Victorian Courtship – from Ideal to Real. The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine and the Rules of Etiquette

Iwona Sakowicz

Victorian Courtship – from Ideal to Real. The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine and the Rules of Etiquette

Publication date: 21.12.2023

Studia Historica Gedanensia, 2023, Vol. 14 (2023), pp. 215-227

https://doi.org/10.4467/23916001HG.23.014.18815

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Victorian Courtship – from Ideal to Real. The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine and the Rules of Etiquette

Abstract

The Victorian era in Britain was characterized by an emphasis on “respectability” which formed a part of the domesticity ideology that treated the home as a place created for women. Proper, respectable behaviour was a function of belonging to the middle class. A significant number of savoir‑vivre guides published contemporaneously informed the reader not only about receiving guests but also about courtship and marriage. The subject of the article is a close reading of these etiquette guides and the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine letter section, which frequently addresses issues of courtship and marriage. The analysis of the texts using rigid gender roles as presented in the guides and the comparison of them with the letter section of the magazine shows that young readers expressed their independence and assertiveness in trying to contest these rules.

Keywords

flirt, courtship, victorian, etiquette guides, Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine

flirt, zaloty, wiktoriański, poradniki savoir‑vivre’u, Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine

Information

Information: Studia Historica Gedanensia, 2023, Vol. 14 (2023), pp. 215-227

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/23916001HG.23.014.18815

Article type: Original scientific article

Titles:

English:

Victorian Courtship – from Ideal to Real. The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine and the Rules of Etiquette

Authors

Iwona Sakowicz

Instytut Historii Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, ul. Wita Stwosza 55 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland

Published at: 21.12.2023

Article status: Open

Licence: None

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Iwona Sakowicz (Author) - 100%

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English

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<p>Victorian Courtship – from Ideal to Real. <em>The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine</em> and the Rules of Etiquette</p>

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