The Feminine Religious Experience in Victorian Times Essay -- Victoria

The maidenly Religious Experience Beyond the Angel in the HouseThe pattern of the Victorian woman as the pious repository for her familys stockpile of religionism consistently permeates contemporary notions of the gender roles of the geological era. However, the idealized role of the angel in the house was often simply that - an ideal rather than a reality. Womens fight in religion and spirituality varied widely based on class and level of devotion. Though the majority of womens religious duty consisted of assisting benevolent works sponsored by parishes (Heeney 330), women were also employed as local missionaries. The era also witnessed the revival of the convent as an alternative avenue for women of all classes.For the Victorian-era f number middle class family of the Pagets of London, the women received a Christian education in terms of learning the Bible and reciting psalms. In adulthood they fulfilled their Christian duty by volunteering for and donating to various charit ies for the poor and/or feeble-minded (Peterson 692) However, the private garner of the Paget women often indicate that their helping the poor was not inspired by an altruistic love of all Gods creatures, as the angel the house apologue would lead one to believe. Instead these were societal obligations, on par with affectionate calls to friends Catherine Paget wrote I spent the morning seeing poor people, the afternoon affair on rich ones. (Peterson 706) Lydia Paget also wrote, I always go with such(prenominal) reluctance to visit the poor people under our care when I once get amongst them I quite enjoy myself, but on setting out I feel inclined to bend my move in any other direction rather than the right. (Peterson 706)Beyond sympathy work, women also... ...t beyond embodying the moral and spiritual core of the family.Works CitedHeeney, Brian. Womens Struggle for sea captain Work and Status in the Church of England, 1900-1930. The Historical Journal 26 (1983) 329-47. JSTOR. University of Florida Lib., Gainesville, FL. 8 Nov. 2004. Peterson, M. Jeanne. No Angels in the House The Victorian Myth and the Paget Women. The American Historical Review 26 (1984) 677-708. JSTOR. University of Florida Lib., Gainesville, FL. 8 Nov. 2004. Roden, Frederick S. Sisterhood is Powerful Christina Rossettis Maude. Women of belief in Victorian Culture. Ed. Hogan, Anne and Andrew Bradstock. New York St. Martins Press, 1998. 63-77.