children they govern, that they must deal with rambunctious and insolent children, and that they are going insane and living in asylums–a fact that is misleading, since, as the editor notes, many governesses without families and between positions would stay in asylums because it was a cheap and somewhat respectable place to stay (“Hints on the Modern Governess System” 571).

However good the author’s intentions may be, they come off as slightly patronizing when this article is juxtaposed with the text of Jane Eyre.  While the author believes that being a governess is mentally exhausting for a governess must deal with child intellect all day:

Hour after hour she has bent down her mind, and raised the children’s to given points, which, however interesting, are exhausting. A young thing, perhaps, still herself, ready to spring up again at one kindly touch. Do not even fond mothers, who teach their own children, feel that after the labors of the day they need some interchange of mind? (573)

this opinion is never expressed in Jane Eyre by Jane or any other character. On the contrary, Jane is very fond of teaching and caring for Adele. After Mr. Rochester speaks of Adele’s unfortunate and disgraceful family situation, Jane defends the orphan, “I have a regard for her, and now that I know she is, in a sense, parentless — forsaken by her mother and disowned by you, sir, — I shall cling closer to her than before” (Brontë 218).  Jane’s affection for Adele isn’t based solely on the orphan connection. Jane is fond of Adele’s character: “Still she [Adele] had her merits; and I was disposed to appreciate all that was good in her to the utmost” (218).

The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” takes issue with the lower class distinction that a governess holds. The author believes that there is no “greater anomaly than that which makes a woman responsible for children, and their exemplar in all things, whose mother treats her as if she were unfit to associate herself and her guests” (571). Brontë portrays this negative and classist view of governesses in Victorian society in the scenes where Mr. Rochester’s guests mock Jane right in front of her face. In one instance, Blanche Ingram says:

You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi – were they not mama? (254)

However, Brontë is making the case for governesses as being equals to their employers, as Mr. Rochester insists that Jane continue to be present when his guests are over (259). In this regard, the author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” and the author of Jane Eyre are in agreement.

Works Cited

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

“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine. 1844. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. 567-577. Print.

Cross-Dressing: A Desirable Crime!

~ n02714729 ~ 1 Comment

In Lee Jackson’s Victorian Dictionary, I researched accounts of cross-dressing women and found that many of these women were often “found out” in lawful investigations following the conviction of a separate crime. The first article I read was written for a newly published magazine at the time (though the source did not indicate which), and it tells of a woman who called herself Bill Chapman, who caused a disturbance at a bar after being complained of by many others for being a “cheat and imposter” (1). The article, entitled, “HATTON GARDEN. EXTRAORDINARY CASE- A MAN-WOMAN,” tells of Chapman’s alternative lifestyle of smoking cigars, wearing men’s hats and trousers, and traveling with another woman, who is her wife. The investigator’s comment,”She may be a disorderly and disreputable character, which, in fact, her dressing as a man clearly shows, but I know of no law to punish her for wearing male attire” (1) clearly depicts a common attitude towards the great misunderstanding of transgender people at the time. This claim also identifies with the words used to describe Chapman, referring to her a “creature” and using the pronoun “it.” Chapman reasoned her dress as “owning to the cruelty of her father-in-law” (1).
Another account from “The Penny Illustrated Paper,” discussed a woman who disguised herself as a man so she could make more money. Her in initial crime was “annoying the landlady of a lodging house…by creating a disturbance and threatening to beat another woman…whom she had been living with as husband” (4). In spite of the crime, this article heavily focuses on the fact that she is a woman in man’s clothing. In fact, the heading of the article is “A WOMAN FOR SIX YEARS IN MAN’S CLOTHES” (4). This seems that the lore to get people’s attention to read the article is more so by pointing out her “oddity” rather than her crime, then again, how else can one expect Victorian society to react?

It wasn’t until recently that cross-dressing became socially acceptable on the surface of society, so I found these accounts to be quite interesting, especially when considering the different reasons as to why women cross-dressed. Was it for women’s rights? or was it an expression of their sexuality?

Works Cited

“Hutton Garden. Extraordinary Case-A Man-Woman.” Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 14 February 2016. www.victorianlondon.org.

“The Penny Illustrated Newspaper.” Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 14 February 2016.

