Victorian Period Literature- Status of Women in Essay

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Victorian Period Literature- Status of Women

Women in English literature have always found a subservient place akin to that of a second-class citizen. It was more pronounced in the Victorian period when it was believed that marriage was the only possible career for women. They were expected to prepare themselves for courtship, make themselves skillful enough to be liked by men and finally land themselves a good husband. That was the be-all and end-all of their lives. However not everyone subscribed to that viewpoint and some tried to raise a voice against the status of women in the society and how it was contributing to their poor standard of lives and deteriorating lot. Interestingly one such person was Elizabeth Barrett Browning whose ballad "Lord Walter's Wife" was refused publication in 1861 on the grounds that it could lead to public outcry since it talked of man's love for a woman. The person refusing this publication was none other than William Makepeace Thackeray who himself had written more openly about love and passion than Browning could ever be accused of. In his rejection letter, he said:

"…one of the best wives, mothers, and women in the world writes some verses which I feel would be objected to by many of our readers . . . . In your poem, you know, there is an account of unlawful passion felt by a man for a woman, and though you write pure doctrine, and real modesty, and pure ethics, I am sure our readers would make an outcry, and so I have not published this poem." (Barrett Browning, Letters II 444, 77) Browning was well aware of her poem's possible influence on the readers but believed that corruption in the society needed to be exposed and it was wrong to sweep it under the carpet.

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So she responded sharply, saying:

"…I am deeply convinced that the corruption of our society requires not shut doors and windows, but light and air: and that it is-exactly because pure and prosperous women choose to ignore vice, that miserable women suffer wrong by it everywhere." (Letters II 445, 77)

Browning's poem is both a little confusing at first and very bold too. It talks of a woman's advances towards a man who is guilty of first making an improper invitation to her despite knowing that she was his best friend's wife. Instead of getting shocked by his behavior or becoming coy, Lord Walter's wife takes matters in her own hands and beats the man at his own game by becoming far more promiscuous than he had ever hoped.

Victorian period did not want to talk about something as sensitive as a woman's bold stance against men like the one in the poem. Browning wanted to expose the corruption and hypocrisy of the society in this manner and successfully achieves that in this poem. The conversation like poetry shows how at first the man tries to get close to the lady but when he sees that she is not scared or coy, he becomes afraid and starts attacking her honor by pointing fingers at her promiscuous attitude.

At first the man who wants to seduce the lady says, "because I fear you . . . because you are far too fair,'." Not taking the bait, the lady says….....

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