In Victorian England, a woman who wore makeup was considered a prostitute. And although pale complexion and bright red lips were popular even before Queen Victoria came to power, the ruler called such makeup "vulgar". This prompted most English women to abandon it and try something more natural.

As a result, a huge number of inventions appeared in the 1800s, designed to emphasize natural beauty women, but many of them mutilated the bodies of the fair sex or slowly killed them with pesticides.

1. Face whitening

In the 1800s, women strove to have an extremely pale complexion. The representatives of the upper class wanted to show that they were rich enough not to work under the scorching sun. They tried to make their skin so pale and "transparent" that others could clearly see the veins in their faces. In the Victorian era, people were obsessed with death, so it was considered attractive when a woman looked unhealthy.

In one Victorian book, women were advised to apply a small amount of opium from lettuce to their skin at night and wash their face with ammonia in the morning to always look fresh and pale. To remove freckles and age spots, as well as traces of sunburn, it was advised to use arsenic, which, according to representatives of the Victorian era, helped to look younger and more attractive. They knew that arsenic was poisonous and addictive, but they deliberately used it to achieve their ideal of beauty.

2. Hair burning

In the 1800s, the fashion was curly hair. The first curling irons were tongs that needed to be heated over a fire. If a woman was in a hurry to apply a hot curling iron to her hair, she had to say goodbye to them: they instantly burned out.

As a result, baldness became a common problem among women during the Victorian era. But even if they skillfully used curling irons, the constant wearing of curls had a negative effect on the scalp.

To combat hair problems, women have tried various remedies, including teas and medicines. Some of them washed their hair in ammonia water to stimulate hair growth. Ammonia is known to burn the respiratory tract and skin. He also "eats out" the eyes.

To combat baldness, women were advised to use a mixture of equal parts of quinine sulfate and fragrant tincture. To prevent all these problems, they were advised to avoid direct contact of the curling iron with their hair, which many realized too late.

3. Cleansing the blood

In the Victorian era, many people died from consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis), and society was terribly fascinated by death. The complexion of people who had just fallen ill with consumption was considered the most pleasant and beautiful. Women suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis constantly vomited blood, but this was considered normal. Representatives of the Victorian era claimed that in this way the body was cleansed of dirt, due to which the skin became clear and pale.

During illness, women were advised to eat as little as possible: a handful of strawberries for breakfast, half an orange for lunch, and a cherry for dinner. If they felt that this was not enough for them to maintain their strength, they could drink some warm broth.

Beauty experts in the Victorian era advised women to apply ammonium carbonate and powdered charcoal to their skin to preserve their beauty. In addition, they were advised to take various medications every three months to "purify" their blood, when in fact they were sick because they wanted to look sickly pale.

4. Devices for correcting the shape of the nose

During the Victorian era, many men and women were dissatisfied with their physique, as well as modern people. Many years before the advent plastic surgery there were many different companies that produced devices for correcting the shape of the nose. These metal devices were tied to a person's face to make the soft cartilage of the nose smaller or straighter than it used to be.

Devices for correcting the shape of the nose have not lost their popularity even after many years. Heather Bigg invented a spring-loaded, strapped contraption that helped keep a metal "mask" on a person's face while they slept or went about their daily activities. With the help of it, the nose eventually took on a more attractive shape.

Dr. Seed, a Parisian Victorian surgeon, told his English colleagues that he had created a metal spring-loaded device that corrected the large nose of his fifteen-year-old patient in just three months.

5. Eating tapeworms

In the Victorian era, corsets were very popular, designed to make the female waist as thin as possible. To lose weight, some of the fair sex deliberately swallowed tapeworm eggs (tapeworm). These slippery little creatures hatched inside the stomach and devoured everything the woman ate. Having achieved her goal of losing weight, she took pills in order to remove the tapeworm. In the Victorian era, it was believed that a worm would crawl out on its own if you sat down with your mouth open in front of a bowl of milk. However, as you know, the length of tapeworms can reach 9 meters, therefore, even if this method turned out to be effective, a person could suffocate in the process.

Dr. Meyers from Sheffield (a city in England) invented a device designed to extract tapeworms from a patient's stomach. It was a metal cylinder filled with food. It was pushed down the throat of an infected person who was forbidden to eat for several days. This was necessary in order to lure the tapeworm into the cylinder, which was subsequently removed from the patient's stomach with him inside. Unfortunately, many of those who sought help from Meyers died of asphyxiation during this strange procedure.

6 Deadly Belladonna Eye Drops

Apart from pale color facial skin, women with pulmonary tuberculosis also had dilated pupils and watery eyes. In the Victorian era, English women with large pupils were considered very beautiful. To achieve this effect, they used belladonna eye drops.

Belladonna is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. If a person eats a couple of berries or a leaf of belladonna, he may die. In small doses, the plant's poison can cause intestinal irritation, rashes, swelling, and even blindness. Women of the Victorian era knew this, but still continued to use products that contained the poisonous belladonna.

Queen Victoria used belladonna eye drops to treat cataracts. They dilated the pupils, so it seemed to the queen that her eyesight was improving. For this reason, she continued to use them and refused to have surgery.

7. Dangerous oral hygiene products

Victorian beauty experts recommended ingesting a teaspoon of ammonia dissolved in water to freshen breath and prevent cavities (especially for those who suffered from acid reflux). toothpaste people who lived at that time, replaced the powder from stale bread or charcoal.

To relieve toothache, people took cocaine-based pills, which were sold in every pharmacy. They were also believed to be effective in treating coughs and colds.

8. Chemical way to remove body hair

During the Victorian era, unwanted body hair was removed. various methods- with tweezers, by shaving, by rubbing the skin with wood ash gruel, and so on.

However, not all methods were safe. In one book, women were advised to use bleach to remove body hair (as well as whiten their shoulders). It was advised to do this at an open window and with great care, since bleach can corrode the skin if it is left on it for a long time.

9. Shadows with mercury and lead

Women of the Victorian era tried not to make up their eyes, so as not to look like fallen women and look natural. They paid the greatest attention to complexion and eyebrows. However, to make their eyes stand out, they applied homemade eye creams, such as cold cream and crushed cochineal (insects), to their eyelids.

The shadows that were sold in stores at that time were called "eye paint". They were mostly worn by prostitutes or bold Victorian ladies on special days. These shadows typically contained hazardous chemicals, including lead, mercury sulfide, antimony, cinnabar, and vermilion. They poisoned the body, and mercury sometimes caused insanity.

10. Arsenic baths

When eight-year-old boys from aristocratic families went to live in schools, what did their sisters do at that time?
They learned to count and write first with nannies, and then with governesses. For several hours a day, yawning and bored, looking longingly out the window, they spent in the room reserved for classes, thinking about what wonderful weather for riding. A table or a desk was placed in the room for the student and the governess, a bookcase with books, sometimes a black board. The entrance to the study room was often directly from the nursery.

“My governess, her name was Miss Blackburn, was very pretty, but terribly strict! Extremely strict! I was afraid of her like fire! In the summer my lessons started at six in the morning and in the winter at seven, and if I came late, I paid a penny for every five minutes I was late. Breakfast was at eight in the morning, always the same, a bowl of milk and bread and nothing else until I was a teenager. I still can not stand either one or the other, We did not study only half a day on Sunday and all day for a name day. There was a closet in the classroom where books were kept for classes. Miss Blackburn put a piece of bread on her plate for her lunch. Every time I couldn’t remember something, or didn’t obey, or objected to something, she locked me in this closet, where I sat in the dark and trembled with fear. I was especially afraid that a mouse would come running there to eat Miss Blackburn's bread. In my confinement, I remained until, suppressing sobs, I could say calmly that now I am good. Miss Blackburn made me memorize pages of history or long poems, and if I was wrong even a word, she made me learn twice as much!”

