Key Perspectives And Key Concepts In Victorian Literature

Prostitution, sometimes referred to as “the world’s oldest profession” (Henslin, pg. 54), is defined by James M. Henslin as “the renting of one’s body for sexual purposes” (pg. 54). This arrangement, though illegal and socially deviant in most parts of the world, exists universally in many different forms (pg. 54). As a matter of fact, types of prostitutes range greatly in variety from call girls – who are said to be “the elite of prostitutes” (pg. 58), to streetwalkers – “who have the lowest status among prostitutes” (pg. 58), to sugar babies -young, physically attractive women who provide “rich, older men” (Kitchener, par.4) “…with attention (and sex) in exchange for the finer things in life” (par. 4).

Prostitution, also referred to as “the oldest profession,” has always been a controversial and challenging social issue. It is practiced in many different forms including: call girls, convention prostitutes, apartment prostitutes, hotel prostitutes, house prostitutes, bar girls, streetwalkers, and parking lot lizards (). Civilizations such as the Samarians, and countries including Morocco and parts of India engaged in a form of prostitution known as temple prostitution. Temple prostitution is based on the belief that “generative activity of human beings possessed a mysterious and sacred influence in promoting the fertility of nature” (Clarkson). In other civilizations, such as the Roman and Byzantine Empires, prostitution was looked upon as less of a religious ceremony, and more of a sin practiced by “women of evil life” (ProCon.org). Today those differentiating view are still present in modern society, but there are also new ideologies surrounding the everlasting presence of prostitution. This Essay will use the Symbolic Interactionism Theory to identify those new ideologies, and evaluate the meaning of prostitution within three relationship: the husband and wife, the Call girl and client, and the Pimp and the sex trafficking victim.

Victorian marriage was a patriarchal authoritarian institution wherein the husband was family protector and representative. However, he who was expected to protect, often became the abuser in the bedroom. The wife, whose vows included “ . . . affection, reverence, and duty,” frequently suffered “emotional isolation” as a result of her husband’s treatment of her (Battan 166).¹ Any hope for a mutually gratifying sexual experience in the Victorian marriage was sabotaged long before the nuptials. Men often found themselves honeymooning with a frightened, sometimes hysterical bride who was afraid of her husband. Young women were absolutely ignorant in matters of sexual intercourse. For them the wedding night experience was nothing more than a bodily assault. The typical Victorian man, highly skilled in matters of courtship, but unenlightened to the considerate lovemaking his wife craved, merely exercised his rights and she performed her duty (Battan 176).

The Victorian era occurred during 1837 to 1901 in Europe. During this time, the mindset was that men possessed the capacity for reason, action, aggression, independence, and self-interest. Women inhabited a separate, private sphere, one suitable for the so called inherent qualities of femininity: emotion, submission, dependence, and selflessness, all derived, from women’s sexual and reproductive organization. Following such principles allowed men and their alleged "intellectual strength" to dominate society and to be the governing sex, because they were viewed as rational, brave, and independent. But women, on the other hand....they were dominated by their sexuality, and were expected to fall silently into the social mold crafted by men, since they were regarded as irrational, sensitive, and dutiful. Victorian social institutions of marriage, motherhood, law, and conventional sexual values, all played roles in hindering women in day-to-day life, and furthered the notion of women as beings governed solely by their reproductive systems. This mindset is displayed in Heart of Darkness when Marlow is talking about keeping women away from the "men's world". Marlow says, "Girl! Did I mention a girl? Oh, she is out of it-completely. They-the women I mean-are out of it-should be out of it. We must help them to stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worse". (72.) No matter what angle you look

Prostitution is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the practice of engaging in sexual acts for money. It is currently illegal in most of the world. The question of whether or not it should be legalized is one that draws divides between many people. Knowing the history of prostitution is essential to understanding the issue today. Prostitution has been prevalent all over the world for thousands of years. Known as the world's oldest profession, the first evidence of prostitution dates back to 2400 BC in Mesopotamia (Carrasquillo 699). Although Mesopotamian society did not endorse prostitution they did recognize it. The code of Hammurabi which originated in Mesopotamia named prostitution as a female occupation but prostitutes still held a status lower than that of slaves (Carrasquillo 699). Prostitution was also very prevalent in ancient Rome and Greece. In ancient Rome even high ranking men used prostitute’s services (Carrasquillo 701).Both of these ancient governments used registration and brothels to regulate prostitution. They also restricted what prostitutes could wear and where

In Abrahamic contexts, sin is the act of violating God's will. Sin can also be viewed as anything that violates the ideal relationship between an individual and God; or as any diversion from the ideal order for human living. To sin has been defined as "to miss the mark".

