Women's fiction and education across the Victorian era

¶ … Fiction and Instruction

A Women's Experience Before, During, and After the Victorian Era

Does the prose style displayed by women writers have any unintended or intended benefits as it related to educating readers, especially women? Was Victorian women's fiction intended to be educational at all? If so, in what ways? How have pre-Victorian and post-Victorian female writers influence and been influenced by the works of Victorian era women writers? What are some examples than can be found in text? What theories and topics mix in with the educational perspective?

Before and after the Victorian era has sparked revival of literature by and for women. Whether they describe romantic encounters or are laced with bits of virtue, Victorian themed literature often came with some form of message or described the daily lives of the women who lived during and before that time. Not only were women writers taking the stage and showing the world the talent and perspective of a woman, but also how women during this era reacted to fulfilling traditional roles of wife, daughter, and mother. Among these writers, a string of works could be considered by critics and audiences as educational as they frequently spoke of how one should act within society as a Victorian woman, and what could be learned from their experiences. Whether or not the prose style of these women writers was intentionally mean to take on educational standpoint depends on what the meanings behind these stories offered in terms of lessons learned and the overall experience.

Fifteen female writers, most of which were writers from or before the Victorian era, have in some way or another, shown that even through works of fiction and nonfiction, a message or lesson could find its way to a reader and thus an audience, enabling a deeper understanding of Victorian women and how society viewed them. Some of these works, most notable from Virginia Woolfe, became classics, and have spawned numerous books from present day writers that attempt to interpret and apply from a theoretical standpoint, the words of these famous and well-known women writers. The works represent at times, snippets of real world situations from the time they were written. Particularly with the nonfiction works, they highlight opinions and views of Victorian women at the time and what societal expectations they dealt with. This can serve not only as a historical reference point, but also a way to educate women and men of the struggle of Victorian women in an oppressive society that limited their role in the home and outside the home.

Scholarly Context

Fiction Examples

Several notable women writers from English literature like Jane Austen, wrote works that depicted scenes of wealthy and gentry and life within pre-Victorian society. From Northanger Abbey Austen provides the reader with a simple, but often overlooked "lesson" that readers can pick up as informative or educational because the work represented everyday life. A form of miniature "life lesson." "From Pope, she learnt to censure those who 'bear about the mockery of woe.' From Gray, that 'Many a flower is born to blush unseen, 'and waste is fragrance on the desert air.' From Thompson, that-.. 'To teach the young idea how to shoot'." (Austen 9) Austen's work inspired the Victorian writers through expression of routine and desire and often provided what was often lacking in literature of the time, exploration of the feminine condition. Writers like Bronte is a good example, which will be discussed later on.

Often wisdom is passed down from interactions and communication. When applying this perspective, it seems as though many works of the time by female writers show, unintentionally at times, how things were and how one should be, thus providing an educational context for which readers can derive information and wisdom from. It is through this cycle and written interpretation that writers like Austen can show and thus educate others on how life was for people like her and those who lived in her era.

Even in her colorful language, her use of simile and description can show all too well how women felt and dealt with situations and circumstances. "And that a young woman in love always looks- 'like Patience on a monument 'Smiling at Grief.'" (Austen 9) Women are more than willing to sacrifice their lives and their freedoms for those they love. Austen teaches the reader of these kinds of sacrifices while also providing complexity of interpretation of perspective, adding to the concept of expression through writing

Bronte is another classic women writer that showed a "day in the life" of women of her time. In Agnes Grey, a brief scene shows how women were educated in the Victorian era with focus on etiquette and acquirement of refined tastes. "Her mother was partly aware of her deficiencies, and gave me many a lecture as to how I should try to form her tastes, and endeavor to rouse and cherish her dormant vanity." (Bronte?, Hughes-Hallett and Bronte? 69) Women were and still are to some extent, brought up to be polite, quiet, and pretty. This was so they could/can find husbands and marry to avoid becoming what has been quintessentially termed, "a spinster," essentially losing a chance at a decent life and family. The prose style of Bronte indicates her work is meant to show something through experience rather than simply explaining.

Bronte continues with how Victorian women learned to be "ladies" and explains how one would prepare a woman to learn. "I should prepare and smooth the path of learning till she could glide along it without the least exertion to herself: which I could not, for nothing can be taught to any purpose without some little exertion on the part of the learner." (Bronte?, Hughes-Hallett and Bronte? 69) Often when people educate others, there has to be some desire to learn. Women were educated during this era, at home (the ones who could afford it). When they were instructed, they were usually instructed by private tutors. These tutors were paid by the family and at times lived with them, making education for women hard to come by and costly.

