Gender, Sexuality and Victorian Texts Timeline

Salem Witch Trials

The Salem witch trials began in Salem Village, Massachusetts after a group of girls claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused other women of witchcraft. There were 19 supposed witches that were hung and many more accused. The belief in witches emerged in Europe in the 14th century and was widespread in colonial New England. The trials mainly revolved around women and girls and many lower-class women were accused and faced consequences. 

Works Cited:

History.com Editors. “Salem Witch Trials.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Nov. 2011, www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials.

Vindication of the Rights of Woman

In January 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which laid out the tenets of what today we call ‘equality’ or ‘liberal’ feminist theory. She further promoted a new model of the nation grounded on a family politics produced by egalitarian marriages. Image: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman title page from the first American edition, 1792 (Library of Congress).  This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Anne K. Mellor, "On the Publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman"

Related Articles

Ghislaine McDayter, "On the Publication of William Godwin’s Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1798"

Birth of Harriet Taylor Mill

Harriet was born in 1807 in Walworth, south London, to parents Harriet and Thomas Hardy who was a surgeon. Harriet was educated at home and at an early age expressed a strong interest in writing and in poetry. She wrote a lot and wrote for the journal Monthly Repositoy and "Enfranchisemnt of Women". Many of her writing, however, were never in her name; she was not given all the credit she deserved because she was a women. 

Pride and Prejudice Published

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austin based off feminine identity, societal pressures, and the struggles of the women. This book is similar to that of The Story of a Modern Woman in that it was one of the few books published during the time that had women and their lives as the main focus of the novel. It was written in the 20th century and published in 1813. This book is a fantastic read. 

Eliza Lynn Linton was born

Eliza Lynn Linton was born in Cumberland, England. She became the first salaried female author and wrote over twenty novels. She is well known for her anti-feminist essays, which often critiqued the changes in English society involving the "new woman."

Offences Against the Person Act 1828

The Buggery Act 1533, moved the issue of sodomy from the ecclesiastical courts to the state, was repealed and replaced by the Offences Against the Person Act 1828, streamlined penalties for assault, battery, rape, infanticide, attempted murder, manslaughter, and murder. Buggery remained punishable by death.

RELATED ARTICLES

- “The Buggery Act 1533.” The British Library, The British Library, 16 Dec. 2014, www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-buggery-act-1533.

Birth of Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti was born on 5 December 1830 at 38 Charlotte Street (now 105 Hallam Street) in Marylbone, London to Gabriele Rossetti and Frances Polidori.

Accession of Queen Victoria

Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on June 20, 1837.

Act on Custody of Infants

On 17 August 1839, passage of an Act to Amend the Law Relating to the Custody of Infants. The Act allowed a separated wife to petition the court for custody of her children under the age of seven. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Related Articles

Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”

Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

The New Swell's Night Guide

The New Swell's Night Guide was a guidebook on how to appropriately approach actresses and prostitutes. The book had detailed descriptions of the locations (clubs, pubs, etc.) at which prostitutes could be found, in addition to the drawbacks and advantages of each location. The Guide was very blunt and to the point, stating exactly what was to be expected and how the men/women were regarded.

ARTICLES

- Hughes, Kathryn. “Gender Roles in the 19th Century.” The British Library, The British Library, 13 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-ce….

- “The New Swell's Night Guide.” The British Library, The British Library, 6 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-new-swells-night-guide.

The Angel in the House poem by Coventry Patmore

Coventry Patmore writes the poem, "The Angel in the House" and holds his wife to be the example that all women should follow. Women were supposed to be submissive and devoted to their husbands and have the qualitites of charm, purity, grace, sympathy, and self-sacrificing. 

Petition for Reform of Married Women’s Property Law

On 14 March 1856, presentation of the Petition for Reform of the Married Women’s Property Law, 1856. The petition began the joint effort by lawmakers and public women to grant married women control of their own wealth.

