The Transformation from the “Angel in the House” to “New Women” Ideal

The Victorian Era (1837-1901) was a period when women were considered ‘inferior’ to their male counterparts. Women were expected to follow certain societal guidelines and norms of behavior. Queen Victoria was regarded as the ‘perfect woman’ and was set as a faultless example for other women to follow. During the Victorian Era, women were modeled as the “angel in the house” by being submissive to their husbands, pure through their words and actions, and not having an active role in society; this gradually transformed into the “new women” ideal that portrayed women as powerful, independent thinkers, strong decision makers and a valuable part of the society. Victorian Era literature demonstrates how the ‘angel’ and ‘new women’ ideals differ and how it affected women during this time period.

The “Angel in the House” ideal was derived from Coventry Patmore’s poem titled, “Angel in the House”, which stated that the ‘perfect’ woman of the Victorian Era should be submissive to their husbands, pure in their words and actions, and not want to be an active part of society. The ideal woman wore light-colored clothing and was usually very beautiful. However, Victorian women did not have much say in their household (Heiniger). They had to follow their husbands’ commands and be submissive to the men. One might state that Victorian men used their wives as “showpieces” rather than as equal partners.

One essential goal of a woman was to get married (Vyas). If a woman did not marry, then she would most likely become a governess. A governess was a servant in a house, who looked after the master’s children, but did not have many rights. The second goal of a Victorian wife was to have children (Abrams). Motherhood was something that gave great joy to women. Becoming a mother was the highest achievement a woman could receive during the Victorian Era. This alludes that women had no real purpose in society other than marrying and having children. One interesting point Vyas states is that “the ideal of femininity was paradoxical- a woman was expected to be gentle and required her man to protect her from the external world, at the same time in a situation of crisis the same ‘feeble’ woman was expected to be strong and become the backbone of the man or family.” This gives a clear idea of the double standard society had towards women during this period.

During the Victorian Era, women wore large skirts and corsets that constricted their movement, which eventually made them stay at home. However it was the women who maintained the house and that required a lot of physical labor and effort (Abrams). The clothing worn by women is one example of how females were limited in their actions. These limitations angered many conventional women who demanded change. They had new ideas on how women should be treated and how they should act. This was later known as the “new women” ideal.

The “new women” ideal countered the ‘angel in the house’ principles by demanding more power, becoming independent and having the right to make decisions in society and for themselves. Firstly, the ‘new women’ demanded more rights and freedom. Abrams states that “Working-class men began to demand the privileges of domesticity for their wives, while protecting their own jobs and rates of pay. At the same time, working-class women were beginning to demand these privileges for them, in order to protect their status within the home.” By wanting more rights and freedom, these ‘new women’ gradually began to get more say in society. The masculine dominant society was disrupted by the new feminine power wanting a say in society.

Education and employment opportunities for middle class women were the main objective of the first “new women”. For working-class women, these feminists strived for better working conditions and wages. Eventually, these “new women” attempted for even bigger reforms, such as women’s suffrage (Abrams). This finally let women escape the bondage they were in that was set by in society.

To counter the “new women”, men started stereotyping these females by saying they have masculine qualities. Women started wearing pants, because it gave them more freedom than the restricting long skirts and corsets. Propaganda started circulating about how these “new women” were bad for the society and how they were improper in their attire and attitude. Because of the “new women”, the men started to lose some of their dominance in society. The “new woman” was often questioned about her sexuality, if she was seen as “unfeminine” or did not follow the norm (Showalter). To men, “The idea of an evil woman, a negative other or opposite of the heroine, has existed in the human imagination for as long as the idea of a heroine, as an inevitable corollary. Victorian novels abound in ambitious and manipulative women” (Vyas).

Literature during this era reflects some of the same struggles the Victorian women went through. One example of a woman not following the norm of an ‘angel in the house’ would be Charlotte Bronte’s famous book: Jane Eyre. In this book, Jane’s character does not want to be the normal ‘angel’ in the house. She states in the book, “I am not an angel . . . and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself. Mr. Rochester, you must neither expect nor exact anything celestial of me . . .” (Bronte 228). In Bronte’s book, Jane is attributed with many distinct qualities that were very masculine, to show that she was not the typical Victorian lady.  In another Victorian Era novel, The Yellow Wallpaper, the main character was very frustrated and angry that her husband was trying to control, confine and trivialize her (Showalter). Other very famous Victorian Era literature that deal with “angel in the house” and “new women” ideals include Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the Pride and Prejudice, the protagonist has differing ideas of how an upper class woman should act compared to the norm (Lily). The Scarlet Letter is another novel that shows the main character defying power and fighting against the rules society follows (Wang). These four novels show many similar qualities of a “new woman”. In some Victorian Era literature the common masculine qualities of characters that include hierarchy, aggression, anger and passion; while making the females look “weak” (Showalter).

In conclusion, the “Angel in the House” ideal was propagated by men to show their dominance and making women less important in society. While the “New Women” ideal greatly changed the attitude of many females and made them more conventional, it received a lot of criticism from their male counterparts. This “New Women” ideal impacted the authority of men and eventually made them less superior.

Works Cited

Abrams, Lynn. Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain. 9 August 2001. Web. 10 December 2012.

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Signet, 1847. Print.

Heiniger, Abigail. "The Faery and the Beast." Bronte Studies (2006): 23-29. Print.

Lily, Grim. The Ideal Woman In Pride and Prejudice. 8 May 2011. Web. 14 January 2013.

Showalter, Elaine. "Killing the Angel of the House: The Autonomy of Women Writers." Antioch Review (1992): 207. Web.

Vyas, Shvetal. Angel in The House v/s The Femme Fatale. 2010 27 January. Web. 12 December 2012.

Wang, Yamin. "A Representative of the New Female Image—Analyzing Hester Prynne’s Feminist Consciousness in The Scarlet Letter." Journal of Language Teaching and Research (2010): 893-897. Web.