If nannies were always adored, then poor governesses were rarely loved. Maybe because nannies chose their fate voluntarily and stayed with the family until the end of their days, and governesses always became by the will of circumstances. In this profession, educated middle-class girls, the daughters of penniless professors and clerks, were most often forced to work to help a ruined family and earn a dowry. Sometimes the daughters of aristocrats who had lost their fortune were forced to become governesses. For such girls, the humiliation of their position was an obstacle to them being able to get at least some pleasure from their work. They were very lonely, and the servants did their best to express their contempt for them. The more noble the family of a poor governess was, the worse they treated her.

The servant believed that if a woman is forced to work, then she is equated in her position with them, and did not want to look after her, diligently demonstrating her disdain. If the poor thing got a job in a family in which there were no aristocratic roots, then the owners, suspecting that she looks down on them and despises them for their lack of proper manners, did not like her and endured only so that their daughters learned to behave in society.

Apart from teaching their daughters languages, playing the piano and watercolor painting, the parents cared little for deep knowledge. The girls read a lot, but chose not moral books, but love stories, which they slowly dragged from their home library. They went down to the common dining room only for lunch, where they sat at a separate table with their governess. Tea and pastries were carried upstairs to the study room at five o'clock. After that, the children did not receive any food until the next morning.

“We were allowed to butter bread or jam, but never both, and eat only one serving of cheesecakes or cakes, which we washed down big amount fresh milk. When we were fifteen or sixteen, we no longer had enough of this amount of food and we constantly went to bed hungry. After we heard that the governess went into her room, carrying a tray with a large portion of supper, we slowly descended barefoot down the back stairs to the kitchen, knowing that there was no one there at that time, since loud conversation and laughter could be heard from the room, where the servants ate. Stealthily we collected what we could and returned to the bedrooms satisfied.

Often, French and German women were invited as governesses to teach French and German to their daughters. “Once we were walking along the street with Mademoiselle and met my mother's friends. That same day they wrote her a letter saying that my prospects for marriage were being jeopardized because the ignorant governess was wearing brown shoes instead of black ones. "Darling," they wrote, "in brown shoes cocottes walk. What would they think of dear Betty with such a mentor looking after her!"

Lady Hartwrich (Betty) was younger sister Lady Twendolen, who married Jack Churchill. When she came of age,
was invited to hunt quite far from home. To get to the place, she had to use the railway. Early in the morning she was escorted to the station by a groom, who was obliged to meet her here that same evening. Further, with the luggage that made up all the equipment for hunting, she rode in a stall car with a horse. It was considered quite normal and acceptable for a young girl to travel sitting on straw with her horse, since it was believed that he would protect her and kick anyone who entered the stall car. However, if she were unaccompanied in a passenger car with the whole audience, among which there could be men, society would condemn such a girl.

In carriages pulled by little ponies, the girls could travel alone outside the estate, visiting their girlfriends. Sometimes the path lay through forest and fields. The absolute freedom young ladies enjoyed in the estates, disappeared instantly as soon as they got into the city. Conventions were waiting for them here at every turn. “I was allowed to ride alone in the dark through the forest and the field, but if I wanted to walk through a park in the center of London full of walking people in the morning to meet my friend, they would immediately put a maid on me.”

For three months, while the parents and older daughters moved in society, the younger ones on their upper floor, together with the governess, repeated lessons.

One of the famous and very expensive governesses, Miss Wolf, opened classes for girls in 1900, which worked until the Second World War. “I myself attended them when I was 16, and therefore, by personal example, I know what the best education for girls was at that time. Miss Wolfe had previously taught to the best aristocratic families and eventually inherited enough money to buy a large house on Mather's Adley Street South. In one part of it, she arranged classes for selected girls. She taught the best ladies of our high society, and I can safely say that I myself have benefited a lot from this beautifully organized mess in her educational process. At three o'clock in the morning we girls and girls different ages, met at a long table in our cozy study room, formerly the living room in this elegant 18th-century mansion. Miss Wolf, a small, frail woman with huge glasses that made her look like a dragonfly, explained to us the subject that we were to study that day, then went to the bookcases and took out books for each of us. At the end of the classes, there was a discussion, sometimes we wrote essays on topics in history, literature, geography. One of our girls wanted to study Spanish, and Miss Wolf immediately began to teach her grammar. It seemed that there was no subject that she did not know! But her most important talent was that she knew how to kindle in young heads the fire of a thirst for knowledge and curiosity for the subjects studied. She taught us to find interesting sides in everything. She had a lot of familiar men who sometimes came to our school, and we got a point of view on the subject of the opposite sex.

In addition to these lessons, the girls also learned dancing, music, needlework and the ability to stay in society. In many schools, as a test before admission, the task was to sew on a button or overcast a buttonhole. However, this pattern was observed only in England. Russian and German girls were much more educated (according to Lady Hartvrich) and knew three or four languages ​​perfectly, and in France the girls were more refined in manners.

How difficult it is now for our free-thinking generation, practically not subject to public opinion, to understand that just a little more than a hundred years ago, it was precisely this opinion that determined the fate of a person, especially girls. It is also impossible for a generation that grew up outside estate and class boundaries to imagine a world in which insurmountable restrictions and barriers arose at every turn. Girls from good families were never allowed to be alone with a man, even for a few minutes in the living room of their own house. In society, they were convinced that if a man was alone with a girl, he would immediately harass her. Those were the conventions of the time. The men were in search of prey and prey, and the girls were protected from those who wanted to pick the flower of innocence.

All Victorian mothers were very concerned about the latter circumstance, and in order to prevent rumors about their daughters, who often dissolved in order to eliminate a happier rival, did not let them go and controlled their every step. Girls and young women were also under constant surveillance by the servants. The maids woke them up, dressed them, waited at the table, the young ladies made morning visits accompanied by a lackey and a groom, they were at balls or in the theater with mothers and matchmakers, and in the evening, when they returned home, sleepy maids undressed them. The poor things were almost never left alone. If a miss (an unmarried lady) eluded her maid, matchmaker, sister and acquaintances for just an hour, then dirty assumptions were already being made that something might have happened. From that moment on, the contenders for the hand and heart seemed to evaporate.

Beatrix Potter, the beloved English children's writer, in her memoirs recalled how she once went to the theater with her family. She was 18 at the time and had lived in London all her life. However, near Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Strand and the Monument - famous places in the city center, which it was impossible not to drive past, she had never been. “It is amazing to state that this was the first time in my life! she wrote in her memoirs. “After all, if I could, I would gladly walk here alone, without waiting for someone to accompany me!”

And at the same time, Bella Wilfer, from Dickens's book "Our Mutual Friend", traveled alone through the whole city from Oxford Street to Hollowen Prison (more than three miles), according to the author, "as if a crow flies", and no one I didn't think it was weird. One evening, she went to look for her father in the city center and was only noticed because there were only a few women on the street in the financial district at that time. It's strange, two girls of the same age, and so differently treated the same question: can they go out alone on the street? Of course, Bella Wilfer is a fictional character, and Beatrix Potter actually lived, but the point is also that there were different rules for different classes. The poor girls were much freer in their movements due to the fact that there was no one to follow them and accompany them wherever they went. And if they worked as servants or in a factory, then they made the way back and forth alone and no one thought it was indecent. The higher the status of a woman, the more rules and decorum she was entangled.

An unmarried American woman who had come to England with her aunt to visit her relatives had to return home on inheritance matters. Aunt, fearful of another long voyage, did not go with her. When six months later the girl reappeared in British society, she was received very coldly by all the important ladies on whom public opinion depended. After the girl made such a long journey on her own, they did not consider her virtuous enough for their circle, suggesting that, being left unattended, she could do something unlawful. Marriage for a young American woman was in jeopardy. Fortunately, having a flexible mind, she did not reproach the ladies for their outdated views and prove them wrong, but instead, for several months she demonstrated exemplary behavior and, having established herself in society on the right side, having, moreover, a pleasant appearance, very successfully got married.

As a countess, she quickly silenced any gossipers who still had the desire to discuss her "dark past".

