When eight-year-old boys from aristocratic families went to live in schools, what did their sisters do at this time?
They learned to count and write first with nannies, and then with governesses. They spent several hours a day, yawning and bored, looking longingly out the window, in the room reserved for classes, thinking about how wonderful the weather was for riding. The room contained a table or desk for the student and governess, a bookcase with books, and sometimes a blackboard. 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 arrived 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 became a teenager. I still can’t stand either one or the other. We didn’t study only for half a day on Sunday and the whole day on the name day. The classroom had a closet where books for classes were kept. Miss Blackburn placed a piece of bread for her lunch on the same plate. Every time I couldn’t remember something, or didn’t listen, 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 in there to eat Miss Blackburn's bread. I remained in my captivity until, suppressing my sobs, I could calmly say that now I was good. Miss Blackburn made me memorize pages of history or long poems, and if I missed a word, she made me learn twice as much!”

If nannies were always adored, poor governesses were loved quite rarely. Maybe because the nannies chose their fate voluntarily and remained with the family until the end of their days, and they always became governesses by the will of circumstances. Most often, educated girls from the middle class, the daughters of penniless professors and clerks, were forced into this profession in order to help a bankrupt family and earn their 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 their being able to receive at least some pleasure from their work. They were very lonely, and the servants tried their best to express their contempt for them. The more noble the poor governess's family, the worse they treated her.

The servants believed that if a woman was forced to work, then she was equal in position to them, and did not want to look after her, diligently demonstrating their disdain. If the poor girl was placed in a family that did not have aristocratic roots, then the owners, suspecting that she looked down on them and despised them for her lack of proper manners, disliked her and tolerated her only so that their daughters would learn to behave in society.

Apart from teaching their daughters languages, playing the piano and watercolor painting, parents cared little about deep knowledge. The girls read a lot, but they chose not moralizing books, but romance novels, which they slowly stole 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. At five o'clock tea and baked goods were taken upstairs to the study room. After this, the children did not receive any food until the next morning.

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

Often, French and German women were invited as governesses to teach their daughters French and German. “One day, Mademoiselle and I were walking down the street 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 are walking around. What will they think of dear Betty if such a mentor is looking after her!

Lady Gartwrich (Betty) was younger sister Lady Twendolen, who married Jack Churchill. When she came of age, then
was invited to hunt quite far from home. To get there, she had to use the railroad. She was escorted to the station early in the morning by a groom, who was obliged to meet her here that same evening. Then, with luggage, which was all the equipment for hunting, she rode in a stall car along with the horse. It was considered quite normal and acceptable for a young girl to travel sitting on straw with her horse, as it was believed that it would act as her protection and would kick anyone who entered the stall car. However, if she were unaccompanied in a passenger carriage with the entire public, among whom there could be men, society would condemn such a girl.

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

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

One of the famous and very expensive governesses, Miss Woolf, opened classes for girls in 1900, which operated until the Second World War. “I attended them myself when I was 16, so I know from personal experience what the best education for girls was like at that time. Miss Woolf had previously taught to the best aristocratic families and eventually received a sufficient inheritance to buy a large house in South Adley Street Mather. In one part of it she set up classes for selected girls. She trained the best ladies of ours high society, and I can safely say that I myself have gained 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, the former 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 we were to study that day, then went to the bookcases and took out books for each of us. At the end of classes there was a discussion, sometimes we wrote essays on topics in history, literature, and geography. One of our girls wanted to study Spanish, and Miss Wolf immediately began teaching 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 thirst for knowledge and curiosity about the subjects being studied. She taught us to find interesting sides in everything. She had many male acquaintances who sometimes came to our school, and we received a point of view on the subject of the opposite sex.”

In addition to the listed lessons, the girls also learned dancing, music, handicrafts and the ability to behave in society. In many schools, as a test before admission, they were given the task of sewing on a button or sewing a buttonhole. However, a similar picture was observed only in England. Russian and German girls were much more educated (according to Lady Gartwrich) and knew three or four languages ​​perfectly, and in France the girls were more refined in their behavior.

How difficult it is now for our free-thinking generation, practically not subject to public opinion, to understand that just a little over a hundred years ago it was this opinion that determined the fate of a person, especially girls. It is also impossible for a generation that grew up outside the boundaries of class and estate to imagine a world in which insurmountable restrictions and obstacles arose at every step. 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 home. Society was convinced that as soon as a man was alone with a girl, he would immediately harass her. These were the conventions of the time. Men were in search of victims and prey, and girls were protected from those who wanted to pluck the flower of innocence.

All Victorian mothers were very concerned about the latter circumstance, and in order to prevent rumors about their daughters, which were often spread in order to eliminate a happier rival, they 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, served them at the table, the young ladies made morning visits accompanied by a footman and groom, at balls or at the theater they were with mothers and matchmakers, and in the evening, when they returned home, sleepy maids undressed them. The poor things were hardly left alone at all. If a miss (an unmarried lady) slipped away from her maid, matchmaker, sister and acquaintances for only an hour, then dirty assumptions were already made that something might have happened. From that moment on, the contenders for their hand and heart seemed to evaporate.