In Jane Eyre, Bronte includes another brief snippet into the informal education techniques as well as the way would-be students or informal students/formal students, practiced what they learned and then applied it to being a Victorian woman. "Fortunately I had had the advantage of being taught French by a French lady…learned a portion of French by heart daily, apply myself to take pains with my accent…I had acquired a certain degree of readiness and correctness in the language." (Bronte? et al. 104) Victorian women in a sense represented civility and restraint. With tight corsets and long dresses, they were made to remain controlled and polished. As Bronte shows in the scene, French and European traditions, were often taught to female students in order to present a polished and pristine Victorian woman image. This scene represents to the reader how women may have learned and in what manner they learned.

In Mary Barton, Gaskell, much like Bronte, examines the feminine condition, but in a manner in which shows the pain of existence rather than a day in the life. "Days of oppressive weariness and languor, whose realities have the feeble sickliness of dream; nights, whose dreams are fierce realities of agony; sinking health, tottering frames, incipient madness, and worse, the consciousness of incipient madness; this is the price of their whistle." (Gaskell 232) Here a reader witnesses the insanity of existence within a controlled and strict society and the trouble some may have had adhering to such restriction. Women were always dependent on men in Victorian society and were taught to behave in such a way that would keep them obedient and submissive. It wasn't until the 20th century that women could vote and ever later to sexually express themselves. It is here in these oppressive moments that the plight of women translated and does translate into literary work and thus further examination of women of the era.

Gaskell's prose style although filled with many semi-colons, especially in the chosen snippet, acts as a way of showing the exhaustive and often brutal reality of life. Well to do women were shown frequently in Victorian literature, but poorer women were not and it was important to highlight what lower class women went through in this era as they struggled more, receiving less opportunities for an education and personal development. Poor women in Victorian society also struggled with poor health as food was not made readily available to them nor was a stable home or home life.

Not all lessons expressed by these women writers were about education and manners. In East Lynne, Wood shows how important it is to be thrifty, unintentionally providing a life lesson to the reader. "Willful waste makes woeful want. I taught that to you as a child. To be thrifty is a virtue; to squander is a sin. Say at once an empty pocket is better than a full one." (Wood 192) Virtue was another highly prized personality trait in Victorian society and it was one thing that was instructed and thrust upon women at all times. To be virtuous was to earn the respect and acceptance of society. So for Wood to include this in her book, it provides a means for readers to appreciate and understand spending habits of women at the time and most importantly, how to be virtuous in doing so. Without virtuous acts and behaving virtuously, most women would have not been deemed worthy to marry, and would have ultimately become social pariahs.

Nonfiction Examples

In nonfiction, women writers took the stage and expressed their views of how men perceived them and what men expected from them. "Men are irritated with women for not being happy. They take it as a personal offence. To God alone may women complain without insulting Him!" (Nightingale and McDonald 22) Although literature of this nature was not the norm, it demonstrated several key things. Nightingale wrote and addressed the topic of women's suffering at the hands of their husbands as well as at the hands of other women and their expectations of how women in general should behave. That is not to say women did not lead happy lives before and during the Victorian era, but women writers, especially in nonfiction, often showcased their negative feelings concerning this area of discussion in order to not just express their suffering, but also allow the women who read these stories to relate it as well.

Men's expectations and society's expectations always found their way in one form or another in women writers' work, whether fiction or nonfiction. Nightingale's example is no exception. When women writers of the time chose to showcase their writing, they made a point to include grievances, especially when writing an autobiography. Meant to show the woman condition, these women writers wanted to directly show the reader real experiences, more so than with the fiction novels, to explain to the world and the reader the plight of women and the hardships they had to endure.

Nightingale's prose style has a way of showing through expression and through honesty, the complexities that lie between assuming the "woman identity" and rebelling against it. In a sense, in "Cassandra," Nightingale explains how women are forced to assume a hypocritical identity through acceptance of being a woman and thus suffer through the acceptance. Although society forced women to accept this identity, for her, this identity was unbearable and highlighted the growing need for women to change their lives for the better and escape such oppressive identities. And so in her writing, she believed pain was the better option over paralysis (surrender), meaning she believed struggling through suffering was better than the indifferentism often experienced by women of her time, thus providing another "epiphany" moment to her readers.

