Victorian Feminism

In the following essay, I will discuss the topic of feminism and the influence it had on Victorian literature. I will present my argument in relation to the ideology of the period, the female intellect associated with certain literature and the criticism that such authors faced during the period. I will argue that as a result of the oppression suffered, female authors saw such offense as their foundation for their production of literature. I will base the bulk of my argument around the author Charlotte Bronte and her novel “Villette” while simultaneously using additional sources such as that of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to further verify my position. In 1837, R. Southey, in a response to Charlotte Bronte’s poetry, stated that; “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure she will have for it, even as an accomplishment and a recreation. To these duties, you have not yet been called, and when you are, you will be less eager for celebrity.” (Gaskell, pp 102-3) It was the mind frame such that of R. Southey that the following argumentation is based on. It was the acceptance of these one sided ideas that originally placed women in a secondary position in all aspects of society and it was in this acceptance that the ideology of society convinced women they were inferior to the male intellect. The female acceptance of a male dominated society is evident in nearly all aspects of Victorian literature regardless of its recognition by the author. For example, the character of Lucy Snowe in Villette, to a large extent depicts the mind frame and depression of a female during the period. Bronte purposely placed Lucy in an equal class setting as a male of the novel Dr John however showed how drastically diverse their lifestyles were. On the one hand we have Dr John, a man where limitless opportunities are granted to him through the course of his life and

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