At the Ladies Club

~ Antonia ~ 4 Comments

After learning about the Gentleman’s Club in the “Victorian Period” game, I decided to look into the “Ladies Club” section of the Victorian Dictionary. There was only one article in the section, and it was by the satirical conservative newspaper Punch. However, through the mockery that they give to the idea, they expose exactly what they fear women obtaining. The Ladies Club did not even actually exist, but the piece speculates on what might occur if it did, and how it’s possible formation incites “fearful questions.” Their first question is if there will be a club committee, and if there is how many women will be allowed to speak at once. This betrays a fear of women organizing and having a voice completely outside the control of men. They then question whether there will be a smoking room, and if “cigars will suffer to be lighted” or, for fear of illness, only “the middlest cigarettes.” Not only does this show disgust at the idea of women adopting a symbol of masculinity for their own pleasure, but it doubts whether they will be able to do that, or if their delicate constitutions would prevent it. They then question what women will discuss. Whether it will be topics they feel appropriate, such as “the nursery” and “bonnets,” or if they will talk of more scandalous matters such as love, marriage, and even divorce. In this question they restrict the interests of women to the domestic life. They do not even consider that women may talk about politics, literature, science, or anything outside of marriage and children. They go on, continuing to trivialize women, and their interests, even suggesting that ballots will be represented by cotton balls instead of actual ballots. Perhaps paper is just too heavy. They predict a woman in the club scorning her husband and leaving him to take care of the children for a night, while she takes time for herself. This practice, which men a known to do, is seen as selfish in a woman because her first concern should be the family and not herself. The last point they make on behavior in the club gives a good insight into the male gaze of the period: “what a sensation would be caused on the street pavement, if the Club belles were to congregate about the Club beau-windows, and stare through their eye-glasses every handsome man who passed.” They are revealing an anxiety about being objectified the same way that they objectify women. The entire article shows a fear, not of equality, but of a world where women have power over men in the same way that men have power over women.

Works Cited

“The Ladies Club” Punch. Victorian London Dictionary. Web. 12 February 2016. http://www.victorianlondon.org/women/ladiesclub.htm

Introduction and Fordyce’s Sermons

~ Antonia ~ Leave a comment

Hello, I’m Antonia Carey. I’m a double major in English and Theatre Arts with a Performance concentration. I’ve never pinpointed a single favorite author, but some of my favorites are Mary Shelley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Christopher Marlowe, Sandra Cisneros,  Hemingway, and Oscar Wilde.
Pride and Prejudice seems to be responding to Fordyce’s Sermons by emphasizing the individual over a ubiquitous image of “the female.” Where Fordyce is writing to women on how to be marriageable, Austen is writing about the effect that this constant pressure to be marriageable is affecting each of the women in the Bennet household. The most obviously affected by this idea of womanhood that Fordyce presents is Mary, whom we know is reader of “moral philosophy” (70). Mary does not show any signs of excessive wit or study of “frivolous arts” that Fordyce warns against (395). Yet, in Fordyce’s eyes, she still transgresses against her sex. He writes in “On Female Virtue, Friendship, and Conversation” that “Dulness [sic] and insipidity, moroseness and rigour, are dead weights on every kind of social intercourse” (397). Mary appears to have these in spades, as she is constantly taking the moral high ground and demeaning anything that she finds to be frivolous. It’s noted that when the Bennet sisters go into Meryton, accompanied by Mr. Collins, that “every sister except Mary agreed to go” (105). Fordyce also mentions women learning the difference “between an obliging study to please,” which he finds to be a good quality among women, and “an indecent desire to put themselves forward,” which is something women should avoid displaying. Mary transgresses here as well. It is stated plainly in chapter VI that Mary who, due to not being pretty like her sisters, “worked hard for knowledge and accomplishments, was always impatient for display.” At this event, Mary does play a long concerto, but makes up for it with “Scotch and Irish airs” (62-63). Her behavior at the Netherfield ball is not quite as felicitous. She is imposing on the party, so much so that Elizabeth subtly entreats their father to stop her (132). Mary, by trying too hard to be the woman that she is expected to be, becomes one of the women that Fordyce denounces.

Sara’s Blog Post

~ n02714729 ~ 1 Comment

Hello, I am an English major with a creative writing minor and I am quite fond of the novels of Victor Hugo and the poetry of William Blake, Walt Whitman and T.S. Eliot.

Fordyce’s sermon widely discusses the societal expectations of a young woman in regards to her speech, her friendships, and her responsibility in her household. He emphasizes the importance of the “conduct of daughters” in order to maintain peace within her family and this is done through a number of “proper” behaviors that are widely demanded on women more so, (as Fordyce admits) than on men. Fordyce writes, “The world, I know not how, overlooks in our sex a thousand irregularities, which it never forgives in yours; so that the honour and peace of a family are, in this view, much more dependent on the conduct of daughters than on sons” (394).

I believe this point to be the prominent issue in which Austen is challenging in Pride and Prejudice. The Bennetts have their five daughters, each with their differences in so-called conduct. Mrs. Bennett’s disgust in her daughter, Lizzie, who is the most rebellious of the daughters, is one way in which nineteenth century female roles affect the peace of the household. One instance where this is prominent, is the scene when Lizzie rejects Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal. She does not reject it once, but several times and assures Collins that she will continue to reject it if he so chooses to ask again. What is important here, is not only the shock and disappointment that is brought onto Collins, but how this refusal effects the relationship between Lizzie and her mother. The following scene when Lizzie is called to speak with her parents, her father tells her that her mother insists in her to accept the proposal and then says to his wife, “Is not it so, Mrs. Bennett?” and to which she responds, “Yes, or I will never see her again.” (142).

