The Sexuality Of The Victorian Century - 927 Words

In modern day America and many other countries, it is common for women to express their sexuality. Trends such as crop tops and high-waisted shorts have allowed this to be acceptable to society. During the 19th century Victorian era, behaviors like such would be outrageous and horrifying. In that time, sexuality was especially feared. Women were viewed as domestic goddesses; their only desire was to care for the family and fulfill their husband’s needs. It became quite common that women came to also have anxiety over their sexuality. This is clearly seen in Dracula through Lucy’s diary entries. Despite her ultimate transformation into a sensual character, she begins as a woman hiding her sexual cravings. In his gothic novel, Dracula, Bram Stoker uses the title character to expose the repressed sexuality of the other characters, especially the females, criticizing the beliefs of the Victorian Era about woman as sexless figures. Throughout the novel, Lucy and Mina embark on a transformation from ideal Victorian woman to vampires. This represents them crossing the line between conservative women to sexual beings. Even in Lucy’s most domestic state, she expresses a desire for sex. In one day, Lucy is proposed to by three different men. Overjoyed by these proposals she states, â€Å"Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it† (Stoker 80). Essentially, Lucy is stating that she would like toShow MoreRelatedFemale Sexuality Within Charlotte Bronte s Jane Eyre1689 Words   |  7 PagesBrontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Jane Eyre sets a strong example of female sexuality in the Victorian era. The title character confronts herself with her feelings for Mr. Rochester and her growing throughout the novel. She eventually finds the courage to embrace herself as she is. Jane’s independent mind and nature contradict the grain of Victorian society. She defies historical notions of female sexuality and Victorian codes and rules on sexuality. Brontà « reimagines the Victorian notion of marriage as she emphasizes Jane’s educationRead More The Sexual Expression of Women in Thomas Hardys Writing Essay556 Words   |  3 PagesThe Sexual Expression of Women in Thomas Hardys Writing The nineteenth-century woman was defined by her adherence to submission and resistance to sexuality. She was portrayed by most writers as a naive, accepting figure with strong concerns about living up to the prescribed societal ideals for a respectable woman. The women in Jane Austens novels offer a clear representation of the nineteenth-century woman. Austen refuses these women any sexual expression and focuses more upon their concernRead More Sexuality in Aubrey Beardsleys Story of Venus and Tannhà ¤user925 Words   |  4 PagesSexuality in Aubrey Beardsleys Story of Venus and Tannhà ¤user Aubrey Beardsley wrote The Story of Venus and Tannhà ¤user during the fin de sià ¨cle, the end of the Victorian Era. This decadent work, following Baudelaires credo art for arts sake first of all, portrays sex and sexualities in a playful manner. In addition to mocking conventional Victorian moral codes, and parodying pornographic conventions, The Story of Venus and Tannhà ¤user also supports Foucaults idea that the Victorian EraRead More The Oppressed Female in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre886 Words   |  4 PagesThe Oppressed Female in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontà « clearly demonstrates the relationship between sexuality and morality in Victorian society through the character of Bertha Mason, the daughter of a West Indian planter and Rochesters first wife. Rochester recklessly married Bertha in his youth, and when it was discovered shortly after the marriage that Bertha was sexually promiscuous, Rochester locked her away. Bertha is called a maniac and isRead MoreThe Victorian And Post World War I1590 Words   |  7 Pagesdivision between the two identities of the man and the woman permeated through the Victorian era and developed a template for prospective gender constructs. The Victorian woman, expected to preserve purity and domesticity, was portrayed with a repressed sexuality. Passive characterization supported the duty of child bearing as the female destiny and molded their identities into subordinate ones. At the turn of the 20th century in Great Britain, women began to partake in c onventionally male pursuits andRead MoreDracula964 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Rowatt 1 Paper # 2 Sexuality in Victorian Time ENGL 1101 JOHN BRIDGES September 30th, 2013 Rowatt 2 Innocence, chastity, purity, and married life are just a few things that made up the ‘image’ of the nineteenth century Victorian woman. During this time, it was greatly looked down upon if a woman chose to stay single, as she would be pitied and dubbed a â€Å"whore†. Lucy Westenra is one of the main characters in the novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker. Lucy is a beautifulRead MoreThe Idea Of Gender Roles In Dracula By Bram Stoker1290 Words   |  6 Pagesor desirable by societies mean. Dracula, a 1897 gothic fiction novel written by Bram Stoker explores the idea of gender roles in the victorian era perfectly. Stoker refutes the idea of gender rules through his characters by their representation of the ideal women, sexuality, and their normalization in changes of gender roles. Dracula takes place in the 19th century in which women had very narrow gender roles and contrasted largely with the men of the time, Stoker revokes this idea in Dracula throughRead MoreRelationship Between Sex And Power955 Words   |  4 Pagesof Sexuality, in which he examines the emergence of sexuality as a discursive object and separate sphere of life. According to Foucault, the idea that everyone has a sexuality is relatively a recent development in the West. In Volume 1, Foucault discusses the relationship between sex and power in a historical context. He states that the ways in which humans think about sexuality is primarily shaped by the repressive hypothesis, which claims that Western society had suppressed sexuality fromRead MoreWolffs Analysis of Chopins The Awakening647 Words   |  3 PagesWolff’s Analysis of Chopin’s The Awakening In her essay Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening, Cynthia Griffin Wolff creates what Ross Murfin describes as a critical whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. (376) By employing a variety of critical approaches (including feminist, gender, cultural, new historicism, psychoanalytic and deconstruction) Wolff offers the reader a more complete (albeit complex) explanation of Edna PontelliersRead MoreWomen s Gender And Gender Roles955 Words   |  4 Pagesvery structure of Victorian marriages relied on women s passionlessness because it supported women s demure and respectable nature in society, while also keeping men under control and containing sexuality to the home (Kushner, 9/25/15). The concept of respectability not only shaped how women and men acted in both sexual and non sexual ways but outlined the ways proper marriages ought to function. In order to understand the re-rise to conservatism in the mid- twentieth century post-war America