The wife had to obey and obey her husband in everything, just like the children. A man, on the other hand, should be strong, decisive, businesslike and fair, since he was responsible for the whole family. Here is an example perfect woman: “There was something inexplicably tender in her image. I will never allow myself to raise my voice or just speak to her loudly and quickly, for fear of frightening her and hurting her! Such delicate flower must feed only on love!”

Tenderness, silence, ignorance of life were typical features of the ideal bride. If a girl read a lot and, God forbid, not etiquette books, not religious or classical literature, not biographies of famous artists and musicians or other decent publications, if she had seen Darwin's On the Origin of Species or similar scientific works in her hands, then it looked as bad in the eyes of society as if she had been seen reading a French novel. After all, a smart wife, having read such "nasty things", would begin to express her ideas to her husband, and he would not only feel stupider than her, but also would not be able to keep her in check. Here is how Molly Hages, an unmarried girl from a poor family, who herself had to earn a living, writes about this. Being a hat milliner and having lost her business, she went to Cornwall to her cousin, who was afraid of her, considering her modern. “After a while, my cousin complimented me: “They told us that you are smart. And you are not at all!”

In the language of the XIX century, this meant that, it turns out, you are a worthy girl with whom I will be happy to make friends. Moreover, it was expressed by a girl from the outback to a girl who came from the capital - a hotbed of vice. These words of her cousin made Molly think about how she should behave: “I must hide the fact that I was educated and worked by myself, and even more hide my interest in books, paintings and politics. Soon, I gave myself wholeheartedly to gossip about romance and "how far some girls can get" - a favorite topic of the local society. At the same time, I found it quite convenient for me to seem somewhat strange. It was not considered a defect or a defect. Knowledge is what I had to hide from everyone!”

The already mentioned girl from America, Sarah Duncan, remarked bitterly: “In England, an unmarried girl of my age should not talk much ... It was quite difficult for me to accept this, but later I realized what was the matter. You need to keep your opinions to yourself. I began to speak rarely, little and found that the best topic that suits everyone is the zoo. No one will judge me if I talk about animals."

Also a great topic for conversation is opera. The opera Gilbert and Sillivan was considered very popular at that time. In Gissing's work entitled "Women in Discord", the hero visited the friend of an emancipated woman:

“What, is this new opera Schlberg and Sillivan really that good? he asked her.
- Very! Have you really not seen it yet?
- No! I'm really ashamed to admit it!
- Go tonight. Unless, of course, you get a free seat. What part of the theater do you prefer?
“I am a poor man, as you know. I have to be content with a cheap place."
A few more questions and answers - a typical mixture of banality and intense insolence, and the hero, peering into the face of his interlocutor, could not help smiling. “Isn't it true, our conversation would have been approved over traditional tea at five o'clock. Exactly the same dialogue I heard yesterday in the living room!”

Such communication with conversations about nothing led someone to despair, but most were quite happy.

Until the age of 17-18, girls were considered invisible. They were present at parties, but did not have the right to say a word until someone addressed them. Yes, and then their answers should be very brief. They seemed to have an understanding that the girl was noticed only out of politeness. Parents continued to dress their daughters in similar simple dresses so that they do not attract the attention of suitors intended for their older sisters. No one dared jump their turn, as happened to Eliza Bennet's younger sister in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When their hour finally came, all attention at once turned to the blossoming flower, the parents dressed the girl in all the best so that she would take her rightful place among the first brides of the country and be able to attract the attention of profitable suitors.

Every girl, entering the world, experienced a terrible excitement! After all, from that moment on, she became noticeable. She was no more
a child who, having been patted on the head, was sent away from the hall where the adults were. Theoretically, she was prepared for this, but practically she had not the slightest experience of how to behave in such a situation. After all, at that time the idea of ​​​​evenings for young people did not exist at all, as well as entertainment for children. Balls and receptions were given for the nobility, for royalty, for the guests of their parents, and the young were only allowed to attend these events.

Many girls aspired to get married only because they considered their own mother to be the worst of evils, saying that it was ugly to sit cross-legged. They really had no idea about life, and this was considered their great advantage. Experience was seen as bad form and almost equated with bad reputation. No man would want to marry a girl with a bold, as it was believed, daring outlook on life. Innocence and modesty were traits highly valued in young girls by the Victorians. Even the colors of their dresses, when they went to the ball, were surprisingly uniform - different shades of white (a symbol of innocence). Before marriage, they did not wear jewelry and could not wear bright dresses.

What a contrast with spectacular ladies dressed in the best outfits, traveling in the best carriages, cheerfully and uninhibitedly receiving guests in richly furnished houses. When mothers went out into the street with their daughters, then, in order to avoid explaining who these beautiful ladies made the girls look away. The young lady should not have known anything about this "secret" side of life. It was such a big blow for her when, after marriage, she discovered that her husband was uninteresting and he preferred to spend time in the company of such cocottes. Here is how a Dale and Telegraph journalist describes them:

“I stared at the sylphs as they flew or swam in their delightful traveling costumes and intoxicatingly beautiful hats, some in beaver hunting with flowing veils, others in coquettish cavalier with green plumes. And as this magnificent cavalcade passed by, the mischievous wind slightly lifted their skirts, exposing small, tight-fitting boots with a military heel, or tight riding trousers.

How much excitement at the sight of dressed legs, much more than now at the sight of undressed ones!

Not only the whole system of life was built in such a way as to observe morality, but clothing was an inevitable barrier to vice, because the girl was wearing up to fifteen layers of undershirts, skirts, bodices and corsets, which she could not get rid of without the help of a maid. Even assuming that her boyfriend was skilled in lingerie and could help her, most of the date would have gone into getting rid of the clothes and then putting them back on. At the same time, the experienced eye of the maid would instantly see problems in petticoats and shirts, and the secret would still be revealed.

Months, if not years, passed in Victorian times between the onset of sympathy for each other, which began with a twitch of eyelashes, timid glances that lingered a little longer on the subject of interest, sighs, a slight blush, rapid heartbeat, excitement in the chest, and a decisive explanation. From that moment on, everything depended on whether the girl's parents liked the applicant for the hand and heart. If not, then they tried to find another candidate who met the main criteria of that time: title, respectability (or public opinion) and money. Interested in the daughter's future chosen one, who could be several times older than her and cause disgust, her parents reassured her that she would endure and fall in love. In such a situation, the opportunity to quickly become a widow was attractive, especially if the spouse left a will in her favor.

If a girl did not marry and lived with her parents, then most often she was a prisoner in own house, where she continued to be treated as a minor who did not have her own opinion and desires. After the death of her father and mother, the inheritance was most often left to the elder brother, and she, having no means of subsistence, moved to live in his family, where she was always put in last place. Servants carried her around the table, her brother's wife commanded her, and again she found herself in complete dependence. If there were no brothers, then the girl, after her parents left this world, moved to her sister's family, because it was believed that an unmarried girl, even if she is an adult, is not able to take care of herself. It was even worse there, since in this case her brother-in-law, that is, a stranger, decided her fate. When a woman married, she ceased to be the mistress of her own money, which was given for her as a dowry. The husband could drink them away, walk away, lose or give them to his mistress, and the wife could not even reproach him, as this would be condemned in society. Of course, she could be lucky and her beloved husband could be successful in business and reckon with her opinion, then life really passed in happiness and peace. But if he turned out to be a tyrant and a petty tyrant, then all that remained was to wait for his death and be afraid at the same time to be left without money and a roof over his head.

