Age of Consent in Victorian England

Submitted by Andrea Prinz on

Jane Eyre was written in 1847, but age of consent laws did not come under intense public discussion in England until the late 1800’s, particularly after an expose on the so-called "White Slave-Trade." In 1885, The Law Amendment Act was passed which raised the age of consent for sex outside marriage from 13 to 16 years of age. However, girls who were perceived as "older than their age." were excluded from the benefits of these laws and many men were not persecuted for breaking this law if they made such claims about her age and appearance.

Ireland

(image by Jonjobaker)

Ireland is only mentioned three times within the book (Gaskell). The first time was on page 146 and the context was Mr. Thornton was talking about getting hired hands from Ireland to replace the workers that were on strike at the time (Gaskell). This event caused a cascade of events that led to an impromptu strike against the wishes of the Worker's Union (Gaskell).

Greece

In Gaskell's North and South, Wales is talked about as a place to settle down, pictured as a farm house in the wild that would have been preferrable over Margaret's current situation.

Corfu

 

In Gaskell's book North and South. Corfu is known as the future home of Edith after her wedding, And a point of travel during the earlier chapters of the text.

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