Articles

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

Related Articles

Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”

Anne D. Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″

Ella Nora Hepworth Dixon's Birth

Ella Nora Hepsworth Dixon, child of William Hepsworth Dixon and Mary Ann MacMahon, was born on March 27th, 1857 in London. She was the 7th of 8 kids. 

Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857

On 28 August 1857, passage of the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. The Act legalized divorce and protected a divorced woman’s property and future earnings. The grounds for divorce for men was adultery (in legal terms, criminal conversation), for women adultery combined with bigamy, incest, bestiality, sodomy, desertion, cruelty, or rape. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″

Related Articles

Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”

Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

English Woman’s Journal first published

March 1858 saw the first issue of England’s first feminist monthly magazine, the English Woman's Journal. Aimed primarily at a middle-class audience, the magazine promoted new employment and educational opportunities for women, and featured a mix of political and social commentary, reportage of current events, poetry, book reviews, and a correspondence column. Image: Photograph of Bessie Rayner Parkes Belloc (date unknown). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Janice Schroeder, “On the English Woman’s Journal, 1858-62″

Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW) founded

Jessie Boucherett, Barbara Bodichon and Adelaide Anne created SPEW to normalize employing women in new fields, such as typists.

Bridger, Anne. “History of Futures for Women: Future For Women (SPTW).” Future For Women SPTW, 2009, futuresforwomen.org.uk/history/.

Publication of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management

During this time, many books were published that told women how to be good wives and household managers. Mrs Beeton's book of Household Management was one of these books and it was a bestseller for 50 years. The book gave advice on how to be the perfect housewife and how to create a domestic interior that provided a welcoming haven for the man of the house.

Death of Prince Albert

On December 14, 1861 Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert died. It was considered the Queen's 'darkest day' and she's known to have dressed in black for the rest of her life.

https://theconversation.com/what-really-killed-prince-albert-85939#:~:text=It%20was%20Queen%20Victoria's%20darkest,fever%3A%20duration%2021%20days%E2%80%9D.

Sesame and Lilies

A novel published in 1865 by John Ruskin, depicting the roles and "natural duties of men and women." This work was been acknowledged by many scholars as being culturally important. The novel works as a bridge between Ruskin's "Of Kings' Treasuries" and "Of Queens Gardens." The author himself, John Ruskin, was one of the most influential authors during the nineteenth century. Through Ruskin's writings he "carefully constructs(s) gender roles that were supported by Victorian consciousness," including the suggestion that "women be allocated to the home."

ARTICLES

- Nord, Deborah. Sesame and Lilies John Ruskin | Department of English. 1 Sept. 2002, english.princeton.edu/research/sesame-and-lilies-john-ruskin.

- “Sesame and Lilies. - Scholar's Choice Edition.” Google Books, Creative Media Partners, LLC, 19 Feb. 2015, books.google.com/books/about/Sesame_and_Lilies_Scholar_s_Choice_Editi.html?id=sx1DrgEACAAJ.

Poems and Ballads

Poems and Ballads, published in 1866, was the first collection of poems by Algernon Charles Swineburne. The book was an instant hit and well-liked by many, however, it also had an equal amount of controversy due to it's explicit and untalked about contents including; lesbianism, sadomasochism, and anti-theism. This collection of poetry was often seen as "explicit and often pathologically sexual." 

ARTICLES

-  Walsh, John A. “An Introduction to Algernon Charles Swinburne.” The Algernon Charles Swinburne Project, swinburnearchive.indiana.edu/swinburne/view.

- Norton, Rictor. “Homosexuality in the Eighteenth-Century England.” Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: The Toast, rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/toast.htm.

- “Algernon Charles Swinburne.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/algernon-charles-swinburne.

John Stuart Mill published “The Subjection of Women”

John Stuart Mill aruged for the social and economic liberation of women, and he fought for their right to vote. This essay uses imagery of slavery to discribe the oppresion of women.

1870 Married Women's Property Act

On 9 August 1870, the Married Women’s Property Act was passed. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This Act established limited protections for some separate property for married women, including the right to retain up to £200 of any earning or inheritance. Before this all of a woman's property owned before her marriage, as well as all acquired after the marriage, automatically became her husband's alone. Only women whose families negotiated different terms in a marriage contract were able to retain control of some portion of their property.

Articles

Rachel Ablow, "On the Married Woman's Property Act, 1870"

Related Articles

Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

Anne Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″

The Vibrator

- During the 1880s a Victorian physician, Dr. J. Mortimer Granville, invented an electrical device to massage away muscle aches, the vibrator. 

- Granville credits the creation of the device towards his attempt to help ladies with their "female hysteria."

- By the 1920s, these "vibrators" were appearing in early pornography so advertisers felt uncomfortable trying to sell them in newspapers next to other household goods.  

ARTICLES

- Hvistendahl, Mara. “The Vibrator.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 1 Sept. 2009, www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-vibrator/.

- Hamilton, Jillianne. “The History of Sex: A Brief Timeline - The Lazy Historian: Fascinating Stories with Sass from the Past.” The Lazy Historian | Fascinating Stories with Sass from the Past, 13 Apr. 2018, lazyhistorian.com/the-history-of-sex-a-brief-timeline/.

1882 Married Women's Property Act

1882 Married Women's Property Act passed on 1 Jan 1883. Referred to as the 1882 MWPA, the Act came into effect at the beginning of 1883. Although still identifying some married women's property as "separate," this Act significantly increased the scope and protections for married women's acquisition and retention of property separate from their husbands. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

Anne Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″

Related Articles

Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”

Jack the Ripper murders

From August 1888 to September 1889, the serial killer known as the Whitechapel Murderer or Jack the Ripper stalked women living in the East End of London.

Related Articles

Heidi Kaufman, “1800-1900: Inside and Outside the Nineteenth-Century East End”

Marlene Tromp, “A Priori: Harriet Buswell and Unsolved Murder Before Jack the Ripper, 24-25 December 1872″

The Women's Franchise League

In 1889, the Women's Franchise League is formed which aimed to win the vote for married women as well as single women and widowed women. This league lasted until 1903. This league was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her husband Richard Pankhurst in aims to promote women's suffrage. 

"New Aspect of the Woman Question"

In March 1894, Sarah Grand's “The New Aspect of the Woman Question” was published. The essay in North American Review, vol.158, no.448, March 1894, pp.270–6 has been credited with identifying the "New Woman."

Articles

Meaghan Clarke, “1894: The Year of the New Woman Art Critic”

Story of a Modern Woman

In May 1894, Ella Hepworth Dixon's The Story of a Modern Woman was published. It is the best-known New Woman novel and draws on Dixon's own experiences supporting herself as a journalist.

Articles

Meaghan Clarke, “1894: The Year of the New Woman Art Critic”

The Local Government Act of 1894

The Local Government Act of 1894, also known as the Parish Councils Act, completed the reform of local government in England and Wales in the 1800's. This Act gave all women, despite their marital status, the right to vote and serve on parish ruraral district and urban district councils. This is important because before the act was passed, only single and widowed women were given these rights. The Act, "created secular parish councils and rural and urban district councils for which women ratepayers and married women owning property separately from their husbands could vote"(Brown).

Read further:

 https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts…

http://richardjohnbr.blogspot.com/2008/02/women-and-politics-into-local…

Death of Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti died on 29 December 1894 and was buried in the Rossetti family plot, alongside her parents and Elizabeth Siddal. 

Trials of Oscar Wilde

The trials of Oscar Wilde, which occurred in April and May of 1895, have become legendary as a turning-point in the history of public awareness of homosexuality. By their close, Wilde had gone from being a triumphantly successful playwright to a ruined man, condemned to two years of hard labor for gross indecency. They garnered extensive coverage first in the London press and then in newspapers around the world; the story of the trials continues to be retold in ways that have persistent relevance for contemporary queer culture. Image: Photograph of Oscar Wilde, by Napoleon Sarony. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Andrew Elfenbein, “On the Trials of Oscar Wilde: Myths and Realities”

The National Union of Woman's Suffrage Societies

The National Union of Woman's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) is formed uniting 17 different societies. Became the leading suffragist organization until 1919 and was headed by president Millicent Garret Fawcett. The organization relied on non-violent ways to earn rights for women to vote on the same terms as men. 

Articles

http://hist259.web.unc.edu/nationalunionofwomenssuffragesocieties/

Related Articles

https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/womens-suffrage-timeline

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/unesco/nuwss-foundation/

A Petition for Sufferage Presented to Congress

Over 37,00 female textile workers from Yorkshire signed a petition and presented it to congress, demanding sufferage for women.

Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act

Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act passed on 28 Aug 1907. Although there are minor clauses and clarifications, the Act's opening and primary clause is simply this: "[n]o marriage heretofore or hereafter contracted between a man and his deceased wife’s sister, within the realm or without, shall be deemed to have been or shall be void or voidable, as a civil contract, by reason only of such affinity." Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Anne Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″

March of the Women

Ethel Smyth, an English composer, and member of the woman's suffrage movement wrote a feminist anthem called the "March of the Women". It became the official anthem of the Women's Social and Political Union by Emmeline Pankhurst.

Articles

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/smyth-march-of-the-women

Pointed Roofs was published

Pointed Roofs was written by Dorothy Miller Richardson and published in 1915. Dorothy was the first writeer to publish an English-language novel using, what is now known as, the stream-of-consciousness technique. The novel displayed Dorothy's admiration for German culture although it was in a war with Britain which could be the cause as to way the book is less recognized. Dorothy was one of the few women who wrote fiction from the beginning of the experimentalist, modernist period.The main character of the novel is based off of Dorothy's life between 1891 and 1915 where she has her first adventure as an adult. This novel is also extremely important because Dorothy is the first woman to write about a women's life which was centered on being a woman instead of being a wife or daughter or another role subordinate to a man.

Macdonald, Kate. “Dorothy Richardson's Pointed Roofs.” Kate Macdonald, 20 May 2016, katemacdonald.net/2016/03/04/dorothy-richardsons-pointed-roofs/.

First birth control clinic

In 1916 the first birth control clinic was opened in Brooklyn, New York by Margaret Sanger. However, the clinic was shut down ten days later due to a police raid, leaving Sanger in jail for a month. It wasn't until 1938 that birth control was de-criminalized in the US. 

RELATED ARTICLES

- Parenthood, Planned. “The History & Impact of Planned Parenthood.” Planned Parenthood, www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/our-history.

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First Woman in the Parliament

The first woman to ever hold a position in the british parliament was Nancy Astor in 1919. She was an american-born beauty who moved to England after a divorce in America. Her family was very wealthy which made her a good social fit for her new acquired husband, Waldorf Astor, one of the richest men in England. Due to the death of Waldord Astors father, there was a vacant seat in parliament that Astor could not take. Therefore, someone of high position was needed to fill the seat. Waldaorf Astor wanted his wife to take the position so that he could possibly come back once he was able. After campaining hard, Nancy Astor won the election with a majority of over 5000. 

The Matrimonial Causes Act

The Matrimonial Causes Act was passed in 1923 and made the grounds for divorce the same for both women and men in England. The acts of 1857 paved the way for this act to be passed allowing a huge step towards equality for women. It was the belief that male adultery contributed to social problems related to  prostitution, illegitimacy, and STD's that played in an important role in the passing of this act. 

Death of Ella Hepworth Dixon

Ella Hepworth Dixon, novelist and author of The Story of a Modern Woman, died from a respiratory disease and was cremated three days later. She died unmarried.