To get the right groom, they did not hesitate to use any means. Here is a scene from a popular play, which Lord Ernest himself wrote and often performed in the home theater:

“The rich house on the estate, where Hilda, sitting in her own bedroom in front of a mirror, combs her hair after an event that occurred during a game of hide and seek. Her mother Lady Dragon enters.
Lady Dragoy. Well, you did the same, dear!
Hilda. What's up, mom?
Lady Dragon (derisively). What business! To sit all night with a man in the closet and not make him propose!
Hilda, Not all night at all, just a short time before dinner.
Lady Dragon. It is the same!
Hilda. Well, what could I do, mom?
Lady Dragon. Don't pretend to be stupid! A thousand things you could do! Did he kiss you?
Hilda. Yes mom!
Lady Dragon. And you just sat there like an idiot and let yourself be kissed for an hour?
Hilda (sobbing). Well, you yourself said that I should not oppose Lord Pati. And if he wants to kiss me, then I have to let him.
Lady Dragon. You really are a real fool! Why didn't you scream when the prince found you two in his wardrobe?
Hilda. Why did I have to scream?
Lady Dragon. You don't have a brain at all! Don't you know that as soon as you heard the sound of footsteps, you should have shouted: "Help! Help! Get your hands off me, sir!" Or something similar. Then he would have been forced to marry you!
Hilda. Mom, but you never told me about it!
Lady Dragon. God! Well, it's so natural! You should have guessed! As I will now explain to my father... Well, all right. It's no use talking to a brainless chicken!
The maid enters with a note on a tray.
Housemaid. My lady, a letter for Miss Hilda!
Hilda (reading the note). Mother! It's Lord Pati! He asks me to marry him!
Lady Dragoy (kissing her daughter). My dear, dear girl! You have no idea how happy I am! I always said that you are my smart one!

The above passage shows another contradiction of its time. Lady Dragon did not see anything reprehensible in the fact that her daughter, contrary to all the Norms of Behavior, was alone with a man for an hour! Yes, even in the closet! And all this because they played a very common home game of "hide and seek", where the rules not only allowed, but also prescribed to scatter, breaking into pairs, since the girls could be frightened by dark rooms lit only by oil lamps and candles. At the same time, it was allowed to hide anywhere, even in the owner's closet, as was the case.

With the beginning of the season, there was a revival in the world, and if a girl did not find a husband for herself last year, her excited mother could change her matchmaker and start hunting for suitors again. At the same time, the age of the matchmaker did not matter. Sometimes she was even younger and more playful than the treasure she offered and at the same time carefully guarded. Retire to winter Garden allowed only for the purpose of a marriage proposal.

If a girl disappeared for 10 minutes during the dance, then in the eyes of society she was already noticeably losing her value, so the matchmaker relentlessly turned her head in all directions during the ball so that her ward remained in sight. During the dancing, the girls sat on a well-lit sofa or in a row of chairs, and young people approached them to sign up for a ball book for a certain dance number.

Two dances in a row with the same gentleman attracted the attention of everyone, and the matchmakers began to whisper about the engagement. Only Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were allowed three in a row.

And it certainly was completely unacceptable for ladies to make visits to a gentleman except on very important matters. Every now and then in the English literature of that time, examples are given: “She knocked nervously and immediately regretted it and looked around, afraid to see suspicion or mockery in the passing respectable matrons. She had doubts, because a lonely girl should not visit a lonely man. She pulled herself together, straightened up and knocked again more confidently. The gentleman was her manager and she really needed to speak to him urgently.”

However, all conventions ended where poverty reigned. What kind of supervision could be for girls who were forced to earn a living. Did anyone think that they alone walked along the dark streets, looking for a drunken father, and in the service also no one cared that the maid was left alone in the room with the owner. Moral standards for the lower class were completely different, although here the main thing was that the girl took care of herself and did not cross the last line.

Born into poor families, they worked to the point of exhaustion and could not resist when, for example, the owner of the store in which they worked, persuaded them to cohabitate. They could not refuse, even knowing what fate befell many others who had previously worked at the same place. The addiction was terrible. Having refused, the girl lost her place and was doomed to spend long weeks, or even months, in search of a new one. And if the last money was paid for housing, it means that she had nothing to eat, she could faint at any moment, but she was in a hurry to find a job, otherwise she could lose the roof over her head.

Imagine if at the same time she had to feed her elderly parents and little sisters! She had no choice but to sacrifice herself for them! For many poor girls, this could be a way out of poverty, if not for children born out of wedlock, which changed everything in their situation. At the slightest hint of pregnancy, the lover left them, sometimes without any means of subsistence. Even if he helped for a while, the money still ran out very quickly, and the parents, who had previously encouraged their daughter to feed the whole family with the means earned in this way, now, not receiving more money, dishonored her daily and showered curses. All the gifts that she had received before from a rich lover were eaten up. Shame and humiliation awaited her at every turn. It was impossible for a pregnant woman to get a job - it means that she settled with an extra mouth on the neck of an already poor family, and after the birth of a child, there were constant worries about who would look after him while she was at work.

And all the same, even knowing all the circumstances, before the temptation to hide at least for a while from oppressive poverty, open the curtain to a completely different joyful, elegant world, walk down the street in stunningly beautiful and expensive outfits and look down on people from whom so much work depended on for years, and therefore life, it was almost impossible to resist! To some extent, this was their chance, which they would have regretted in any case, accepting it or rejecting it.

The statistics were relentless. For every former store clerk who proudly strutted around in expensive outfits in the apartment her lover rented for her, there were hundreds whose lives were ruined for the same reason. A man could lie about his status, or intimidate, or bribe, or take by force, you never know the ways in which resistance can be broken. But, having achieved his goal, he most often remained indifferent to what would happen to the poor girl, who would surely get tired of him. Will the poor thing manage her life? How will she recover from the shame that has befallen her? Will she die of grief and humiliation, or will she be able to survive? What will happen to their common child? Former lover, the culprit of her disgrace, now shunned the unfortunate woman and, as if afraid of getting dirty, turned away, making it clear that there could be nothing in common between him and this dirty girl. She might as well be a thief! Driver, move!"

Even worse was the situation of the poor illegitimate child. Even if the father provided financial assistance until he came of age, then even then every minute of his life he felt that they did not want him to be born and that he was not like the others. Still not understanding the word illegitimate, he already knew that it had a shameful meaning, and all his life he could not wash off the dirt.

Mr. William Whiteley cohabited all his saleswomen and abandoned them when they became pregnant. When one of his illegitimate sons grew up, then, experiencing a burning hatred for his father, one day he went to the store and shot him. In 1886, Lord Querlingford wrote in his journal after he had passed through one of the main streets of Mayfair after supper: "It is strange to pass through the rows of women silently offering their bodies to passing men." Such was the result of almost all the poor girls who, to use the terminology of the 19th century, "plunged themselves into the abyss of debauchery." The cruel time did not forgive those who neglected public opinion. The Victorian world was divided into only two colors: white and black! Either virtuous to the point of absurdity, or depraved! Moreover, as we saw above, one could be ranked in the last category, just because of the wrong color of the shoes, because of flirting in front of everyone with a gentleman during the dance, and you never know because of which young girls were awarded a brand from old maidens that, pursing their lips into a thin thread, they watched the youth at the balls.

Text by Tatiana Dittrich (from the book " Everyday life Victorian England").

reproductions paintings by James Tissot.

New avatars "English ladies" (size 150*150 px, perfect for LiRu),

example :

Modern. The best works

Dear friends! As a sign that we are not dead, from this day on we will regale you with huge doses of texts about our beautiful Old New England where we all go to live.

The GM has an idea that the neurotic Victorian society (the era ended with Her Majesty Victoria in 1901) in our year 1909 is still alive in the minds and souls of the British, but this harsh mentality is gradually being replaced by its lighter version - Edwardianism , more refined, refined, frivolous, prone to luxury and adventure. The change of milestones is slow, but still the world (and with it the consciousness of people) is changing.

Let's look today at where we all lived before 1901 and turn to history and Victorian morality. This will be our foundation, the bottom from which we will push off (and for some, a platform on which they will stand firmly and confidently).