Beatrix Potter, the beloved English children's writer, recalled in her memoirs how she once went to the theater with her family. She was 18 years old at the time and had lived in London all her life. However, she had never been near Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Strand and the Monument - famous places in the city center that you couldn’t help but drive past. “It’s amazing to say 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 anyone to accompany me!”

At the same time, Bella Wilfer, from Dickens's book Our Mutual Friend, traveled alone across the city from Oxford Street to Hollowen Prison (more than three miles), according to the author, “as if a crow were flying,” and no one I didn't think it was strange. One evening she went to look for her father downtown and was only noticed because there were only a few women on the street in the financial district at the time. It’s strange, two girls of the same age, and so differently treated one question: can they go out alone? 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 watch them and accompany them wherever they went. And if they worked as servants or in a factory, then they traveled there and back alone and no one thought it was indecent. The higher the status of a woman, the more rules and decency she was entangled with.

An unmarried American woman, who came accompanied by her aunt to England to visit relatives, had to return home on inheritance matters. The aunt, who was afraid 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 had traveled such a long distance on her own, they did not consider her virtuous enough for their circle, suggesting that, being unattended, she could do something illegal. The young American woman's marriage was in jeopardy. Fortunately, possessing a flexible mind, she did not reproach the ladies for the outdatedness of their views and prove them wrong, but instead, for several months demonstrated exemplary behavior and, having established herself in society on the right side, also possessing a pleasant appearance, was very successful got married.

Having become a countess, she quickly silenced all the gossips who still had the desire to discuss her “dark past.”

The wife had to obey and submit to her husband in everything, just like the children. A man must be strong, decisive, businesslike and fair, since he was responsible for the entire family. Here's an example ideal woman: “There was something inexplicably tender in her image. I will never allow myself to raise my voice or just talk to her loudly and quickly for fear of scaring 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 has read a lot and, God forbid, not etiquette manuals, not religious or classical literature, not biographies of famous artists and musicians or other decent publications, if she has seen Darwin’s book “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, an intelligent wife, having read such “nasty”, would begin to express ideas to her husband, and he would not only feel stupider than her, but would also not be able to keep her in check. This is how Molly Hages, an unmarried girl from a poor family who had to earn her own living, writes about it. Being a milliner and having lost her business, she went to Cornwall to visit her cousin, who was afraid of her, considering her modern. “After a while, my cousin complimented me: “They told us that you were smart. But you are not at all!”

In the language of the 19th century, this meant that it turns out that you are a worthy girl with whom I would 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 from her cousin gave Molly an idea of ​​how she should have behaved: “I must hide the fact that I received an education and worked myself, and even more hide my interest in books, paintings and politics. Soon I devoted myself wholeheartedly to gossip about romance novels and “the lengths to which some girls can go” - a favorite topic of local society. At the same time, I found it quite comfortable to appear somewhat strange. This was not considered a vice or shortcoming. 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 understood why. 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."

Opera is also a great topic of conversation. The opera Gilbert and Sullivan was considered very popular at this time. In Gissing’s work entitled “Women in Disarray,” the hero visited the friend of an emancipated woman:

“Is this new opera by Schlberg and Sullivan really that good? - he asked her.
- Very! Have you really not seen it yet?
- No! I’m really ashamed to admit this!
- Go this evening. If, of course, you get free space. Which part of the theater do you prefer?
- I am a poor man, as you know. I must be content with a cheap place."
A few more questions and answers - a typical mixture of banality and tense insolence, and the hero, peering into the face of his interlocutor, could not help but smile. “Isn’t it true, our conversation would be approved over traditional tea at five o’clock. I heard exactly the same dialogue yesterday in the living room!”

Such communication with conversations about nothing led some to despair, but the majority were quite happy.

Until the age of 17-18, girls were considered invisible. They attended parties, but did not have the right to say a word until someone addressed them. And even 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 would not attract the attention of suitors intended for their older sisters. No one dared to jump their turn, as happened to Eliza Bennet's younger sister in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When their time finally came, all attention was immediately turned to the blossoming flower, the parents dressed the girl in her best so that she could 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 terrible excitement! After all, from that moment on, she became noticeable. She was no longer
a child who, after patting him on the head, was sent away from the hall where the adults were. Theoretically, she was prepared for this, but in practice she did not have 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 guests of parents, and the young were only allowed to attend these events.

Many girls sought to get married only because they considered the worst of evils to be their own mother, who said that it was ugly to sit with your legs crossed. They really had no concept of life, and this was considered their great advantage. Experience was seen as bad manners and almost equated with a bad reputation. No man would want to marry a girl with what was thought to be a bold, daring outlook on life. Innocence and modesty were traits that were highly valued in young maidens by the Victorians. Even the colors of their dresses when they went to the ball were surprisingly monotonous - 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 the spectacular ladies who dressed in the best outfits, traveled in the best carriages, and cheerfully and relaxedly received guests in richly furnished houses. When mothers went out into the street with their daughters, then, in order to avoid explanations, who were they? beautiful ladies, forced the girls to turn away. The young lady was not supposed to know anything about this “secret” side of life. It was all the more a blow for her when, after marriage, she discovered that she was uninteresting to her husband and he preferred to spend time in the company of such cocottes. Here's how a Dale and Telegraph journalist describes them:

“I gazed at the sylphs as they flew or sailed in their delightful riding costumes and intoxicatingly beautiful hats, some in beaver hunting hats with flowing veils, others in coquettish cavalry hats with green feathers. And while this magnificent cavalcade passed by, the mischievous wind slightly lifted their skirts, revealing small, tight-fitting boots with military heels, or tight riding trousers.”