It is imperative to note that principles formulated and expressed within the Victorian era have proven to be of crucial influence, as these past attached values however deleterious, remain ingrained in the social ethics and morals of today. The augmentation of industrialisation and imperial expansion consequently greatened the middle class and generated frontier violence, thereby constructing the ideology of the separate spheres of gender. This division fabricated the notions of how each gender should be positioned in a societal sense, as men were deemed to be the breadwinners, dominant forces engaging in physical labour to support the family, while females were the predominantly private gender, bound to undertaking household duties: cooking,

In the Victorian Era, men served as the head and face of all laws; therefore, women were tyrannized by men through the law because man and law were inextricably linked together. All women were expected to marry, so most oppressions took place within the marriage. Once a woman married a man, she abandoned a part of herself. According to the Broadview Anthology of British Literature, “The common law doctrine of overture ensured that a woman’s legal identity was subsumed in that of her husbands upon marriage. In effect, the law of coverture regarded the husband and wife as ‘one person:’ the husband” (508). Women had no identity or purpose beyond that of her husband. After marriage, she was stripped of her former self only to then function as an add-on to his more “superior” person. Additionally, with the power that deemed the male as the dominant counterpart, men were granted “full control of his wife’s personal property and any earnings she acquired during the marriage” (Broadview Anthology 508). For a Victorian woman, to join a man in holy matrimony was to sign away all autonomy.

Prostitution has been around for centuries but is becoming more of an issue in recent years. Out of all the professions in the world, prostitution is thought to have come before most. Gies said, “Prostitution, often known as the world’s oldest profession.” Prostitution has existed before most known professions in today’s time, but prostitution is becoming more controversial. In ancient Athens the state created brothels. According to an online article, “Solon established state brothels in Athens, the employees of which came from the lowest strata of society” (Miller). In Athens, the reason prostitutes came from lower levels of society was because they were the ones that needed that money. All other levels of society had alternative ways of making a living. Also in Athens the state regulated the brothels and made a profit from them through taxes. Although prostitution was accepted in some ways in ancient times, prostitution was not accepted by the Christian

Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in history, it is found not only in Holy books of various religions. Moreover it dates back to our earliest civilizations stated by Sabotagetimes in the article A History Of Prostitution: How Old Is The Sex Trade?. “When the earliest known human societies emerged in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, the sex trade evolved alongside temples, customs, markets and laws.” If Mesopotamia existed in 3500 BCE to current day, we have an estimated number of 13,828,700 sex workers

Many Victorian writers believed that their writings should illustrate social and political problems of the country and that it should also serve as a code of conduct for readers. Therefore, writers of the Victorian period dealt with topics concerning changes in society and they put emphasis on moral propriety. Victorian literature is generally four characterized by a strong sense of morality and depiction of social oppression. Dickens was one of those who felt that the Victorian society needed reformation and he spread his feelings within novels. According to Fielding, the best writers on Dickens realized his unique ability to depict the contemporary life and they appreciated his choice of the Victorian society as a subject of his works.

Prostitution is defined as the act of “providing or receiving sexual acts, between a prostitute and a client, in exchange for money or some other form of remuneration” (Hock 557). The idea of exchanging sex for valuables has been around since the beginning of human society. The first reported data about prostitution was reported around 3000 B.C.E in one of the first known civilizations, Mesopotamia (Caraboi and Fierbinteanu 362). It is often referred to as “the world’s oldest profession.” Today, even though prostitution is illegal in most parts of the world, it is still prevalent worldwide with different ways to exchange sexual services for payment and many different types of prostitutes. One of these types of prostitutes are brothel workers; brothel workers work in “a house of prostitution,” a brothel, which are normally in areas where prostitution is not criminalized or is legalized (Hock 560). Like prostitution, human trafficking has been around for thousands of years and is still present today.

Prostitution can be described as many things: a sin, a corrupt use of one’s body, and even a criminal act. While many people now think of prostitution in negative ways, it has not always been thought of this way. Being one of the world’s oldest professions, prostitution is viewed quite differently from culture to culture and era to era. After taking a glimpse into the past and the history of prostitution, one can see how the act of selling one’s body has benefited and shaped the society of the mining town of Wallace, Idaho.

Prostitution is often considered to be one of the oldest professions in history. All that someone needs would be someone willing to give their body to other people in exchange for monetary compensation. However, this kind of act is considered criminal by many societies and as such time is often served by those who are caught participating in the act of prostitution on either side. While the punishments, convictions, and sanctions vary from state to state and nation to nation it has all lead to forcing this act to be done out of the line of sight of the law. With the earliest known example of prostitution occurring in the Ancient Near East where sacred prostitution was practiced in shrines and temples under various deities of the region (Godley 1920). Since then the market for prostitution has grown to expand

Prostitution is believed to have begun in the culture of the ancient Sumerians in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia. The female servants of their deity would grant men, “the ‘sacred’ powers of their bodies” in exchange for monetary offering to the temple (Fanni, 2014). Also, many