Rossetti - Social Context

Question 1

What was a ‘fallen woman’ in Victorian society? (4 points)

Answer 1

Someone who rejected Victorian society’s oppressive moral values concerning domesticity, sexuality, and femininity

Women were considered ‘fallen’ if they engaged in pre-marital sexual activity - regardless of whether they were seduced, raped or prostituted themselves

Became shunned for being tainted - viewed as a threat to respectable society (shown by Tess’s execution)

Popularly portrayed in Victorian art, literature and media as moralists warned against the consequences of losing one’s virtue​

Question 2

What is the context behind the ‘fallen women’ archetype? (3 points)

Answer 2

Victorian society’s values were built on medieval ideals of sinfulness and the seductiveness of Eve

Moral purity was seen as tied to physical virginity rather than one’s character - victims of sexual violence weren’t exempted from this notion

Sexual innocence was highly valued and sex was only deemed appropriate within marriage ​

Question 3

What were the gender roles in Victorian society? (5 points each)

Answer 3

Men are physically strong, women are weak

Sex was central for men, reproduction was central for women

Men are independent, women are dependent

Men - public sphere
Women - private sphere

Men are meant to participate in politics and paid work
Women are meant to run households and raise families

Question 4

What was the reasoning for the gender roles in Victorian society? (2 points)

Answer 4

Based on the “doctrine ofseparate spheres” - men and women were different and meant for different things

Gender was considered to be determinative of almost every aspect of an individual’s potential and character

Question 5

What did Victorian gender roles apply to families ? (3 points)

Answer 5

Before the 19th century, it was normal for women to work alongside their husbands and brothers in the family business

As the 19th century progressed, wives, daughters and sisters were left at home all day to oversee the domestic duties that servants increasingly carried out

Became a common belief that women belonged at home - most women could not afford to leave it

Question 6

What is the ‘the Angel in the House’ archetype? (3 points)

Answer 6

It was the popular Victorian image of the ideal wife/woman - someone devoted and submissive to her husband​

The Angel is:
+ Pure
+ Passive
+ Powerless
+ Pious
+ Charming
+ Graceful
+ Sympathetic
+ Self-sacrificing

The phrase comes from Coventry Patmore’s poem of the same name, in which he holds his angel wife up as a model for all women

Question 7

What was Victorian society’s attitude towards women? (3 points)

Answer 7

The female body was idealised and objectified by Victorian society

Sexual double standards:
+ Men wanted and needed sex - faced fewer consequences for their behaviour
+ Women were expected to be chaste - submitted to sex only to please their husbands

Women were also seen as naturally more religious and morally finer than men (who were distracted by sexual passions by which women supposedly were untroubled)

Question 8

What were Victorian attitudes towards marriage like? (3 points)

Answer 8

In Victorian society, an unmarried woman was regarded as a failure

Young girls weren’t expected to focus on finding a husband - being ‘forward’ in the company of men suggested a worrying sexual appetite

Women were assumed to desire marriage because it allowed them to become mothers rather than to pursue sexual or emotional satisfaction