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

Not only was the entire structure of life structured in such a way as to preserve morality, but clothing was also 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 if we assume that her date was experienced in lingerie and could help her, most of the date would have been spent getting rid of the clothes and then putting them back on. In this case, the experienced eye of the maid would instantly see problems in petticoats and shirts, and the secret would still be revealed.

Months, or even years, passed in Victorian times between the emergence of sympathy for each other, beginning with the fluttering of eyelashes, timid glances lingering a little longer on the object of interest, sighs, a slight blush, rapid heartbeat, excitement in the chest, and the decisive explanation. From that moment on, everything depended on whether the girl’s parents liked the candidate for her 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. Having become interested in their daughter’s future chosen one, who could be several times older than her and cause disgust, the parents reassured her that he would endure it and fall in love. In such a situation, the opportunity to quickly become a widow was attractive, especially if the husband left a will in her favor.

If a girl did not marry and lived with her parents, then most often she was a captive in own home, where she continued to be treated as a minor who had no opinions or desires of her own. 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 with his family, where she was always put in last place. The servants carried her around at the table, her brother’s wife commanded her, and again she found herself completely dependent. 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 was an adult, was not able to take care of herself. It was even worse there, since in this case her fate was decided by her brother-in-law, that is, a stranger. When a woman got married, she ceased to be the owner of her own money, which was given as a dowry for her. The husband could drink them away, skip them, lose them, or give them to his mistress, and the wife could not even reproach him, since this would be condemned in society. Of course, she could be lucky and her beloved husband could be successful in business and take into account her opinion, then life really passed in happiness and peace. But if he turned out to be a tyrant and tyrant, then one could only wait for his death and be afraid at the same time of being left without money and a roof over his head.

To get the right groom, no expense was spared. Here is a scene from a popular play that Lord Ernest himself wrote and often performed in his home theater:

“A rich house on an estate where Hilda, sitting in her own bedroom in front of the 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've done a lot, my dear!
Hilda. What's up, mom?
Lady Dragon (mockingly). What's going on! Sitting in a closet with a man all night and not getting him to propose!
Hilda, Not all night at all, but just a short time before dinner.
Lady Dragon. It is the same!
Hilda. Well, what could I do, mom?
Lady Dragon. Don't play dumb! There are a thousand things you could do! Did he kiss you?
Hilda. Yes mom!
Lady Dragon. And you just sat there like an idiot and allowed yourself to be kissed for an hour?
Hilda (sobbing). Well, you yourself said that I should not resist Lord Paty. 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 have no brains 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 be forced to marry you!
Hilda. Mom, but you never told me about this!
Lady Dragon. God! Well, it's so natural! You should have figured it out yourself! How will I explain to my father now... Well, okay. It's no use talking to a brainless chicken!
A maid enters with a note on a tray.
Housemaid. My lady, a letter for Miss Hilda!
Hilda (after reading the note). Mother! It's Lord Paty! He asks me to marry him!
Lady Dragoy (kissing her daughter). My dear, dear girl! You can't imagine how happy I am! I always said that you are smart!”

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 Standards of Behavior, was alone with a man for an entire hour! And even in the closet! And all this because they were playing a very common home game of “hide and seek”, where the rules not only allowed, but also ordered them to run away in pairs, since the girls could be scared of dark rooms lit only by oil lamps and candles. In this case, it was allowed to hide anywhere, even in the owner’s closet, as was the case in the above case.

With the beginning of the season, there was a revival in the world, and if a girl had not found a husband last year, her worried mother could change the matchmaker and start hunting for suitors all over again. In this case, 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 was permitted only for the purpose of marriage proposal.

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

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

And it was certainly completely inappropriate for ladies to visit 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 ridicule among the respectable matrons passing by. 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 talk to him urgently.”

However, all conventions ended where poverty reigned. What kind of supervision could there be over girls forced to earn a piece of bread? Did anyone think that they walked alone through the dark streets, looking for their drunken father, and at work, no one cared that the maid was left alone in the room with the owner. Moral standards for the lower class they were completely different, although here the main thing was that the girl should take care of herself and not cross the last line.

Those born in poor families worked until exhaustion and could not resist when, for example, the owner of the store where they worked persuaded them to cohabitate. They could not refuse, even knowing what fate befell many others who had previously worked in the same place. The addiction was terrible. Having refused, the girl lost her place and was doomed to spend long weeks, or even months, looking for a new one. And if the last money was paid for housing, it means that she had nothing to eat, she could faint from hunger 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 have been a way out of poverty, if not for the 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 money she earned in this way, now, not receiving any more money, disgraced her daily and showered her with curses. All the gifts she had previously received from her rich lover were eaten away. Shame and humiliation awaited her at every step. It was impossible for a pregnant woman to get a job - this meant that she was putting an extra strain on the neck of an already poor family, and after the birth of the child there remained 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, to open the curtain to a completely different joyful, elegant world, to walk down the street in stunningly beautiful and expensive outfits and look down on the people from whom so much For years, work, and therefore life, depended, it was almost impossible to resist! To some extent, this was their chance, which they would regret in any case, accepting it or rejecting it.

