Femininity In Victorian Masculinity

Introduction:

Mmasculinity as an antonym of femininity which has the greatest focus of sociologists, historians, activists and critics. As a discipline, femininity budded earlier than masculinity in the works of several novelists whether male or female. This is because in most historical as well as literary eras society was patriarchal per se. The flourishing of feminine studies is a reaction to that sort of the patriarchy of Man. Novel is the best literary genre to tackle with the imbibed controversial issues like Masculinity and Femininity. The vast literary space of novel as literary genre helps writers to tackle with these controversial issues. The scope of imagination in novel is another factor helping writers to present society …show more content…
The gender roles in society have been changed according to the policy of public and private spheres. Literature has presented the Victorian masculinity as seen by both men and women of the Victorian society. John Tosh attempts to redefine the Victorian masculinity. He explains the gender roles of man as a father, a husband, or a boy in the family headed by the man during the Victorian era. Tosh explains the relationship between masculinity and the domestic is far more intricate than the early concept of separate spheres. He asserts that “home was central to masculinity, as the place where the boy was disciplined by dependence and where the man attained full adult status as a householder .” Victorian society gave the public sphere to man and the private sphere to woman. Moreover, according to John Tosh, home is the central place of his masculinity. This is because his deepest needs are met there. The separate spheres philosophy holds that men were capable for action, reason, aggression, independence, and self-interest .This is related to the public sphere. Women were capable of having such soft qualities of femininity such as emotion, obedience, submission, reliance, and selflessness. Such philosophy allowed men, to control mentally and intellectually, to dominate society, and to be the dominating gender. They were viewed as rational, brave, and independent. Women, however, were …show more content…
The Victorian society was hegemonic in its treatment with women and some men. This indicates that the hegemonic masculinity is performance. It is deeply rooted in the society, no matter who is ruling it whether a man or a woman.The women of the Victorian society had one main role in life. This role was to marry and take part in their husbands’ business and interests. Before marriage, they were learning housewife skills like cleaning, weaving, cooking, and washing unless they were of a wealthy family. Charlotte Bronte depicts this social status in Jane Eyre:
“Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their