16 Times Victorian Women Slipped Savage Burns Against The Patriarchy Into Their Work
It's easy to understand why many assume the Victorian era was all business and no play. They had a morbid fascination with death and appeared to rarely smile in their portraits. Though most evidence seemingly points to the notion that Victorian life was just as colorless as the photos from that period, it would be a huge disservice to the people who lived during that time to believe they had no sense of humor. Not only were they funny, either, but some Victorians also were downright savage.
The wry cleverness of Victorians is put on full display in the works of literature from the period. As evidenced by the quotes below, female writers from the era never missed an opportunity to slip a burn against the patriarchy into their work.
Like 18th-century slang, these Victorian insults reveal people in history were perhaps more relatable than we expected.
- 1
"Marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.”
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
- 2
”You don't understand women. They don't admire you half so much as you admire yourselves.”
George Eliot, Middlemarch
- 3
"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.”
George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such
Charlotte M. Yonge, The Heir Of Redclyffe
George Eliot, Middlemarch
- 6
"Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives or unmaidenly girls running about to find husbands.”
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