Here is a young Queen Victoria for you to start with, who above all valued morality, morality and family values.
A living person fit extremely poorly into the Victorian value system, where each subject was supposed to have a specific set of required qualities. Therefore, hypocrisy was considered not only permissible, but also obligatory. To say what you don't think, to smile if you feel like crying, to lavish pleasantries on people who shake you - this is what is required of a well-mannered person. People should be comfortable and comfortable in your company, and what you feel yourself is your own business. Put everything away, lock it up, and preferably swallow the key. Only with the closest people you can sometimes afford to move the iron mask that hides the true face by a millimeter. In return, society readily promises not to try to look inside you.

What the Victorians did not tolerate was nudity in any form - both mental and physical. And this applied not only to people, but also to any phenomena in general. If you have a toothpick, then there should be a case for it. The case with the toothpick should be stored in a box with a lock. The box should be hidden in a chest of drawers locked with a key. So that the chest of drawers does not seem too bare, you need to cover every free centimeter with carved curls and cover it with an embroidered bedspread, which, in order to avoid excessive openness, should be made with figurines, wax flowers and other nonsense, which is desirable to cover with glass caps. The walls were hung with decorative plates, engravings and paintings from top to bottom. In those places where the wallpaper still managed to immodestly crawl out into the light of God, it was clear that they were decently dotted with small bouquets, birds or coats of arms. There are carpets on the floors, smaller rugs on the carpets, the furniture is covered with bedspreads and dotted with embroidered pillows.

But the nakedness of a person, of course, had to be hidden especially diligently, especially female. The Victorians considered women as some kind of centaurs, who have the upper half of the body (undoubtedly, the creation of God), but there were doubts about the lower half. The taboo extended to everything connected with the legs. The very word was forbidden: they were supposed to be called "limbs", "members" and even "pedestal". Most of the words for pants were taboo in good society. The case ended with the fact that in stores they began to be quite officially titled "unnamed" and "ineffable."

Men's trousers were sewn in such a way as to hide the anatomical excesses of the stronger sex from the eyes as much as possible: dense fabric pads along the front of the trousers and very tight underwear were used.

As for the women's pedestal, it was generally an extremely forbidden territory, the very outlines of which were to be destroyed. Huge hoops were put on under skirts - crinolines, so 10-11 meters of matter easily went on a lady's skirt. Then bustles appeared - lush pads on the buttocks, designed to completely hide the presence of this part female body, so that the modest Victorian ladies were forced to stroll, dragging behind them cloth priests with bows, protruding half a meter back.

Victorian family
“At the head of the average Victorian family is a patriarch who married a virgin bride late. He has rare and discreet sexual relations with his wife, who, exhausted by constant childbirth and the hardships of marriage to such a difficult man, spends most of her time lying on the couch. Before breakfast he arranges lengthy family prayers, flogs his sons to strengthen discipline, keeps his daughters as untrained and ignorant as possible, kicks out pregnant maids without pay or advice, secretly keeps his mistress in some quiet establishment, and probably visits underage children. prostitutes. The woman, on the other hand, is absorbed in caring for the household and children, and when her husband expects her to fulfill marital duties, “lays down on her back, closes her eyes and thinks about England” - after all, nothing more is required of her, because “ladies don’t move.”

Sexual relations
Victorianism achieved the least success in the ethics of gender relations and family life, as a result of which about 40% of the English women of the so-called "middle class" of this era remained unmarried all their lives. The reason for this was a rigid system of moral conventions, which led to a dead end for many who wanted to arrange a personal life.

The concept of misalliance in Victorian England was brought to a real absurdity. For example, at first glance, nothing prevents us from uniting the descendants of two equal noble families by marriage. However, the conflict that arose between the ancestors of these families in the 15th century erected a wall of alienation: the ungentlemanly act of Gilbert's great-great-grandfather made all subsequent, innocent Gilberts ungentlemen in the eyes of society.

Open manifestations of sympathy between a man and a woman, even in a harmless form, without intimacy, were strictly prohibited. The word "love" was completely taboo. The limit of frankness in the explanations was the password "Can I hope?" and the response "I have to think." Courtship was supposed to be public in nature, consisting of ritual conversations, symbolic gestures and signs. The most common location sign, designed specifically for prying eyes, was permission young man carry the girl's prayer book upon returning from Sunday worship. The girl, even for a minute left alone in the room with a man who had no officially declared intentions towards her, was considered compromised. An elderly widower and his adult unmarried daughter could not live under the same roof - they had to either leave or hire a companion for the house, because a highly moral society was always ready to suspect father and daughter of unnatural relationships.

Led by a burgher queen, the British were filled with what Soviet textbooks liked to call "bourgeois morality." Shine, splendor, luxury were now considered things not quite decent, fraught with depravity. The royal court, which for so many years was the center of freedom of morals, breathtaking toilets and shining jewels, turned into the abode of a person in a black dress and a widow's cap. The sense of style made the aristocracy also slow down in this matter, and it is still widely believed that no one dresses as badly as the highest English nobility. Economy was elevated to the rank of virtue. Even in the houses of the lords from now on, for example, candle stubs were never thrown away; they had to be collected, and then sold to candle shops for transfusion.

Modesty, diligence and impeccable morality were prescribed to absolutely all classes. However, it was quite enough to seem the owner of these qualities: they did not try to change the nature of a person here. You can feel whatever you want, but betraying your feelings or doing inappropriate acts is highly discouraged, unless, of course, you valued your place in society. And the society was arranged in such a way that almost every inhabitant of Albion did not even try to jump a step higher. God grant that you have the strength to hold on to the one you are occupying now.

Inconsistency with one's position was punished mercilessly by the Victorians. If the girl's name is Abigail, she will not be hired as a maid in a decent house, as the maid must have a simple name such as Ann or Mary. Footman must be tall and be able to move smartly. A butler with an unintelligible pronunciation or a too direct look will end his days in a ditch. A girl who sits like this will never get married.

Don't wrinkle your forehead, don't spread your elbows, don't sway as you walk, otherwise everyone will think you're a brick factory worker or a sailor: that's exactly how they're supposed to walk. If you drink your food with your mouth full, you won't be invited to dinner again. When talking to an older lady, you need to bow your head slightly. A person who signs his business cards so clumsily cannot be accepted in a good society.

Everything was subject to the most severe regulation: movements, gestures, voice timbre, gloves, topics for conversation. Every detail of your appearance and mannerisms had to scream eloquently about what you are, or rather, you are trying to represent. A clerk who looks like a shopkeeper is ridiculous; the governess, dressed like a duchess, is outrageous; a cavalry colonel should behave differently from a country priest, and a man's hat says more about him than he could tell about himself.

In general, there are few societies in the world in which the relationship between the sexes would please an outsider's eye with reasonable harmony. But Victorians' sexual segregation is in many ways unparalleled. The word "hypocrisy" here begins to play with new bright colors. Things were easier for the lower classes, but starting with the townspeople middle class the rules of the game became more and more complicated. Both sexes got it to the fullest.

Lady

According to the law, a woman was not considered separately from her husband, all her property was considered his property from the moment of marriage. Quite often, a woman also could not be the heiress of her husband if his estate was a major.
Women of the middle class and above could only work as governesses or companions; any other professions simply did not exist for them. A woman also could not make financial decisions without the consent of her husband. Divorce at the same time was extremely rare and usually led to the expulsion from a decent society of the wife and often the husband. From birth, the girl was taught always and in everything to obey men, obey them and forgive any antics: drunkenness, lovers, family ruin - whatever.

The ideal Victorian wife never reproached her husband with a word. Her task was to please her husband, to praise his virtues and to rely entirely on him in any matter. Daughters, however, the Victorians provided considerable freedom in choosing spouses. Unlike, for example, the French or Russian nobles, where the marriages of children were decided mainly by the parents, the young Victorian had to make the choice independently and with wide open eyes: parents could not marry her by force with anyone. True, they could prevent her from marrying an unwanted groom until the age of 24, but if a young couple fled to Scotland, where it was allowed to get married without parental approval, then mom and dad could do nothing.

