Art and Media
Art and media both reflect and influence the establishment of standards within a society. In Victorian London, women were generally being cast into the role of the domestic and proper. Many artists demonized women who did not fit this ideal. Beyond simply reflecting societal standards, their depictions served many purposes. |
| For Example, the negative images of women betraying their families or venturing out on their own served as warnings for ambitious or free-spirited women. Conversely, women portrayed in a positive light, fulfilling the roles of the separate sphere ideology, were comforting symbols of patriarchy. For men frightened by the prospect of change or feminine power, positive images provided constancy. Ironically, these condescending images may have unintentionally strengthened the argument of the women's rights movement at the time by bolstering men's confidence in female inferiority. Hypothetically, if men felt that they were not in danger of loosing their power, then no harm would come from granting women rights. |
Due to the threatening nature of many of the images of women, most women felt that they must embody the ideal that is set forth in the condescending images in which women are domesticated and inferior to men. By accepting this role presented by the media and allowing themselves to be intimidated by the taboo created around female sexuality and success, women fell into the trap created by the patriarchal society in which they lived; regardless of class, the majority of women were forced into conformity. Paradoxically, the same women who were threatened into conformity were pursuing suffrage. Those women fighting for their rights denied themselves the self-respect and the self-confidence that are at the core of the modern women's rights movement. |
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Augustus Egg, 1858 "Past and Present" |
| Augustus Egg's series of paintings "Past and Present," made in 1858 is a perfect example of this negative imagery. The paintings tell the story of a family dealing with the betrayal and loss of its mother and wife. The first image is of a woman throwing herself at her husband's feet upon his painful discovery that she has had an affair and is pregnant with another man's child. The second image portrays one of her daughters stricken with the grief of her mother's absence years later. The third and final image portrays the woman alone under a bridge with her child out of wedlock abandoned by her boyfriend. In addition to the literal demonization of this woman in the story behind these paintings, Egg creates a melodramatic effect by making each image increasingly dark and making each scene less civilized. The setting changes from an upper class sitting room to a dark dirty underpass at night. This dramatization symbolizes more than simply the deterioration of a family; it depicts how her adultery leads to her downfall, the destruction of her family and more generally the deterioration of society. These paintings and others of its kind demonstrate one of the many sources of pressure that a woman experienced to stay loyal to her family; to sustain her husband's or father's honor. |