Victorian Context: Deception 

Sexuality and Prostitution 

• An estimated 80k women were working as prostitutes in London 

• Prostitute = was one of the highest-paid jobs for a woman. 
• Even educated women who learned high-level skills at business colleges didn’t make enough money to support themselves or their children without the aid of a husband.
• 1864: Contagious Diseases Act – held women responsible for the spread of STDs; therefore, doctors could legally examine any woman, or mechanically rape her, upon suspicion. 
• Men of wealthy Victorian society look through sporting guides – detailed prostitutes’ ages, physical descriptions, personality type, and their cost, usually £2–£3 or £5 for a virgin – it helped to decide who to have sex with
• One of the most famous = The Swell’s Night Guide Through The Metropolis – depicted prostitution as just one of the many exciting things that a young man could do while he was visiting London

Prositution Considered in its Social and Sanitary actions – William Acton 

• ‘May be described as the trade adopted by all women who have abandoned an honest course of life’
• ‘She is a woman with half the woman gone’
• ‘A social pest, carrying contamination and foulness’ – ironic since these wealthy men will still have sex despite ‘the foulness’
• ‘Thousands would remain uncontaminated if temptation did not seek them out’ – places blame on the women as she is seen as the tempestuous one – analogy of gunpowder being harmless till spark ignites 
• ‘A thing to wear like a glove, and fling away;’

Louisa May Alcott 

• ‘marriage, they say, halves one’s rights and doubles one’s duty’ – Nora sacred duties
• Known for writing Little Women – the book ends with the main characters married ⇒ many interpret it as conforming to gender expectation 
• But looking closely – Alcott subverts many expectations: 

1. Characters marry for love 
2. Jo turns down a rich man who loves her and spends time working before marrying a man she loves 
3. Also addresses issues surrounding women’s rights at the time 

Behind a Mask – Louisa May Alcott 

Set in Victorian-era Britain, the story follows Jean Muir, the deceitful governess of the wealthy Coventry family. With expert manipulation, Jean Muir obtains the love, respect, and eventually the fortune of the Coventry family.

• ‘So I may be myself for a few horse , if actresses ever are themselves’
• ‘When alone Miss Muir’s conduct was decidedly peculiar’