The statistics were inexorable. For every former saleswoman from a store who proudly walked in expensive outfits into the apartment that 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 definitely tire of him. Will the poor thing be able to arrange 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 shame, now avoided the unfortunate woman and, as if afraid of getting dirty, turned away to the side, making it clear that there could be nothing in common between him and this dirty girl. She might also be a thief! Cabby driver, go!”

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

Mr. William Whiteley persuaded all his saleswomen to cohabitate and abandoned them when they became pregnant. When one of his illegitimate sons grew up, he, feeling a burning hatred for his father, one day came to the store and shot him. In 1886, Lord Creslingford wrote in his journal, after walking down one of the main streets of Mayfair after dinner: “It is strange to walk through rows of women silently offering their bodies to the passing men.” This was the result of almost all the poor girls who, to use nineteenth-century terminology, “threw themselves into the abyss of depravity.” Cruel times did not forgive those who disdained public opinion. The Victorian world was divided into only two colors: white and black! Either she is virtuous to the point of absurdity, or she is depraved! Moreover, one could be classified in the last category, as we saw above, simply because of the wrong color of shoes, because of flirting in front of everyone with a gentleman during a dance, but you never know because of which young girls were awarded a stigma from the old ones maidens who, compressing their lips into a thin thread, watched the youth at the balls.

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

Reproductions paintings by James Tissot.

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

The Victorian world was divided into only two colors: white and black! Either she is virtuous to the point of absurdity, or she is depraved! Moreover, one could be classified in the last category simply because of the wrong color of shoes, because of flirting in front of everyone with a gentleman during a dance, but who knows why, young girls were awarded the stigma from old maids that, having pursed 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, served them at the table, the young ladies made morning visits accompanied by a footman and groom, at balls or at the theater they were with mothers and matchmakers, and in the evening, when they returned home, sleepy maids undressed them. The poor things were hardly left alone at all. If a miss (an unmarried lady) slipped away from her maid, matchmaker, sister and acquaintances for only an hour, then dirty assumptions were already made that something might have happened. From that moment on, the contenders for their hand and heart seemed to evaporate.

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 home. Society was convinced that as soon as a man was alone with a girl, he would immediately harass her. These were the conventions of the time. Men were in search of victims and prey, and girls were protected from those who wanted to pluck the flower of innocence.

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

However, all conventions ended where poverty reigned. Girls born into poor families worked until exhaustion and could not resist when, for example, the owner of the store where they worked 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 have been a way out of poverty, if not for the 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.

During 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, drink a glass of port and talk about abstract problems and lofty matters...

The statistics were inexorable. For every former saleswoman from a store who proudly walked in expensive outfits into the apartment that 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 definitely tire of him.

Open manifestations of sympathy and affection 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 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 had not found a husband last year, her worried mother could change the matchmaker and start hunting for suitors all over again. In this case, 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 proposing marriage.

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

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

And it was certainly completely inappropriate for ladies to visit 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 ridicule among the respectable matrons passing by. 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 talk to him urgently.”

Months, or even years, passed in Victorian times between the emergence of sympathy for each other, beginning with the fluttering of eyelashes, timid glances lingering a little longer on the object of interest, sighs, a slight blush, rapid heartbeat, excitement in the chest, and the decisive explanation. From that moment on, everything depended on whether the girl’s parents liked the candidate for her 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. Having become interested in their daughter’s future chosen one, who could be several times older than her and cause disgust, the parents reassured her that he would endure it and fall in love. In such a situation, the opportunity to quickly become widowed was attractive, especially if the husband left a will in her favor

Months, or even years, passed in Victorian times between the emergence of sympathy for each other, beginning with the fluttering of eyelashes, timid glances lingering a little longer on the object of interest, sighs, a slight blush, rapid heartbeat, excitement in the chest, and the decisive explanation. From that moment on, everything depended on whether the girl’s parents liked the candidate for her 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. Having become interested in their daughter’s future chosen one, who could be several times older than her and cause disgust, the parents reassured her that he would endure it and fall in love. In such a situation, the opportunity to quickly become a widow was attractive, especially if the husband left a will in her favor.

If a girl did not marry and lived with her parents, then most often she was a captive in her own home, 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 with his family, where she was always put in last place. The servants carried her around at the table, her brother’s wife commanded her, and again she found herself completely dependent. 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 was an adult, was not able to take care of herself. It was even worse there, since in this case her fate was decided by her brother-in-law, that is, a stranger. When a woman got married, she ceased to be the owner of her own money, which was given as a dowry for her. .

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Times have changed. Looking for Victorian features in the life of modern Britain is the same as 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, something new, borrowed and something blue (“something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue”).

This sign began in Victorian times and since then many brides have tried 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 old family jewelry. Something new symbolizes good luck and success in the bride's new life. Something borrowed reminds the bride that her friends and family members will always be there if their help is needed, this item can be borrowed from a married woman who is happily married with the blessing of a good family life. Something blue (both among pagans and Christians) means love, modesty, and fidelity. Usually this is a garter.

In Victorian England, a woman who wore makeup was considered a prostitute. And although a 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 give it up and try something more natural.