But usually young ladies were already trained enough to keep their desires in check and obey their elders. They were taught to appear weak, gentle and naive - it was believed that only such a fragile flower could make a man want to take care of him. Before leaving for balls and dinners, young ladies were fed for slaughter so that the girl would not have a desire to demonstrate a good appetite in front of outsiders: an unmarried girl was supposed to peck food like a bird, demonstrating her unearthly airiness.

A woman was not supposed to be too educated (at least not to show it), to have her own views and, in general, to show excessive awareness in any issues, from religion to politics. At the same time, the education of Victorian girls was very serious. If the boys were calmly sent by their parents to schools and boarding schools, then the daughters had to have governesses, visiting teachers and study under the serious supervision of their parents, although there were also girls' boarding schools. Girls, it is true, were rarely taught Latin and Greek, unless they themselves expressed a desire to comprehend them, but otherwise they were taught the same as boys. They were also specially taught painting (at least watercolor), music, and several foreign languages. A girl from a good family must certainly know French, preferably Italian, and usually the third language was German.

So the Victorian had to know a lot, but a very important skill was to hide this knowledge in every possible way. Having acquired a husband, a Victorian often produced 10-20 children. The contraceptives and miscarriage-inducing substances so well known to her great-grandmothers were considered so horribly obscene in the Victorian era that she had no one to discuss their use with.

Nevertheless, the development of hygiene and medicine in England at that time kept alive a record 70% of newborns for humanity at that time. So the British Empire throughout the 19th century did not know the need for brave soldiers.

Gentlemen
Receiving such a submissive creature as a Victorian wife around the neck, the gentleman took a deep breath. From childhood, he was brought up in the belief that girls are fragile and delicate creatures that need to be treated with care, like ice roses. The father was fully responsible for the maintenance of his wife and children. Count on what Hard time wife deigns to give him real help, he could not. Oh no, she herself would never dare to complain that she lacked something! But Victorian society was vigilant that husbands obediently pulled the strap.

The husband who did not give his wife a shawl, who did not move a chair, who did not take her to the water when she coughed so badly all September, the husband who makes his poor wife go out for the second year in a row in the same evening dress, - such a husband could put an end to his future: a favorable place will sail away from him, the necessary acquaintance will not take place, in the club they will communicate with him with icy politeness, and his own mother and sisters will write indignant letters to him in bags daily.

The Victorian considered it her duty to be sick all the time: good health was somehow not to the face of a true lady. And the fact that a huge number of these martyrs, forever moaning on the couches, survived to the first, and even to the second world war, outliving their husbands by half a century, cannot but amaze. In addition to his wife, a man also had full responsibility for unmarried daughters, unmarried sisters and aunts, widowed great-aunts.

In addition, this norm has changed over time in the direction of mitigation. The Custody of Minors Act of 1839 gave mothers of good standing access to their children in the event of a separation or divorce, and the Divorce Act of 1857 gave women (rather limited) options for divorce. But while the husband had only to prove his wife's adultery, the woman had to prove that her husband had committed not just adultery, but also incest, bigamy, cruelty, or desertion from the family.

In 1873, the Custody of Minors Act extended access to children to all women in the event of separation or divorce. In 1878, after an amendment to the Divorce Law, women were able to seek divorce on the grounds abuse and claim custody of their children. In 1882, the Married Women's Property Act guaranteed a woman the right to dispose of the property she brought into marriage. Two years later, an amendment to this law made the wife not the "movable property" of the husband, but an independent and separate person. Through the "Guardianship of Minors Act" in 1886, women could be made the sole guardian of their children if their husband died.

In the 1880s, several women's institutes, art studios, a women's fencing club were opened in London, and in the year of Dr. Watson's marriage, even a special women's restaurant where a woman could safely come unaccompanied by a man. Among the women of the middle class there were quite a lot of teachers, there were women doctors and women travelers.

In the next issue of our "Old New England" - how the Victorian society differs from the Edwardian era. God Save the King!
Author emeraldairtone for which many thanks to her.

Lots of pictures and photos vintage dresses Victorian era and modern.

Quotes from Tatjana Dittrich's book "Daily Life in Victorian England"

The Victorian world was divided into only two colors: white and black! Either virtuous to the point of absurdity, or depraved! Moreover, one could be ranked in the last category just because of the wrong color of the shoes, because of flirting in front of everyone with a gentleman during the dance, but you never know because of which young girls were awarded the stigma from old maids, which, pursing their lips in a thin thread, watched the youth at the balls.

Girls and young women were also under constant surveillance by the servants. The maids woke them up, dressed them, waited at the table, the young ladies made morning visits accompanied by a lackey and a groom, they were at balls or in the theater with mothers and matchmakers, and in the evening, when they returned home, sleepy maids undressed them. The poor things were almost never left alone. If a miss (an unmarried lady) eluded her maid, matchmaker, sister and acquaintances for just an hour, then dirty assumptions were already being made that something might have happened. From that moment on, the contenders for the hand and heart seemed to evaporate.

Girls from good families were never allowed to be alone with a man, not even for a few minutes in the living room of their own house. In society, they were convinced that if a man was alone with a girl, he would immediately harass her. Those were the conventions of the time. The men were in search of prey and prey, and the girls were protected from those who wanted to pick the flower of innocence.

Courtship was supposed to be public in nature, consisting of ritual conversations, symbolic gestures and signs. The most common sign of favor, intended specifically for prying eyes, was the permission for a young man to carry a prayer book belonging to a girl upon returning from Sunday worship ..

However, all conventions ended where poverty reigned. Girls born in poor families worked to the point of exhaustion and could not resist when, for example, the owner of the store in which they served, persuaded them to cohabitate. Imagine if at the same time she had to feed her elderly parents and little sisters! She had no choice but to sacrifice herself for them! For many poor girls, this could be a way out of poverty, if not for children born out of wedlock, which changed everything in their situation. At the slightest hint of pregnancy, the lover left them, sometimes without any means of subsistence.

At the feast, the custom of the so-called segregation of sexes was observed: at the end of the meal, the women got up and left, the men remained to smoke a cigar, skip a glass of port wine and talk about abstract problems and lofty matters ..

The statistics were relentless. For every former store clerk who proudly strutted around in expensive outfits in the apartment her lover rented for her, there were hundreds whose lives were ruined for the same reason. A man could lie about his status, or intimidate, or bribe, or take by force, you never know the ways in which resistance can be broken. But, having achieved his goal, he most often remained indifferent to what would happen to the poor girl, who would surely get tired of him.

Open manifestations of sympathy and affection between a man and a woman, even in a harmless form, without intimacy, were strictly forbidden. The word "love" is completely taboo. The limit of frankness in the explanations was the password "Can I hope?" and the response "I have to think."
.

With the beginning of the season, there was a revival in the world, and if a girl did not find a husband for herself last year, her excited mother could change her matchmaker and start hunting for suitors again. At the same time, the age of the matchmaker did not matter. Sometimes she was even younger and more playful than the treasure she offered and at the same time carefully guarded. It was allowed to retire to the winter garden only for the purpose of offering a hand and heart.

If a girl disappeared for 10 minutes during the dance, then in the eyes of society she was already noticeably losing her value, so the matchmaker relentlessly turned her head in all directions during the ball so that her ward remained in sight. During the dance, the girls sat on a well-lit sofa or in a row of chairs, and young people approached them to sign up for a ball book for a certain dance number.

Two dances in a row with the same gentleman attracted the attention of everyone, and the matchmakers began to whisper about the engagement. Only Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were allowed three in a row.

And it certainly was completely unacceptable for ladies to make visits to a gentleman except on very important matters. Every now and then in the English literature of that time, examples are given: “She knocked nervously and immediately regretted it and looked around, afraid to see suspicion or mockery in the passing respectable matrons. She had doubts, because a lonely girl should not visit a lonely man. She pulled herself together, straightened up and knocked again more confidently. The gentleman was her manager and she really needed to speak to him urgently.”