Nightingale, like many of the Victorian women writers, came from a family of means. She, born from a rich, British, upper class family, had the connections, and the resources available to "rebel" against traditional archetypes of women and write and publish works concerning "masculine" topics like medicine. As Nightingale describes in her work, women from Nightingale's "genteel" class, led a life filled with well-built gardens, frequent acts of charity, and new furniture. Although a dull life, it propelled a woman like her to speak of things like the next Christ being female and women's ideology and experiences, explained through the life of Christ, thus showing women that they did not have to simply adhere to society's expectations, but rather form and embrace their own identity.

Although a bit odd for the time, it was indeed a means of educating men and women on the diverse perspectives of women during the Victorian era, especially those with better economic means. It also offered a glimpse into how women interwove religious images into their thoughts and theories. Her and other women writers, provided poorer and less able women of the time to learn from the experiences of these better off women as well as understand things from a broader perspective than just the masculine or "stereotypical feminine" perspective.

There were many expectations in place for women in Victorian society. Women were often expected to follow a number of social practices, legal rules, as well as economic structures like marrying and having children young, staying at home to raise the children, and obeying the husband. These all worked together to induce many a woman to marry. After marriage, then the woman was expected to remain obedient to and dependent on her husband even if the woman was unhappy in her marriage. There were however, some changes within the society of the time that provided at least some alternatives to the expected life models. For instance, women began working outside the home and earned their own wages. From here, writers like Shanley showcased these examples and included them in their own works. "Increasingly, married women worked in isolation from men, who now earned money outside the home." (Shanley 7)

From earning money outside the home to getting married amidst a slightly changing society, women like Mona Caird made her mark and perhaps provided chances for educating readers further on women's changing condition through her essays and nonfiction works. In an essay titled "Marriage," Mona Caird discusses the difficulties of existence as a woman through certain topics relating to human nature. "It is not difficult to find people mild and easy-going about religion, and even politics may be regarded with wide-minded tolerance; but broach social subjects, and English men and women at once become alarmed and talk about the foundations of society." (Leighton and Surridge 331) Often when nonfiction women writers discuss topics like this, it is meant to show and help readers understand the women perspective by directing readers to understand better how the minds of women were while living the lives they did at the time. Because so many women felt oppressed and unable to show their opinions out in public, writing was a means of openly expressing themselves without having to deal with resistance or opposition and also offer other women an outlet for their frustrations through the reading of their work.

Human nature as expressed through prose style and education is seldom expressed in colorful language. Yet there are instances in literature where it is and teaches something at the same time. "The rooms were delightful, but so were the prices, which I inquired, as we had been taught to do in Italy, before taking possession. I faltered, and said we had been sent there by Mr. Pentland-but -- the named acted like magic." (Oliphant and Jay 131) In this scene, the reader learns how to inquire about prices, and using well-known contacts to ensure better deals. Small things like this not only educate the reader on the often over-looked norms and practices of society, but also does so in an amusing and entertaining fashion. A combination of these things allows for easier absorption and understanding of customs and practices in society making the work of women writers of the Victorian era a sort of "time capsule" for experiences within the era.

In, In Search Of Our Mothers' Gardens, Walker provides and imparts a willing and intentional bit of wisdom on never giving up. "Fortunately, what Sarah Lawrence teaches is a lesson called 'How to Be Shocked and Dismayed but Not Lie Down and Die,' and those of who have learned this lesson will never forget it" (Walker 34) This life lesson, like the several featured in the fiction section, provides additional support for the notion that women writers wanted to educate their readers on some level, especially their female readers. Female readers often lacked the availability to knowledge and education that men had and so these books, were in some way or form fulfilling a base need and commonly absent aspect of feminine identity and life.

Virginia Woolf, a woman born after the Victorian era, is a great example of the influence of previous women writers and how this influence inspired notable and classic work by other women writers. A well-known and noted writer, included in her nonfiction book, A Room of One's Own, she expressed the need to learn and the need to grow in order to provide others a world of information that ignored and dismissed the forced feminine identity in lieu of something more universal, more balanced. "It brought buried things to light and made one wonder what need there had been to bury them. She wrote as a woman, but as a woman who has forgotten that is a woman..." (Woolf 84) These women, who wrote and discussed their feelings on several topics, wanted to show readers and the world, that they could exist successfully outside the mold of "Victorian woman." And in doing so, provided a means of educating those women that read their work like their predecessors did.