As a result, the 1800s saw a huge number of inventions 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 aspired to have an extremely pale complexion. 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 on their faces. In the Victorian era, people were obsessed with death, so they found it attractive when a woman looked unhealthy.

In one of the books of the Victorian era, women were recommended to apply a small amount of opium from lettuce leaves to their face 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 tan marks, it was recommended 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, fashion was curly hair. The first curling irons were tongs that had 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 it: it instantly burned.

As a result, baldness became a common problem among women during the Victorian era. But even if they skillfully used a curling iron, constantly wearing curly hairstyles had a negative impact on the scalp.

To combat hair-related problems, women have tried various remedies, including teas and medications. Some of them washed their hair in water with an ammonia solution to stimulate hair growth. Ammonia is known to burn the respiratory tract and skin. It also “eats out” the eyes.

To combat baldness, women were recommended to use a mixture of equal parts of quinine sulfate and aromatic 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. Blood purification

In the Victorian era, many people died from consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis), and society was terribly fascinated with 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 argued that in this way the body was cleansed of dirt, which is why 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 cherries for dinner. If they felt that this was not enough for them to maintain strength, they could drink some warm broth.

Victorian beauty experts advised women to apply ammonium carbonate and powdered charcoal to their facial skin to maintain their beauty. In addition, they were advised to take various medications every three months to “cleanse” their blood, although 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 physical appearance, as well as modern people. Many years before the appearance plastic surgery There were many different companies that produced devices to correct the shape of the nose. These metal devices were strapped to a person's face to make the soft cartilage of the nose smaller or straighter than it was before.

Devices for correcting the shape of the nose have not lost their popularity even after many years. Hezar Bigg invented a spring-loaded contraption with straps that helped keep a metal “mask” on a person’s face while they slept or did other things during the day. With its help, the nose took on a more attractive shape over time.

Dr. Cid, a Victorian-era Parisian surgeon, reported to his English colleagues that he had created a spring-loaded metal 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 extremely popular, designed to make a woman’s waist as thin as possible. To lose weight, some representatives of the fair sex deliberately swallowed tapeworm eggs (tapeworm). These slimy little creatures hatched inside the stomach and devoured everything the woman ate. Having achieved her goal of losing weight, she took pills to remove the tapeworm. In the Victorian era, it was believed that a worm would come out on its own if you sat with your mouth open in front of a bowl of milk. However, as you know, tapeworms can reach 9 meters in length, so even if this method were effective, a person could suffocate in the process.

Dr. Meyers from Sheffield (a city in England) invented a device designed to remove tapeworms from a patient's stomach. It was a metal cylinder filled with food. It was forced 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 it inside. Unfortunately, many of those who sought help from Meyers died from asphyxiation during this strange procedure.

6. Deadly belladonna eye drops

In addition to a pale complexion, 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 belladonna leaf, he can die. In small doses, the plant's poison can cause intestinal irritation, rash, swelling and even blindness. Women of the Victorian era knew about this, but still continued to use products that contained poisonous belladonna.

Queen Victoria used belladonna eye drops to treat cataracts. They dilated the pupils, so it seemed to the queen that her vision 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 tooth decay (especially for those who suffered from acid reflux). Toothpaste People living at that time were replaced by powder made from stale bread or charcoal.

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

8. Chemical method of removing body hair

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

However, not all methods were safe. One book recommended that women use bleach to remove body hair (as well as bleach their shoulders). It was recommended to do this near an open window and with great caution, since bleach can corrode the skin if left on it for a long time.

9. Shadows with mercury and lead

Women of the Victorian era avoided wearing eye makeup to avoid looking like fallen women and to look natural. They paid the most attention to complexion and eyebrows. However, to highlight their eyes, they applied homemade creams to their eyelids, consisting of, for example, cold cream and crushed cochineal (insects).

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

10. Taking baths with arsenic

Dear friends! As a sign that we have not died, 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.

GM has an idea that the neuroses-ridden Victorian society (the era ended with Her Majesty Victoria in 1901) in 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, sophisticated, frivolous, prone to luxury and adventure. The change of milestones occurs slowly, 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 look at history and Victorian morality. This will be our foundation, the bottom from which we will push off (and for some, the platform on which they will stand firmly and confidently).

Here's the young Queen Victoria, who valued morality, ethics and family values ​​above all else.
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 acceptable, but also obligatory. Saying what you don’t mean, smiling when you want to cry, lavishing pleasantries on people who make you shake—this is what is required of a well-mannered person. People should feel comfortable and comfortable in your company, and how you feel is your own business. Put everything away, lock it, and preferably swallow the key. Only with the closest people can you sometimes allow yourself to move the iron mask that hides your true face a millimeter. In return, society readily promises not to try to look inside you.

What the Victorians did not tolerate was nudity of any kind - both mental and physical. Moreover, this applied not only to people, but 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 must be hidden in a locked chest of drawers. To prevent the chest of drawers from seeming too bare, you need to cover every free centimeter of it with carved curls and cover it with an embroidered bedspread, which, in order to avoid excessive openness, should be filled with figurines, wax flowers and other nonsense, which it is advisable to cover with glass covers. The walls were covered with decorative plates, engravings and paintings from top to bottom. In those places where the wallpaper still managed to immodestly come out into the light of God, it was clear that it was decorously 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 strewn with embroidered cushions.

