{"id":455,"date":"2022-02-11T22:13:48","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T22:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=455"},"modified":"2022-05-06T21:01:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T21:01:40","slug":"the-finishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/?p=455","title":{"rendered":"The Finishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story has been published by History Through Fiction<\/a> on historythroughfiction.com, where it is exclusively visible in the member-only content area. To read it in full, go to historythroughfiction.com<\/a> and sign up for a free<\/em> member-only account. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Below is an excerpt (the preface to the story) to give readers an idea of what it is about!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~*~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preface to The Finishing<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most pervasive social and intellectual discourses that arose during the Victorian era (1830-1901) in England and the United States, as well as other industrialized Western countries, is what was commonly referred to as the \u201cWoman Question.\u201d It was a public debate that manifested in every social circle, involving male and female petitioners on both sides of an argument that was rooted in determining what, if anything, was woman\u2019s proper role in society. And there were many offerings from each rung of the social ladder that attempted to answer this question. Philosophers employed their logic, scholars their intellect, poets their sentiment, factory workers and even prostitutes contributed their experience through published essays and letters, all for the sake of determining and advocating for the best answer. Queen Victoria herself graced the discussion with conflicting opinions that at once supported female education but opposed women\u2019s suffrage. She was also known to reiterate a popular religious belief that unconditional submission to male authority was woman\u2019s role as established by the will of God (despite her own station as ruling over a nation consisting of 50-percent male subjects\u2014but that\u2019s beside the point). Many people concurred with her opinion. And the majority of those who did also claimed that women were intellectually inferior to men, justifying their belief through a popular uncredited assertion that the average weight of a man\u2019s brain was 13oz heavier than that of a woman\u2019s. To these petitioners, it naturally followed that since woman was not made for intellect, she was certainly made for good housekeeping and moral exemplification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this particular school of thought abided a woman named Sarah Stickney Ellis (1812-1872), an evangelical missionary\u2019s wife and advocate for the temperance movement, who published a book in 1839 titled, The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits<\/em>. In it she detailed and advocated for the belief that women were \u201cdignified with the majesty of moral greatness,\u201d and with such power came great responsibility. She affirmed the social idea that male immorality was due to man\u2019s sacrificial willingness to work and abide outside the home (in worldly arenas, that is), so as to provide for his family. It was a necessary evil that men should interact in public assemblies, engage in public meetings for politics, science, philosophy, and embark on public escapades, travel and be educated, all of which they did in order to reinforce their families, both socially and monetarily. Therefore, as men were so sacrificially making themselves vulnerable to the wickedness of the world\u2014temptation, selfishness, pride\u2014women were to be the moral beacons always guiding them back toward righteous paths. Because of man\u2019s inevitable moral shortcomings, it was the woman\u2019s \u201chigh and holy duty [to] cherish the minor morals of life,\u201d which her counterpart (the poor thing) was unable to do for himself. She was to be his angel that he could remember from afar \u201cclothed in moral beauty,\u201d and simply by her memory and the power of her influence, he would become a \u201cwiser and better man.\u201d Indeed, Ellis believed that the moral influence of women could \u201ccounteract the growing evils of society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellis also wrote of a dream she had to establish an academy for girls centered on cultivating \u201cthe heart\u201d of its pupils rather than their intellect. Of this dream she expressed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still cling fondly to the hope that some system of female instruction will be discovered, by which the young women of England may be sent from school to the homes of their parents, habituated to be on the watch for every opportunity of doing good to others; making it the first and the last inquiry of every day, \u2018What can I do to make my parents, my brothers, or my sisters, more happy?\u2019 I am but a feeble instrument in the hands of Providence, but as He will give me strength, I hope to pursue the plan to which I have been accustomed, of seeking my own happiness only in the happiness of others.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 1840, Ellis established the Rawdon House in Hertfordshire, England, a school for young ladies designed to develop and instill Victorian evangelical morality (submissiveness, deference, tenderness, selflessness) in its young female attendees. A school designed to teach young ladies that personal fulfillment came from ensuring the happiness of others. While this principle of self-denial can be genuinely heroic in many situations, it can also be (as it often was and continues to be) abused and misused in many others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following story is a satirical representation of this sunny principle gone wrong. It contains elements of gothic tradition and magical realism as it paints a picture of what it could (and often does) mean for young women to have this kind of one-sided morality instilled into them through formal education and indoctrination. It is, in short, a story of spiritual and emotional abuse. It is not a true story, nor is it based on a true story. But it is inspired by these very Victorian-era ideologies that led to the establishment of Sarah Stickney Ellis\u2019 moral academy for young ladies\u2014ideologies that linger today in many religious circles. And in addressing these ideologies, it is a story that poses the question, when a girl becomes as perfect as others hope her to be, what happens to the rest of her?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~*~~~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read the story, go to historythroughfiction.com<\/a> and sign up for a free<\/strong><\/em> member-only account. <\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story has been published by History Through Fiction on historythroughfiction.com, where it is exclusively visible in the member-only content area. To read it in full, go to historythroughfiction.com and sign up for a free member-only account. Below is an excerpt (the preface to the story) to give readers an idea of what it is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[293,32,294,313,175,309,308,140,314,298,304,303,302,300,301,139,295,311,307,170,169,171,305,299,168,296,297,260,312,310,306],"class_list":["post-455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-stories","tag-abuse","tag-authority","tag-butterfly","tag-eagerton","tag-emotional-abuse","tag-england","tag-hertfordshire","tag-legalism","tag-mr-eagerton","tag-obedience","tag-pamela","tag-pamela-andre","tag-pamela-andrews","tag-papillon","tag-papillon-hall","tag-perfectionism","tag-porcelain","tag-queen-victoria","tag-rawdon-house","tag-religion","tag-religious","tag-religious-oppression","tag-samuel-richards","tag-sarah-stickney-ellis","tag-spiritual-abuse","tag-stifle","tag-submission","tag-the-woman-question","tag-the-women-of-england-their-social-duties-and-domestic-habits","tag-victorian","tag-virtue-rewarded"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=455"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":526,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455\/revisions\/526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bexroden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}