As earlier mentioned, women often learned at home. The home life of women was connected to female education and thus was often a closely used means of expression for women writers. "The situation in the home, obviously a topic closely related to female education, she displays with her usual accuracy." (Beer 163) This ultimately proves that although unintentional, women writers showcased education through home life. Examples from both fiction and nonfiction texts depicts these educational themed instances and proves that women whether knowingly or not, instructed their readers on how women were, felt, and learned before, during, and after the Victorian era.

Methodology

In order to find examples in text that showcased not only prose style that proved the thesis, but also was in some way or form educational, search began with finding literary works that were written by women. These works not only had to fulfill this base criteria, but also had to come from two different sources. Only showcasing fiction writers would only show the imagined condition, the imagined instances of instruction and education in literature. By including the nonfiction works, it also provides enough context to explain why perhaps women writers wanted to educate their readers on things like the female identity and expectations of society.

Chapter Descriptions

The Introduction and thesis are meant to highlight and provide questions in regard women writers as it pertained to educating their readers in their works as well as their influence on writers during and after the Victorian era. The introduction helps provide enough momentum to allow for analysis of the work in the next section which is Scholarly Context. Scholarly Context was split into two sections. The reason being is, one section included fiction and the other nonfiction.

It was important to split this section in this manner to avoid confusion and to portray instances of educational moments in both works of fiction and nonfiction. This is to help elucidate and highlight the various instances of instruction and show if it was intentional or not. The fiction section showed instances of education and learning through a scene. The nonfiction section showed the same through experiences and writer perspectives.

Methodology is a brief section describing the process of choosing the writers as well as explaining why only women writers were chosen. It helps clear up reasoning behind selection. It also provides further mention of other sources as relating to theory which is seen in the next section.

Significance as it relates to theory applies theoretical perspective by women writers of the present time. It allows connection of the previous books. The theory explained in this section supplements additional information and support for the thesis and prose style of the women writers. Chapter Descriptions and Conclusion follow and are used as a means of closing the paper and providing final thoughts and brief synopsis.

Conclusion

Pre, during and post Victorian era was filled with a variety of different works from both male and female writers. British literature of the time contained many notable and classic works from women writers like, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and Florence Nightingale. These works set to provide a female audience as well as a male audience with a better understanding of the human condition and the female condition. The literary works written by women writers, sought to provide identity and significance from a female perspective that was lacking in most literary work.

Women writers both in fiction and nonfiction attempt to, in their books and essays, to showcase not just a different perspective, but also lessons and wisdom that was often lacking in literature directed towards women. Women of the Victorian era were always expected to behave "lady-like" and dress and act appropriately. They had to obey their husbands and focus on marriage and motherhood. However, thanks to the women writers briefly examined, women did not just want to simply live a "woman's life." They wanted to learn and grow.

It is this desire to learn and expand their horizons that fueled work outside of the home and women earning wages. The women writers were some of these women who broke the mold and chose to do things that were traditionally seen as associated to men's identity. Although not a lot of change and progress happened during this era, as it would happen later on, it was definitely not an era of defeat from the women's perspective. It generated great and intelligent women that educated their audiences in many aspects of life and society.

Lessons, experiences were sewn into the stories and when applying standpoint theory, wished to showcase through everyday actions their view on the world and how women lived it. Victorian women lived lives that were controlled. They fulfilled their expectations and fell into the guidelines of society even if they didn't want to. But one way they always managed to rebel and change the way in which they were perceived and perceived the world was through education. Education at home was integral in women learning. That is why many of the scenes depicted in the various scenes of the books show women learning at home.

Even well to do women from accomplished families often learned at home with private tutors. They were the ones that made up the majority of the women writers of the time. Because of this, the less fortunate women that read their books and essays, became enlightened from their work and thus these women writers became examples and leaders for their cause and their beliefs.

In conclusion, the Victorian era was filled with interesting stories and literary works. Some of the most famous from this era were written by women writers. These writers, although perhaps unintentionally, not just delivered entertainment, but also wise instruction and lessons on how to exist within a limiting society and to create a unique and owned identity aside from the masculine universal one often depicted in works of literature.