But human nakedness, of course, had to be hidden especially carefully, especially female nakedness. The Victorians viewed women as some kind of centaurs, who had 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 feet. This very word was prohibited: they were supposed to be called “limbs”, “members” and even “pedestal”. Most words for pants were taboo in good society. The matter ended with the fact that in stores they began to be quite officially titled “unnameable” and “unspeakable.”

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

As for the ladies' pedestal, this was generally an exclusively forbidden territory, the very outlines of which had to be destroyed. Huge hoops were worn under skirts - crinolines, so that a lady's skirt easily took 10-11 meters of material. Then bustles appeared - lush overlays on the buttocks, designed to completely hide the presence of this part female body, so that modest Victorian ladies were forced to walk, dragging behind them their cloth butts with bows, protruding half a meter back.

Victorian family
“The average Victorian family is headed by a patriarch who married a virginal bride late in life. He has rare and restrained 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 sofa. He holds lengthy family prayers before breakfast, whips his sons with rods to enforce discipline, keeps his daughters as untrained and ignorant as possible, kicks out pregnant maids without pay or recommendations, secretly keeps a mistress in some quiet establishment, and probably visits minors. prostitutes. The woman is absorbed in worries about the household and children, and when her husband expects her to fulfill marital duties, she “lies on her back, closes her eyes and thinks about England” - after all, nothing else is required of her, because “ladies do not move.”

Gender relations
Victorianism achieved its least success in the ethics of gender relations and family life, as a result of which about 40% of Englishwomen of the so-called “middle class” of this era remained unmarried throughout 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 their personal lives.

The concept of misalliance in Victorian England was brought to the point of real absurdity. For example, at first glance, nothing prevents the descendants of two equal noble families from marrying. 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 explanations was the password “Can I hope?” and the response “I have to think.” Courtship was supposed to be public, consisting of ritual conversations, symbolic gestures and signs. The most common sign of favor, intended specifically for prying eyes, was permission for the young man to carry the girl’s prayer book upon returning from Sunday services. A girl who was left alone in a room for even a minute 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 move away or hire a companion in the house, because a highly moral society was always ready to suspect father and daughter of unnatural relationships.

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

Modesty, hard work and impeccable morality were prescribed to absolutely all classes. However, it was quite enough to appear to have these qualities: there was no attempt to change human nature. You can feel whatever you want, but giving away your feelings or doing inappropriate things was highly discouraged, unless, of course, you valued your place in society. And society was structured 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 position you occupy now.

Inconsistency with one's position was punished mercilessly among the Victorians. If a girl's name is Abigail, she will not be hired as a maid in a decent house, since the maid must have a simple name, such as Anne or Mary. There must be a footman tall and be able to move deftly. A butler with an unintelligible pronunciation or too direct gaze 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 when walking, otherwise everyone will decide that you are a brick factory worker or a sailor: that’s exactly how they are supposed to walk. If you wash down 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 good society.

Everything was subject to the most severe regulation: movements, gestures, voice timbre, gloves, topics of conversation. Every detail of your appearance and manners should have eloquently screamed about what you are, or rather, trying to represent. A clerk who looks like a shopkeeper is ridiculous; the governess dressed up like a duchess is outrageous; a cavalry colonel must behave differently from a village 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 gender relations would please the outsider with reasonable harmony. But Victorian sexual segregation is in many ways unparalleled. The word “hypocrisy” here begins to play with new bright colors. Things were simpler for the lower classes, but starting with the townspeople mediocre the rules of the game became extremely complicated. Both sexes got it to the fullest.

Lady

By law, a woman was not considered separately from her husband; her entire fortune was considered his property from the moment of marriage. Quite often, a woman also could not be the heir of her husband if his estate was a primogeniture.
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 her husband's consent. Divorce was extremely rare and usually led to the expulsion of the wife and often the husband from polite society. From birth, the girl was taught to always and in everything obey men, obey them and forgive any antics: drunkenness, mistresses, ruin of the family - anything.

The ideal Victorian wife never reproached her husband with a word. Her task was to please her husband, praise his virtues and rely entirely on him in any matter. However, the Victorians gave their daughters considerable freedom in choosing spouses. Unlike, for example, the French or Russian nobles, where children’s marriages were decided mainly by parents, the young Victorian had to make a choice independently and with wide discretion. with open eyes: her parents could not force her to marry anyone. True, they could prevent her from marrying an unwanted groom until she was 24 years old, but if the young couple fled to Scotland, where it was allowed to get married without parental approval, then mom and dad could not do anything.

But usually young ladies were already sufficiently trained to keep their desires in check and obey their elders. They were taught to appear weak, tender 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 the desire to demonstrate a good appetite in front of strangers: 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 to show it), have her own views and generally show excessive knowledge in any issues, from religion to politics. At the same time, the education of Victorian girls was very serious. If parents calmly sent boys to schools and boarding schools, then 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 learn them, but otherwise they were taught the same as boys. They were also especially taught painting (at least watercolor), music and several foreign languages. A girl from a good family had to know French, preferably Italian, and usually German came third.