Another point made by Fordyce that can be actively portrayed in Austen’s novel is: “If men discover that you captivate them by an outside only, or by little frivolous arts, there are, it must be confessed, many of them who will rejoice at that discovery” (395). I find that Pride and Prejudice reflects heavily on this point, given that the girls are expected to take pride in their outer looks in order to attract men and perhaps in some cases, that may be one of the most important attributes. For instance, taking a look at the sister, Mary. Mary reads all of the books on proper conduct and behavior and frequently shows off her ability to play the piano in effort to make up for the fact that she was not blessed with the greatest looks. There is a scene in the novel where her being “carried away” with her musical talent and the only male attention she gains is her father scolding her to stop: “Mary, though pretending not to hear, was somewhat disconcerted; and Elizabeth sorry for her, and sorry for her father’s speech , was afraid her anxiety had done no good.” (132)

Ultimately, I find that Fordyce’s sermon certainly has influence over Austen’s novel. At least, some of the points Fordyce makes are found in the novel, and I find that he does sympathize with women more so than other men of that time, given that he he admits that it is on the female to maintain stability and peace within her household and that it is a greater stab on the family’s pride if she were to “go astray” as opposed to a male child. I feel like the sermon agrees with Austen to a certain point, as Fordyce is no doubt, aware of the prejudices against women in his contemporary society, especially in regards to keeping peace in the household and having to have “good enough” looks to attract a man to marry them.

Introductions and Sermons

~ Rachel W. ~ 1 Comment

Hello everyone! My name is Rachel and I am a senior English major at SUNY New Paltz. My favorite novelist/short story writer is Franz Kafka although recently I’ve been getting into some of Roberto Bolaño’s novels as well as Carlos Fuentes’.  Among my favorite poets are Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith, Pablo Neruda, and T.S. Eliot. I like to read in Spanish as well as English.

Before I dive into the text of Pride and Prejudice and how it responds to James Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women, I just want to point the irony in the section titled “On the Importance of the Female Sex.”  Fordyce seems to lament that women in society are more highly scrutinized than men when he writes “The world, I know not how, overlooks in our sex a thousand irregularities, which it never forgives in yours; so that the honor and peace of a family are, in this view, much more dependent on the conduct of daughters than of sons…” (394).  However he has written two volumes worth of sermons telling young women how to conduct themselves and behave in society, only adding to the scrutiny.  I thought also there is much irony in the way he claims that women have so much influence over men because of their sexuality and therefore should act in certain ways.  It is incredibly sexist to want to control women’s behavior just because their sexuality, according to Fordyce, impacts men so much.

Elizabeth Bennet’s conduct in Pride and Prejudice completely undermines what Fordyce expects about how young women should act. Fordyce advises that women refrain from exercising wit and instead aim for piety.  For Fordyce, wit is something already to be frowned upon but it is “especially […] dreaded in women” (400).  Elizabeth on the other hand does not act very pious at all, in fact religion is scarcely mentioned except for when it is said that everyone attended church services.  Elizabeth engages in witty banter with Mr. Darcy and she is also highly sarcastic. When in the company of Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy one evening at Netherfield she makes sarcastic remarks makes fun of Darcy right to his face.  She says  to Miss Bingley, “Mr.  Darcy is not to be laughed at!” (92) and continues “That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would be a great loss to me to have many such acquaintance. I dearly love a laugh” (92). She sarcastically says straight to Darcy “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own and I laugh at them whenever I can.– But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without” (92).  Despite her mocking him, Darcy seems to enjoy their conversation and they continue back and forth, much to Miss Bingley’s dismay.  Fordyce advises women to speak with grace and to never be rude.  And yet while Elizabeth is mocking Darcy, they both are enjoying themselves.  It is evident in Pride and Prejudice that wit does not make for dreadful women, it makes for fun and interesting conversation, fun and interesting women.

First Blog Post: Introductions and Wit

~ philliph1 ~ 2 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m Hannah, and am a senior with an English major/Journalism minor. I love to read, listen to music, write, and look at houses. My favorite author is Cormac McCarthy, and his book Blood Meridian is awesome, especially if you’re into U.S. History and violent storylines.

This week’s excerpts from Fordyce’s “Sermons to Young Women” had marked comparisons to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I’ve taken to analyzing Sermon V, which focuses on female virtue, friendship, and conversation. While reading Fordyce’s warning on woman’s ability in wit and taking wit over “dulness and insipidity, moroseness and rigour” (397), I immediately thought about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth.

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