COVE

These illustrations from the 19th century demonstrate the double standard that existed between male and female sexuality. Victorian men were given much more freedom and grace regarding their sexual activities. The New Swell's Night Guide contains information for men on how to navigate London's red-light district. According to Kathryn Hughes writing for the British Library, victorian couples would typically have long engagements. These longer engagements were to make sure the men were financially solvent to care for their wife and any future children they might have. Kathryn Hughes writes, "If a young man was particularly pious he might manage to stay chaste until he married. Many respectable young men, however, resorted to using prostitutes.". In contrast, Victorian women who were sex workers were depicted as immoral, diseased, harlots preying on respectable men. The hypocrisy surrounding male and female sexuality in the 19th century helps the narrator justify the murder and in doing so, permanently repressed Porphyria's sexuality. In lines 41-43, the narrator says "And strangled her/No pain felt she/I am quite sure she felt no pain/As a shut bud that holds a bee. "As a shut bud that holds a bee" metaphorically alludes to something contained, Porphyria's sexuality.

1. Flanders, Judith. Prostitution, The British Library, 15 May 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/prostitution.