The Power of "No"--Rejections of Proposals and the Redemption of Self

Paper Summary:

The role of women in Victorian society was reproductive, producing children and minding the affairs of the home. Because their role was so important to the reproduction and survival of society, women were paradoxically stripped of their power and kept carefully controlled. This led to the demonization of any sort of unsanctioned extra-marital, non-reproductive activity by a woman, hence the term "fallen woman". This paper looks at two Victorian novels, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Aurora Leigh" and George Eliot's "The Mill on the Floss", and examines the portrayal of women in the light of prevalent Victorian attitudes.

From the Paper:

"Once Marian conceives a child--physical proof of her scandalous sexual activity--she becomes socially useless; as a non-virgin, she is a sort of damaged good, a commodity of no value in the sexual-economic sector of society. She doesn't conform to the expected mold of the low-class, fallen woman, however, and rather than fall into a form of further moral degradation and promiscuity--accepting herself as a lost cause--Marian's ordeal is transformative, and she becomes something of a saint, coming to resemble the Virgin Mary whose icon was briefly tied around her neck. This moral strength serves to highlight the unfairness and hypocritical notion of fallen-womanhood. "Rather than assessment on her own terms, Marian Erle is judged according to external standards that condemn her as irredeemably immoral. Her human worth is reduced to her sexual value, reflecting a cultural obsession with female sexuality and its regulation" (Logan 15). Marian refuses to fall into this self-conception of worth, however, and is even empowered by her child--a son, a symbol of reproductive success, who is non-judgmental of her and gives meaning to her life. Rather than being doubly punished for her rape by being cursed with a child, Marian is allowed a form of redemption through him."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dee, Phyllis Susan. "Female Sexuality and Triangular Desire in Vanity Fair and The Mill on the Floss." Papers on Language & Literature (Fall 1999): 391. Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. NMSU Las Cruces. 22 Mar. 2007
• Logan, Deborah. "The economics of sexuality: Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the Victorian "bad conscience." (Special Issue: Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Art and Literature)." Women's Studies 24.n4 (March 1995): 293(13). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. NMSU Las Cruces. 22 Mar. 2007

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