Propriety And Expectations During The Victorian Era

The Victorian Age was the time when men were gentlemen and women were ladies. Gentlemen wore waistcoats and top hats when ladies wore elegant hooped gowns and had corseted waists. Outer appearance was of the very utmost importance in the 19-th century Victorian society. There was much pressure on both men and women to keep and gain a high social class during this time. Therefore standards and expectations were high to keep to the strict and often conservative Victorian lifestyle and anything that varied from the social norms had the potential to ruin a person’s livelihood and social standings. If a gentleman or lady did conform to the rigid way of life that was demanded of them and suppressed any character flaws to the outside world surely
With Queen Victoria in reign over England much of the socials cues could be contributed to what Queen Victoria thought and demanded as the proper and right way to act in civil society. The text describes that the “behavior, “Victorian” signifies social conduct governed by strict rules, [and] formal manners” (Damrosch 1051). Due to the rapid changes that were taking place in both the scientific and industrial fields, many people started to question themselves and their religion. Despite whatever turmoil that might be brewing in the minds of the Victorian gentleman “maintaining the appearance of propriety in public, whatever the private facts” was all that mattered (1051). For those that stayed true to their religious beliefs, such as Queen Victoria, the religious ramifications had Victorian gentlemen “regard respectability, earnestness, a sense of duty and public service” above all else (1051). The people of that age had to of felt a pressure to be respectable and often times denied parts of
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, offered some firsthand insight into these fears for the fact he lived during this ridged time. Stevenson remembers fearing to fall asleep because he might dream something that was not considered socially acceptable and wake up “into eternal ruin” (1778). With these kinds of thoughts troubling Stevenson he started to believe that sin was “lurking beneath apparent virtue” and “must at times come in upon and over-whelm the mind of every thinking creature” (1778-1779). The characters that Stevenson’s created in his novella, especially Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, “hints at the scandalous idea that the darker side of human nature needs more room for self-expression”