COVE

         New Woman Commentary:

I was looking through some old boxes in the attic, due to my family and I recently unpacking from our move, and found one previously sealed by my mother. She used to always keep such keepsakes, I found them quite endearing to be completely honest, in order for me to have for my little ones if I chose so. It had originally stood out to me due to the lively pink ribbon that wrapped around the parcel like a gentle touch as anything associated with my mother. When I unraveled it and looked upon the contents, I found a dried-pressed sunflower and a cut-out of an old book, Advice to Young Ladies on their Duties and Conduct in Life which I had ripped out of it a few months before and placed it here. I only kept it as something to remember not to be and to not let myself become what I fear. When I was younger, my father used to bring me to this large sunflower field and would read this to me, once a week every Sunday after church with my mother, and I despised it. I can still hear his words ringing in the crevices of my mind, “[…] her acquaintances will be more marked in their attentions than the rest, and, from the privilege of being occasional visitors, seek to establish a still more familiar and unreserved intercourse.” (133) Everything that I was meant to be was scribbled on some endless book. He would always lecture me on the immorality of sexual temptations before marriage and then read to me from this conduct book in hopes it would keep me subjugated. I remember thinking to myself, “Why would I have to be like this when I could be so much more?” Am I truly defined by the attention of men? After all, I am applying to the nearby university so I will be able to prove my father wrong. That I wasn’t just a future housewife. It makes one wonder how much your own kin could love their blood when they try to keep them in chains or give them the wax wings of Icarus.

            Editorial Commentary:

‘Advice to Young Ladies on their Duties and Conduct in Life’, made in 1855, is a piece that is understandably widely accepted for the time. The expectations for women during the Victorian Era were to take care of the children, not have an education, and to not fall to any sexual temptations before marriage. They are supposed to be “enduringly, incorruptible good” and the “Angel in the House” (Introduction to the Victorian Era).  The conduct book was published before women’s rights became a focus or “The New Woman” movement began in London as it reflects teachings, in the context of men’s attention, that for women it must, “never be permitted to enter her mind.” (133). During the Victorian era, women were not supposed to entertain any temptations from men, or they would be termed a “fallen woman”. According to ‘Introduction to the Victorian Era’, a fallen woman was, “a label that encompassed any form of female sexual experience deemed improper or immoral.”. However, a New Woman did not value herself on the entertainment of men but embraced sensuality, her own values, and challenged these labels. There is clear evidence of this same discontent for traditional expectations and values in the writing of the owner of the commonplace book with her disdain for the so called “advice” enforced by her fathers’ teachings which solidifies that fact she is a part of the “New Woman” identity that much of Victorian society had labelled women who did not want to match those societal expectations.

Advice to [[Young]] [[Ladies]] on their Duties and Conduct in Life. London: J.S. Hodson. [Printed Book]. At: Place: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. 270.c.17. Available through: Adam Matthew, Marlborough. Defining Gender, http://www.gender.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/Advice to Young Ladies on their Duties and Conduct in Life [Accessed April 07, 2021].

Introduction to The Victorian Era reading

British Library Learning. “Women's Suffrage Timeline.” The British Library, The British Library, 16 Aug. 2017, www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/womens-suffrage-timeline.

“Pressed Flower: Pressed Flowers, Dried Sunflowers, Sunflower Tattoo.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/568298046733045212/.

         New Woman Commentary:

I was looking through some old boxes in the attic, due to my family and I recently unpacking from our move, and found one previously sealed by my mother. She used to always keep such keepsakes, I found them quite endearing to be completely honest, in order for me to have for my little ones if I chose so. It had originally stood out to me due to the lively pink ribbon that wrapped around the parcel like a gentle touch as anything associated with my mother. When I unraveled it and looked upon the contents, I found a dried-pressed sunflower and a cut-out of an old book, Advice to Young Ladies on their Duties and Conduct in Life which I had ripped out of it a few months before and placed it here. I only kept it as something to remember not to be and to not let myself become what I fear. When I was younger, my father used to bring me to this large sunflower field and would read this to me, once a week every Sunday after church with my mother, and I despised it. I can still hear his words ringing in the crevices of my mind, “[…] her acquaintances will be more marked in their attentions than the rest, and, from the privilege of being occasional visitors, seek to establish a still more familiar and unreserved intercourse.” (133) Everything that I was meant to be was scribbled on some endless book. He would always lecture me on the immorality of sexual temptations before marriage and then read to me from this conduct book in hopes it would keep me subjugated. I remember thinking to myself, “Why would I have to be like this when I could be so much more?” Am I truly defined by the attention of men? After all, I am applying to the nearby university so I will be able to prove my father wrong. That I wasn’t just a future housewife. It makes one wonder how much your own kin could love their blood when they try to keep them in chains or give them the wax wings of Icarus.

            Editorial Commentary:

‘Advice to Young Ladies on their Duties and Conduct in Life’, made in 1855, is a piece that is understandably widely accepted for the time. The expectations for women during the Victorian Era were to take care of the children, not have an education, and to not fall to any sexual temptations before marriage. They are supposed to be “enduringly, incorruptible good” and the “Angel in the House” (Introduction to the Victorian Era).  The conduct book was published before women’s rights became a focus or “The New Woman” movement began in London as it reflects teachings, in the context of men’s attention, that for women it must, “never be permitted to enter her mind.” (133). During the Victorian era, women were not supposed to entertain any temptations from men, or they would be termed a “fallen woman”. According to ‘Introduction to the Victorian Era’, a fallen woman was, “a label that encompassed any form of female sexual experience deemed improper or immoral.”. However, a New Woman did not value herself on the entertainment of men but embraced sensuality, her own values, and challenged these labels. There is clear evidence of this same discontent for traditional expectations and values in the writing of the owner of the commonplace book with her disdain for the so called “advice” enforced by her fathers’ teachings which solidifies that fact she is a part of the “New Woman” identity that much of Victorian society had labelled women who did not want to match those societal expectations.

Advice to [[Young]] [[Ladies]] on their Duties and Conduct in Life. London: J.S. Hodson. [Printed Book]. At: Place: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. 270.c.17. Available through: Adam Matthew, Marlborough. Defining Gender, http://www.gender.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/Advice to Young Ladies on their Duties and Conduct in Life [Accessed April 07, 2021].

Introduction to The Victorian Era reading

British Library Learning. “Women's Suffrage Timeline.” The British Library, The British Library, 16 Aug. 2017, www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/womens-suffrage-timeline.

“Pressed Flower: Pressed Flowers, Dried Sunflowers, Sunflower Tattoo.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/568298046733045212/.