Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons

16 Times Victorian Women Slipped Savage Burns Against The Patriarchy Into Their Work

Garri Chaverst
Updated January 16, 2020 14.5k votes 2.3k voters 44.1k views
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Vote up the fire 19th-century clapbacks you'd retweet today.

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.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
  • "Marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.”
    1

    "Marriage, they say, halves one's rights and doubles one's duties.”

    1,511 votes

    Louisa May Alcott, Little Women 

  • ”You don't understand women. They don't admire you half so much as you admire yourselves.”
    2

    ”You don't understand women. They don't admire you half so much as you admire yourselves.”

    1,161 votes

    George Eliot, Middlemarch 

  • "Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.”
    3

    "Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.”

    1,188 votes

    George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such 

  • "Many men are neither worthy of their wives, nor of their dogs.”
    4

    Charlotte M. Yonge, The Heir Of Redclyffe

  • “And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.”
    5

    George Eliot, Middlemarch 

  • "She would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior.”
    6

    "She would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior.”

    1,157 votes

    Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford