COVE

Introduction 

“The Woman of England” by Sarah Stickney Ellis, written in response to Mary Wollstonecraft’s essay “On the Rights of Women” and the larger social discussion it prompted, takes a very strong stance on the topic at hand – a woman’s true and natural role in society. For Wollstonecraft, it was the belief that in order for women to ever be taken seriously, they must be better educated. They had no hope for a bright future if they were left in the dark academically. Ellis counters this argument in her own essay. Though she does not argue against a woman’s education entirely, she claims that a moral reputation and familial obligations should take precedence, and are of higher value to both potential male suitors and society as a whole. She says, “the long-established customs of their country have placed in their hands the high and holy duty of cherishing and protecting the minor morals of life, from which springs all that is elevated in purpose, and glorious in action.” In other words, a woman’s highest calling is to serve her husband and her home, and if she must educate herself, she should do it in the way that pleases her husband best. This feminine role should not be viewed as derogatory or demeaning, however, but rather an honor, an ordained duty to maintain the highest moral standard in the next generations. 

Despite outspoken female voices like Mary Wollstonecraft, Sarah Ellis was not alone in her way of thinking. In fact, the belief that a woman’s place was in the home was extremely pervasive in English Victorian society; “the prevailing ideology regarded the house as a haven, a private domain opposed to the public sphere of commerce” (Langland 291), and women were appointed to maintain that haven, becoming the “Angel in the House.” According to Ellis, if women did not uphold their duty in this area of life, then the country would cease to flourish and thrive. This gallery explores the various aspects of this elevated purpose and glorious action – from the historical context that helped perpetuate the societal standards, to the supposed happy results of a woman living out her life’s true calling.

Works Cited 

Ellis, Sarah Stickney. 1838. Cove Studio, studio.covecollective.org/anthologies/sp22-eng-l302-anthology/documents/excerpts-of-the-women-of-england-their-social-duties-and-domestic-habits

Langland, Elizabeth. “Nobody’s Angels: Domestic Ideology and Middle-Class Women in the Victorian Novel.” PMLA, vol. 107, no. 2, Modern Language Association, 1992, pp. 290–304, https://doi.org/10.2307/462641.

Images in the Gallery

Fig. 1. Winterhalter, Franz Xaver. “Family of Queen Victoria.” 1846. Wikimedia, 

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Queen_Victoria%2C_Prince_Albert%2C_and_children_by_Franz_Xaver_Winterhalter.jpg 

Queen Victoria, as the namesake of the entire Victorian period, was an extremely defining figure in English history. To the majority of society at the time of Ellis’s writing, Victoria was the ideal image of a woman’s true calling and purpose in life –  to be the matriarch and guardian of the family. As the mother of nine children, she balanced not only their rearing, but also the ruling of England. The whole country looked to her for wisdom and guidance in many areas of life; despite being a woman, Victoria was one of the most respected monarchs in all of English history, and was the longest reigning sovereign for over a century, until she was just recently surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II. In this painting, Victoria is pictured with her husband Albert – to whom she was happily married until his untimely death – and their children, gathered around them in a loving embrace. The women of England, the subjects of Ellis’s essay, were often expected to live up to the familial standards set by their queen. 

Fig. 2. Guy, Seymour Joseph. “The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in their New York Dining Room.” 1866. University of South Carolina, scalar.usc.edu/works/

making-the-frontier-home-stories-from-the-steamboat-bertrand/victorian-domesticity

This painting appears to be the perfect representation of the feminine lifestyle during the Victorian era, where the wife is alone in the home with her children. After all, the home – and all other domestic duties – were strictly the woman’s domain, and it was really only the husband who was allowed to step outside and into the real world, with all of its excitement and opportunities. Both the woman and her children appear to be happy and content with their circumstances, as if this was how things were truly meant to be. Since the main crux of Ellis’s writing was to convey to her readers that women were designed specifically for this role, it would make complete sense, then, that they would find peace and happiness in fulfilling it. And, as Ellis added, “what man is there in existence who would not rather his wife should be free from selfishness, than be able to read Virgil without the use of a dictionary;” a woman’s kind demeanor was of greater value to men than even her education, so if she ever wished to marry and have children, she had to be of good character. 

Fig. 3. Frontispiece of Sarah Ellis’s The Woman of England. 1841, thestoryofeve.weebly.com/cult-of-domesticity.html

Similar to the previous image, this drawing is taken directly from the illustrations in Ellis’s essay. In it, the woman sits in the center, holding her children close, with some men in the background. The men, however, are dark, while the woman is white, almost glowing, as if to represent her purity, her moral duty shining forth in this domestic moment. Though Ellis did argue in support of a societal structure that enforced the subjugation of women, she viewed it through a more hopeful lens. Even though men were the providers of the family, women were the ultimate protectors, charged with the glorious task of guarding the characters of her children. Ellis said, “The influence of woman in counteracting the growing evils of society is about to be more needed than ever.” Women were meant to be the shining light in an otherwise dark world, and the best way they could accomplish that goal was to stay at home and provide that necessary moral defense. 

Fig. 4. 1877. Punch Magazine, punch.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Fashion-Cartoons/G0000ZtYufr5d7ac/I0000lMgmt5LEMPw

Not only does this magazine cartoon depict a woman in her rightful place – at home with her children – but the caption beneath it also shares another aspect of the woman issue. The caption reads, “Thrifty Wife: ‘Oh Algernon! More useless china! More money thrown away when we have so little to spare!’ Amiable Chinamaniac: ‘Pooh! Pooh! My love! Money not so much an object as a comfortable home, you know!’” It does seem like a bit of a role reversal as the wife is the one raising valid concerns about their family and finances while the husband is making frivolous purchases, but she is still simply passed over for his whims. As Ellis says in her essay, “Few men choose women for their conversation, where wealth and beauty are to be had.” Since the most important quality of a Victorian woman was her ability to raise her husband’s children with grace, it was unnecessary for her to say anything other than what her husband wanted to hear.