Angel in the House
The term “Angel in the House” comes from Coventry Patmore, who wrote a narrative poem with this title for his first wife, Emily in 1854 and expanded it until 1862. He believed her to be the perfect woman.
According to the myth of the “Angel in the House” women should devote themselves entirely and unconditionally to the well-being of the family. These women embodied the Victorian female ideal. In the Victorian era, separated spheres of men and women were supported.
Selflessness and submissiveness were the personal characteristics of every “Angel in the House”. She was the one who turned the home into heaven; she was the backbone to her husband and her children.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon divided women into two groups: on the one hand, there were the prostitutes, and on the other hand, there were the housewives. The French politician said that the latter were just a supplement to their husbands, who simply add beauty to the strength of men. In his opinion, women are on a level with children and therefore thick human beings. They were mainly there for bringing children up and for hard work, like ironing; an iron weighed 5 up to 6 kilograms in that time.
Nevertheless, housework was considered as work without any economic value. According to Jane Lewis, housework carried out by women was excluded from the category of ‘work’ in 1881 in Great Britain. Women who worked at home were classified as ‘unemployed’, which had the consequence that the working rate of women dropped by half.
From the beginning to the end of the 19th century, women were most likely depicted on pictures and photographs with a sewing machine. Women should identify with this kind of work and accept their traditional role. In an advertisement from 1896 for the firm ‘Singer’, the sewing machine was described as “Mother’s Machine” and as “most welcome wedding gift”, which “greatly aids domestic bliss”.
However, the ideal of the “Angel in the House” earned a lot of criticism by feminists in the 19th and 20th century, because women were depicted as being weak, mindless and unconfident. One of the most famous feminist critics was Virginia Woolf. The author wrote ironically: “She [the Angel in the House] was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed daily. If there was a chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it ... Above all, she was pure.”
Sources:
Schildt, Gerhard. Frauenarbeit im 19. Jahrhundert. Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus, 1993.
Duby, George / Perrot, Michelle, eds. Geschichte der Frauen: Band 4: 19. Jahrhundert. Frankfurt, New York: Campus, 1994.
Vyas, Shvetal. “Angel in the House v/s The Femme Fatale: The Varied Roles of Women in Victorian Literature”. 27 Jan. 2010 <http://www.suite101.com/content/angel-in-the-house-vs-the-femme-fatale-a194297>