This poem extols the virtues of an ideal woman during Victorian times. Coventry Patmore wrote this poem to memorialize his deceased wife, Emily. It chronicles a young, virtuous woman’s life from youth to marriage and all that a man should expect from their devoted wives. This poem was published in four installations in 1858, but didn’t gain popularity until later in 19th century. This popularity made it a common fixture in Victorian libraries. The term “Angel in the home” became a universal term for women of this era.
Some of the most memorable lines refer to the woman and are characteristics. In Canto IV The Morning Call he mentions:
How artless in her very art;
How candid in discourse; how sweet
The concord of her lips and heart;
How simple and how circumspect;
How subtle and how fancy-free;
Though sacred to her love, how deck'd
With unexclusive courtesy;
How quick in talk to see from far
The way to vanquish or evade;
How able her persuasions are
To prove, her reasons to persuade;
How (not to call true instinct's bent
And woman's very nature, harm), How amiable and innocent
Her pleasure in her power to charm;
How humbly careful to attract,
Though crown'd with all the soul desires,
Connubial aptitude exact,
Diversity that never tires.
This Canto mentions many different characteristics from how “artless” this woman is to how “amiable and innocent” a woman should be. The way in which the woman is described in this poem symbolized the typical middle-class woman and the expectations placed on her. Because middle-class women did not work, their contribution to society and the family was to meet these characteristics and expectations.
These ideals were both emulated and satirized through the late Victorian times. In Lady Audley’s Secret there is a sensational aspect associated with a woman and her household. This push back questioned the values of this perfect woman in Patmore’s poem and what it represented. Lady Audley herself appears to epitomize this figure; however, it is also alluded to that she has a dark secret of some kind. Lady Audley’s character would have been easily recognizable due to this trope. She herself is described as humble, sweet, and beautiful. Many authors used this trope to their advantage to either utilize what the “angel” represents or to present a different reality.
Additional Sources:
“Angel in The House by Coventry Patmore, Summary and Analysis.” Victorian Era Life in England. Victorians Society & Daily Life, www.victorian-era.org/angel-house-coventry-patmore.html.
“Coventry Patmore.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/coventry-patmore.
“Coventry Patmore's Poem, The Angel in the House.” The British Library, The British Library, 6 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/collection-items/coventry-patmores-poem-the-angel-in-the-house.