Months, if not years, passed in Victorian times between the onset of sympathy for each other, which began with a twitch of eyelashes, timid glances that lingered a little longer on the subject of interest, sighs, a slight blush, rapid heartbeat, excitement in the chest, and a decisive explanation. From that moment on, everything depended on whether the girl's parents liked the applicant for the hand and heart. If not, then they tried to find another candidate who met the main criteria of that time: title, respectability (or public opinion) and money. Interested in the daughter's future chosen one, who could be several times older than her and cause disgust, her parents reassured her that she would endure and fall in love. In such a situation, the opportunity to quickly become a widow was attractive, especially if the spouse left a will in her favor.

Months, if not years, passed in Victorian times between the onset of sympathy for each other, which began with a twitch of eyelashes, timid glances that lingered a little longer on the subject of interest, sighs, a slight blush, rapid heartbeat, excitement in the chest, and a decisive explanation. From that moment on, everything depended on whether the girl's parents liked the applicant for the hand and heart. If not, then they tried to find another candidate who met the main criteria of that time: title, respectability (or public opinion) and money. Interested in the daughter's future chosen one, who could be several times older than her and cause disgust, her parents reassured her that she would endure and fall in love. In such a situation, the opportunity to quickly become a widow was attractive, especially if the spouse left a will in her favor.

If a girl did not marry and lived with her parents, then most often she was a prisoner in her own house, where she continued to be treated as a minor who did not have her own opinions and desires. After the death of her father and mother, the inheritance was most often left to the elder brother, and she, having no means of subsistence, moved to live in his family, where she was always put in last place. Servants carried her around the table, her brother's wife commanded her, and again she found herself in complete dependence. If there were no brothers, then the girl, after her parents left this world, moved to her sister's family, because it was believed that an unmarried girl, even if she is an adult, is not able to take care of herself. It was even worse there, since in this case her brother-in-law, that is, a stranger, decided her fate. When a woman married, she ceased to be the mistress of her own money, which was given for her as a dowry. .

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

Times have changed. To look for features of Victorianism in the life of modern Britain is like asking an Englishman to study life modern Russia based on the novels of Turgenev and Dostoevsky. But the sign remained that at the wedding there should be something old, new, borrowed and blue ("something old andsomething new, something borrowed and something blue").

This sign began in Victorian times and since then, many brides try to dress in accordance with tradition. Something old symbolizes the connection with the bride's family, peace and wisdom in marriage. Many brides wear some sort of old family jewel. Something new symbolizes good luck and success in the new life of the bride. Something borrowed reminds the bride that her friends and family will always be there if their help is needed, this thing can be borrowed from a married woman, happily married with the blessing of a good family life. Something blue is (for both pagans and Christians) means love, modesty, fidelity. Usually it's a garter.

In the eyes of the law, a woman was merely an appendage of her husband. She did not have the right to conclude a contract on her own behalf, dispose of property or represent herself in court. Because of this, various incidents happened. For example, in 1870, a London street thief stole the purse from Millicent Garrett Fawcett, a suffragist and wife of a Liberal MP. When the woman was called into the courtroom, she heard that the thief was accused of "stealing from Millicent Fawcett a purse containing 18 pounds 6d, which is the property of Henry Fawcett." As the victim herself later said, “It seemed to me that I myself was being accused of stealing.” Legal literacy was low, so that many women found out about the infringement of their rights only when they were in court. Before that, they believed that everything in their life was safe and trouble would never touch them.

Going to court was often an ordeal for women. For offenses of the fairer sex, they were often punished more severely than men. Take for example such a crime as bigamy (double husbandry), i.e. the marriage of a man to two women or a woman to two men. Bigamy was illegal, but common. For example, in 1845 the laborer Thomas Hall was sued on this charge. His wife ran away, and since someone had to look after his young children, Hall remarried. To obtain a divorce, permission from Parliament was required, an expensive procedure for which the defendant would not have had enough money. Taking into account all mitigating circumstances, the court sentenced him to one day's imprisonment. Women accused of bigamy could not get off with such a light sentence. For example, in 1863, a certain Jessie Cooper appeared before the court. Her first husband left her, and then spread rumors about his death to deceive creditors. Believing these reports, Jessie remarried. When her first husband was arrested and accused of embezzlement, he in turn denounced his wife to the police. new husband Jesse swore that at the time of the marriage he considered her a widow. Therefore, she had to pay alone - the woman was found guilty and sentenced to several months in prison.

As mentioned above, the lack of rights of a woman was also manifested in the fact that she could not manage her own earnings. It seems that everything is not so scary - well, let him put his honestly earned money into a common pot. But the reality was much darker. A woman in the north of England opened a ladies' shop after her husband's business collapsed. For many years, the couple lived comfortably on the income from this institution. But when her husband died, a surprise awaited the enterprising milliner - it turns out that the deceased bequeathed all her property to his illegitimate children! The woman was left to live in poverty. In another case, a woman abandoned by her husband opened her own laundry and kept the money she earned in a bank. Hearing that his wife's business went uphill, the traitor went to the bank and withdrew everything from her account to the last penny. He was within his rights. A husband could also go to his wife's employer and demand that her salary be paid directly to him. So did the husband of the actress Glover, who left her with young children in 1840, but showed up later, when she was already shining on the wall. At first, the theater director refused to comply with his demand, and the case was taken to court. Expressing his regret, the judge nevertheless ruled in favor of the husband, because the rights of the latter were protected by law. Turned into a real nightmare family life Nellie Wheaton. After a few years of working as a governess, she saved up money and bought a cottage that brought her an annual income of 75 pounds. In 1814 she married Aaron Stock, owner of a small factory in Wigan. In 1815, Nelly gave birth to a daughter, but in the same year she wrote in her diary “My husband is my horror, my misfortune. I have no doubt that he will also be my death.” Three years later, Mr. Stock kicked her out when she complained about being unable to manage her income. This scene was followed by a short reconciliation, but soon Mr. Stock had his wife arrested, allegedly because she dared to raise a hand against him. If not for the help of friends who paid bail, Nellie would spend her days in a correctional home. In 1820, the woman received permission to live separately. Now her husband was obliged to pay her 50 pounds a year - less than her income before marriage. In exchange for this, Nellie had to live no closer than three miles from Wigan and see her daughter only three times a year, because again the father got custody of the child.

Despite the blatant injustice, many defended this state of affairs - “Why complain? Only one husband out of a thousand abuses his powers.” But who will guarantee that your husband will not be one of a thousand? Thanks to the efforts of both women and men, in 1870 the Parliament passed the “Act of Property Married Women, "allowing wives to manage their earnings, as well as property received as an inheritance. All other property belonged to the husband. But there was another snag - since the woman, as it were, dissolved in her spouse, she was not responsible for her debts. In other words, clerks from a fashion store could come to her husband and shake everything out of him to the last penny. But in 1882, another Act of Parliament granted women the right to own all property they owned before marriage and acquired after marriage. Now the spouses were responsible for their debts separately. Many husbands find this circumstance convenient. After all, the husband's creditors could not demand that the wife sell her property and pay off his debts. Thus, the wife's property acted as insurance against possible financial collapse.

In addition to financial, there was an even more painful dependence - the lack of rights to children. A child born in marriage actually belonged to his father (while the mother was responsible for an illegitimate child). Upon divorce or separation, the child remained with the father or with a guardian, again appointed by the father. The mother was allowed rare visits with the child. The separation of mothers and children was accompanied by heartbreaking scenes. Thus, in 1872, the Reverend Henry Newenham petitioned the court for custody of his daughters, who were living with their mother, Lady Helena Newenham, and grandfather, Lord Mountcashle. The eldest girl was already 16, so she could make independent decisions and chose to stay with her mother. But the judge ordered that the youngest, seven-year-old girl be delivered to her father. When the performer brought her into the courtroom, she screamed and struggled, repeating “Don't send me away. When will I see my mother again?" The judge assured that her mother would see her very often, and when the baby asked "Every day?", He answered "yes." But Lord Mountcashle, who was present at the scene, said, “Knowing what I know, it is impossible. He [i.e. his son-in-law] is a real devil." However, the girl was handed over to her father, who took her out of the courtroom. The newspaper article about the case touched many mothers who were not even aware of the existence of such laws.