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, the Victorian woman often gave birth to 10-20 children. The contraceptives and miscarriage-causing substances so well known to her great-grandmothers were considered so monstrously obscene in the Victorian era that she had no one to discuss their use with.

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

Gentlemen
Having such a submissive creature as a Victorian wife on his neck, the gentleman took a deep breath. From childhood, he was raised to believe that girls are fragile and delicate creatures who need to be treated with care, like ice roses. The father was fully responsible for the maintenance of his wife and children. Count on the fact that Hard time his wife would deign to provide him with real help, he could not. Oh no, she herself will never dare to complain that she lacks something! But Victorian society was vigilant in ensuring that husbands dutifully pulled the strap.

A 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 was coughing so terribly all September, a husband who forces his poor wife to 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 profitable place will float away from him, the necessary acquaintance will not happen, they will begin to communicate with him at the club with icy politeness, and his own mother and sisters will write him indignant letters in bags every day.

The Victorian considered it her duty to be constantly ill: good health was somehow unbecoming of a true lady. And the fact that a huge number of these martyrs, forever moaning on their couches, lived to see the First and even the Second World War, outliving their husbands by half a century, cannot but amaze. In addition to his wife, the man also had full responsibility for his unmarried daughters, unmarried sisters and aunts, and widowed great-aunts.

In addition, this norm has changed over time towards softening. The Guardianship of Minors Act in 1839 gave mothers of good standing access to their children in the event of separation or divorce, and the Divorce Act of 1857 gave women (fairly limited) options for divorce. But while the husband had to prove only 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 Guardianship of Minors Act expanded access to children to all women in the event of separation or divorce. In 1878, after an amendment to the Divorce Act, women were able to seek divorce on the grounds ill-treatment and claim custody of their children. In 1882, the Married Women's Property Act guaranteed a woman the right to control the property she brought into marriage. Two years later, an amendment to this law made the wife not a “chattel” of the spouse, 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 without being accompanied by a man. Among middle-class women there were quite a few teachers, and there were female doctors and female travelers.

In the next issue of our "Old New England" - about how Victorian society differs from the Edwardian era. God save the king!
Author emeraldairtone , for which I thank her very much.

The status of women in the Victorian Era often seems to us to illustrate the striking disparity between England's national power, wealth, etc., and social conditions for women. The 19th century was a time of technical, scientific and moral revolution in England.

The technical revolution led to an increase in the well-being of the nation: after the “hungry 40s”, when a huge part of the population became beggars, in the 50s England went up sharply economically, forward towards a civilized market, the number of rich people and people with income grew, its positions and the middle class, the stronghold of a civilized state, increased in number. By the 50s, the “moral revolution” was completed, which changed the national English character. The British ceased to be one of the most aggressive, cruel nations, becoming one of the most restrained.

The industrialization and urbanization of English society entailed serious changes not only in the production and economic spheres, but also in the sphere of social relations at all levels without exception: between men and women, adults and children, priests and parishioners, employers and employees.
With the growth of prosperity, many middle-class women, whose mothers and grandmothers, helping their husbands, took an active part in the family business, were “retired” to country houses. Here their life was limited to the private sphere, and their activities were aimed at raising children and running a household.

Legal sphere.
Parliamentary reform of 1832 established a certain social position for women. For the first time in English history, the term “male person” appeared in a legislative act, the use of which allowed parliamentarians to deprive a woman of the opportunity to participate in elections, citing the fact that citizens whose interests are part of the interests of other citizens (male persons) should be deprived of political rights. In the category of such citizens were children, as well as women, whose beliefs should always correspond to the beliefs of their fathers or husbands.
The latter meant the absolute dependence of women not only legally and economically, but also politically. A woman was a dependent creature in every sense, especially a married woman, whose property, income, freedom and consciousness almost entirely belonged to her husband.
By law, a married woman's rights were the same as those of her children. The law treated a married couple as one person. The husband was responsible for his wife, and was required by law to protect her; the wife had to obey him. The property that belonged to her as a girl now became the property of her husband, even in the event of divorce. The wife's income also belonged entirely to the husband, just as the right to custody of children in case of anything went to the father. He had the right to prohibit any contact between mother and children.
The wife could not enter into a contract on her own behalf; she required the consent of her husband.
However, there were also advantages. For example, a wife could not be punished for offenses such as theft, since she was believed to be acting at the instigation of her husband. It was impossible to accuse a woman of robbing her husband, since before the law they were one person.

No less significant in shaping the idea of ​​the social status of women was the widespread dissemination of evangelical ideas. In the 1790s. An evangelical movement for moral reform arose, promoting the “Doctrine of True Womanhood.” This idea “led to a narrowing of the very concept of “female nature”: such distinctive features as fragility, simplicity, purity, tenderness, kindness, patience, affection, etc. began to mean that a woman belongs only to the home and must serve the family, which it acts as a morally ennobling force.”

