The Angel in the House: A Victorian Ideal of Domesticity

Man must be pleased; but him to please Is woman's pleasure; down the gulf Of his condoled necessities She casts her best, she flings herself... With these lines, the Victorian writer Coventry Patmore describes his perfect woman. His extensive narrative poem, The Angel in the House , published in instalments from 1854 to 1862, affirms traditional Victorian values regarding domesticity and gender roles. Inspired by his first wife Emily, the female protagonist of the poem, Honoria Churchill, is submissive, charming and devoid of autonomy. Strikingly, Patmore details the essential characteristics of the perfect wife, but provides little detail on how the husband should love and respect his wife in return. The Angel in the House came during a pivotal period of women’s rights which would disturb these ideals. Principal amongst them was the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 which ensured that divorce was now a matter for the civil courts, whereas previously each individual case required an act of parliament. As a result, the cost of divorce was greatly reduced, making it available to more women – although proceedings still favoured men, who only needed to prove adultery, whilst women were required to prove additional grounds such as cruelty. But while Patmore’s “perfect wife” might seem ludicrous in the modern age, the notion of the pure, and self-sacrificing woman continues to be objectified in many societies, reflecting gender dynamics still in existence. today.

Join the Discussion

or

to comment

404

500

🙊