To protect her child, a woman could go through legislative vicissitudes or simply scoop him up and go on the run. The last way was easier, but more dangerous. In particular, the main character of Anna Bronte's novel "The Stranger from Wildfell Hall" (Tenant of Wildfell Hall) did so. Anna is the least known of the Brontë triad, but her romance is in no way inferior to those of her older sisters. The Stranger and Wildfell Hall is Helen Graham. In her youth, she married the charming Arthur Huntington, who turns out to be an alcoholic, a helix and a surprisingly immoral person. After the birth of their son Arthur, Mr. Huntington begins to be jealous of his wife for the child in addition. Over the years, the conflict between spouses only escalates. But if Helen can still endure her husband's constant love affairs, his attitude towards little Arthur becomes the last straw. When Helen notices that Huntington not only teaches the child to swear, but also begins to get him drunk, she decides to run away. Since in the novels everything is a little more prosperous than in life, she succeeds in escaping, but Helen is forced to hide from her husband. Her brother helps her with this. In addition, Helen makes a living by selling paintings. Nevertheless, if it were not for the help of her brother - and as we will see later, not all brothers were so merciful - she would hardly have fed herself with pictures alone. At the end of the novel, Helen's husband dies, having received her forgiveness, and the woman herself finds love and family happiness. She deserved it.

Alas, life is not so romantic. A real example of the struggle for their children is the case of Caroline Norton (1808 - 1877). At the age of 18, the beautiful Carolina married the aristocrat George Norton. Her husband not only had an unbearable character, but was also a lawyer, so he was well aware of his rights. For 9 years, he beat her, and in some cases, Carolina ran away to her father's house. Then Norton begged her for forgiveness and she had no choice but to reunite with him again. After all, on the map was the well-being of her sons, who, according to the law, were supposed to remain with their father. Her husband was constantly short of money, so Mrs. Norton began to earn significant amounts of literary activity - she edited fashionable ladies' magazines, wrote poetry, plays and novels. She spent all her earnings on household needs. At the end of 1835, when the newly beaten Carolina was visiting relatives, Norton sent his sons to his cousin and forbade his wife to see them. He then filed a lawsuit against the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, accusing him of having an affair with Carolina. Thus, he hoped to sue at least some money, but due to lack of evidence, the case was closed. The couple separated, but George refused to tell his wife where their children were. He evaded English laws that allowed the mother to visit the children at least occasionally by going to Scotland, where he did not fall under the jurisdiction of the English court. Carolina did not give up. She launched a campaign to change the rules for the custody of minors. Partly due to her efforts, in 1839 Parliament passed an act allowing women custody of children up to the age of seven (women guilty of adultery forfeited these rights). At least it's now easier for mothers to get dates with their children. Unfortunately, by the time the law was passed, one of Caroline Norton's sons had already died of tetanus. The boy was ill for a whole week before George bothered to inform his wife. When she arrived, she found her son in a coffin. Her troubles didn't end there. The insidious husband not only appropriated the entire inheritance of Carolina, but also confiscated her royalties from the publishers. Carolina, too, did not remain in debt and took revenge on him like a woman - she got into debt up to her ears, which George was obliged to pay. In law. One can only imagine with what pleasure she bought the most expensive outfits!
An 1839 act allowed women to see their children, but in a will, a husband could appoint a guardian of his choice. In other words, even after the death of a tyrant spouse, a woman could not take the children. How can you not fall into despair! But in 1886, the Guardianship of Minors Act was passed, taking into account the well-being of the child. From now on, the mother had the right to custody of the children, as well as the opportunity to become the sole guardian after the death of her husband.
In addition to psychological and economic violence, husbands did not disdain physical violence. Moreover, representatives of different classes beat their wives. Wife-beating was considered an ordinary thing, something like a joke - to remember at least Punch and Judy chasing each other with a stick. Speaking of sticks. The rule of thumb expression is widely known. thumb). For example, in economics it is “a decision rule whereby decisions are made based on the best available this moment option." In other cases, the “rule of thumb” refers to a simplified procedure or decision-making based not on exact, but on approximate data. The phrase is believed to have been traced back to Sir Francis Buller's judgment. In 1782, he ruled that a husband had the right to beat his wife if the stick used for admonishment was no thicker than his thumb. Sharp tongues immediately dubbed Buller "Judge Thumb."

In some cases, the wife's relatives tried to protect her from the cruelty of the domestic despot, but material considerations often prevailed over moral ones. In 1850, Lord John Beresford beat his wife Christina so badly that her brothers saw fit to intercede. But upon arriving at the Beresford estate, they learned that his brother, the Marquess of Waterford, had just broken his neck hunting, so the title goes to John. The brothers thought. Now the relative of the tyrant looked much more attractive. In the end, they turned 180 degrees and convinced the sister to endure the beatings in exchange for the title of Marchioness. Christina took out the insult on the children. Her son, Lord Charles Beresford, swore that on his buttocks he would forever have the imprint of the golden crown that adorned his mother's hairbrush.

Too close friendship with neighbors was a frequent reason for beatings. After all, if women get together, then expect trouble. Surely they will start washing the bones of their husbands and shirking from work. Husbands often explained in court that they were forced to beat their wives to keep them from interacting with other women, in particular their sisters and mothers. But although Victorian laws were unkind to the fair sex, women still received some protection. So, in 1854, the Act for the Prevention of Attacks on Women and Children was passed, thanks to which justices of the peace could themselves resolve cases related to self-mutilation. Previously, such cases were referred to a higher court. But remembering that “darlings scold - they only amuse themselves,” the judges listened to the beaten wives with a condescending smile. One judge advised the assault victim not to annoy her husband again. Another refused to pass judgment until he was sure whether the woman deserved to be beaten because she harassed her husband, or whether the fault lay only with him.

The life of a woman was not highly valued. In 1862, a wealthy Kentish farmer, mayor of Moorton, was accused of beating his wife to death when she would not let him bring two prostitutes into the house. While sentencing Murton to 3 years in prison, the judge said, "I know this will be a severe punishment, because before you held a respected position in society." Murton was shocked by the inhuman verdict. “But I have always been so generous with her!” he exclaimed. In 1877, Thomas Harlow killed his wife with a single blow because she refused to give him the money earned by street vendors to drink. The judge found him guilty, but commuted the sentence due to the fact that Harlow was provoked. On the other hand, when a man-killer was in the dock, she could not count on mercy. In 1869, Susanna Palmer stabbed to death her husband, who beat her for 10 years. Desperate, the woman took the children and fled in the hope of starting life anew. But Palmer found the fugitive, took away and sold all her property. Then she attacked him with a knife. The woman was sentenced to a long prison term and it never occurred to anyone that she, too, had been provoked.

As you can see, the life of women in the 19th century was far from being as cloudless as one can judge from the paintings of salon artists. Perhaps luxurious silk dresses hide traces of bruises, and tender mothers, touchingly hugging their children, will be crying in the courtroom in a few years. However, they did not give up, but continued to fight for their rights - the rights that we enjoy now.

Jean Louis Forain, The Weak and the Opressed

Frederick James Evans, A Frugal Meal

Konstantin Savitsky, Family Quarrel

Margaret Murray Cookesley, The Gambler's Wife

George Elgar Hicks, Mrs. Hicks, Mary, Rosa and Elgar

Augustus Egg

Jean Louis Forain, Absinthe

Punch and Judy

Judge Thumb Caricature
Judge: Who needs a cure for a bad wife? Buy family fun for the long haul winter evenings! Fly in!
Woman: Help, for God's sake! Kill!
Man: Kill, what else! It's the law, you bastard - a stick no thicker than my thumb!