Woman within the household.
The term "General of the Household" appeared in 1861 - in Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management. She writes that a housewife can be compared to the commander of an army or the president of a company. To achieve respect, success and comfort for everyone family, she must conduct affairs prudently and thoroughly. The mistress of the house must be able to organize the servants, assign them tasks, control them - which is not an easy task. She must organize dinner parties and evenings to maintain the prestige of her husband, as well as invite them to the house. new people for possible economically beneficial agreements. At the same time, she must be sure that she devotes enough time to the children, and also engages in her own self-education and improves her abilities and knowledge (stirring soup in the kitchen with one hand, darning the children’s socks with the other, apparently with the third). , turn the pages of a book).
Mrs. Beaton assigns an important role to women in maintaining psychological climate in the house. In addition to the fact that a woman should take care of the sick in the family, and in ordinary times she should be gentle, sweet and tolerant, her manners should be soft and affectionate. And God forbid that you should incur the wrath of your husband in any way.

The role of mother, homemaker and respectable Christian was not limited to the family. The woman had moral responsibility not only for her husband and members of her family, but also for people lower on the social ladder: her servants and poor families living in the neighborhood.
The woman turned out to be a central link in organizing the social life of the estate belonging to her family and most often acted as a benefactor. In light of the increasingly stronger idea of ​​patronage in the public consciousness, which charged aristocrats with taking care of the people who depended on them, charity was perceived as the responsibility of women. This, in the opinion of many, was the special mission of women “... to expand that influence over all layers of the poor population, which, for the general good of this country, they extend to most of the classes below,” wrote the Reverend Father in 1855 Brewer. Many women realized that they should not expect gratitude for such charitable activities; on the contrary, they themselves should thank Providence for the fact that they were given the opportunity to help people. “Great property,” argued the Duchess of Northumberland, “makes a person feel that more must be done to justify having that property.” Countess Mintow wrote that she “never experienced such pain as when ... there was no opportunity to fulfill her duty.” Demonstrating the goodness of family life, lavishing kindness, and helping through charitable activities to reduce the gap between the “two nations” of rich and poor was considered almost exclusively a female mission.

Woman's body.
A woman should always be neat and clean, maybe except during menstruation. Her body was seen as a kind of bastion of purity and purity. A woman was not supposed to wear any cosmetics or jewelry, or even wear clothes that showed skin, and there was no question of showing stockings or underwear. Some believed that these draconian rules were common because a woman's body was considered the property of her husband, meaning women could not show their bodies to other men. On the other hand, the same rule also applied to men - they were also not supposed to use cosmetics and jewelry, or wear revealing clothes. So we can say that Victorian morality affected not only women, but also men.

Woman and sex.
Sexual and ethical restrictions were widespread in the country, and a double morality developed. The attitude - well-bred ladies do not move - invited “society women” to surrender themselves passively, immobilized, without emotions, even to the point of concealing the orgasmic experience and certainly without any sensual impulses (in bed, as in a high-society ritual). This was due to the interpretation of Christian morality, the norms of which, as is known, condemn any sexual manifestations not related to procreation.
The husband and wife go to bed. Before going to bed, the husband began to fulfill his marital duties. Suddenly he stopped and asked:
- Darling, did I by any chance hurt you?
- No, but why did you decide that?
- You just moved now.
According to the Victorian ideal, a gentleman of a certain age falls in love, proposes marriage, walks down the aisle, and then, in the name of procreation, from time to time has sexual intercourse with his wife, who remains completely equanimous.
Prostitution, meanwhile, was not prohibited; it was an acceptable phenomenon. Even though such women were not considered human beings, they looked at a man using the services of a prostitute with complete calm, this was generally accepted.
If a husband suspects his wife of something immoral, he fully right was to kick his wife out of the house, and this was the most common reason for divorce. Finding herself on the street, a woman often had no other choice but to kill herself and sell herself. Thus, a woman could not have sex with anyone other than her husband, but this prohibition did not apply to men. It was considered completely natural that if he wanted another woman, this was not even a proper reason for divorce (and really, what trifles - then everyone would have been divorced long ago :)). Women couldn't behave like that. The most important and valuable thing for them was their reputation, and it was so easy to lose it once rumors spread that she was a fallen woman!
Education.
Of course, a woman's education was very different from a man's. A woman had to know only the necessary things in order to run a home and raise children. Typically, women studied subjects such as history, geography and literature, sometimes Latin and ancient Greek. Women who were interested in physics, chemistry and biology were simply laughed at.
The path to universities was closed to women. It was believed that learning was contrary to their nature, and this only made them sicker and generally go crazy. No one argues that grazing cows in a meadow is healthier than spending hours on the Internet writing stupid articles.

For a number of reasons, among which the most significant were the parliamentary reform of 1832, and before that the liberal ideas of the French Revolution, the idea arose in the minds of the Victorians about the need to reconsider issues related to the social status of women and her rights. The women's issue found itself at the center of an ideological conflict between democratic concepts of
individual rights and traditional perception of social role relations within society.
In 1869 The widely popular work of J.S. is published. Mill's “The Subjection of Women” (1869), the author of which makes an attempt to convincingly prove the inconsistency and fallacy of the principle firmly established in the minds of the Victorians, regulating the social relations of the two sexes: the legalized subordination of one sex to the other. This principle, according to Mill, was erroneous and hindered all social development and therefore needed serious revision and replacement with the principle of complete equality proposed by the author of the work, which did not allow any privileges for men and restrictions on the rights of women.

The Order of Release
Millais

When we devote our youth to God, "tis pleasing in His eyes - a flower, when offered in the bud, is no vain sacrifice.
William Powell Frith

Hunt
The Awakening Conscience