- Throughout the 1800s, girls and their beauty have been emphasized in artwork.
- One of the most well known symbolisms in art created about women during the time was flowers. Griselda Pollock writes, “Flowers have been used as a metaphor for women’s sexuality” (Pollock, 135).
- Lynne Vallone adds further depth to this idea. In her text, she writes about an interpretation of an art piece, “The Rosebud Garden of Girls,” saying “Perhaps these “flowers” are waiting to be “plucked”— to be chosen by a man” (204). In other words, the women and their sexuality in the painting, represented as flowers, are beautiful for the male gaze and pleasure, which is a reflection of society at the time.
- An unnamed columnist from the 1800s believed that the reason women should try to be beautiful is because “the quality of being pleasing in the eyes of men--a primitive and homely phrase, which perhaps, comprises much of the destiny and desire of women” (“The Relative Advantages of Beauty and Accomplishments,”164). Thus, women should try to be beautiful and pleasing to men because men are in control of a woman’s destiny. This brings us back to the earlier point that young women desired to fulfill their responsibility to the next generation. They could not “respectfully” do that without first getting married, which would be more like and more successful if the young woman was beautiful and/or wealthy, as Jane implied.
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