History of Prostitution in the Victorian Period

In 1858 there were 7,194 prostitutes in London alone. "Given the unreliability of the statistics, one cannot say whether the incidence of prostitution was increasing or decreasing during the nineteenth century or compare that century with other periods. It nevertheless seems clear that the Victorians in the 1840's and 1850's thought that both prostitution and venereal disease were increasing" (Vicinus 79-80). There was increasing visibility of prostitution on the London streets and the Victorians were also conscious of the increasing demand of prostitutes (Vicinus 80). The compilation of the information led the era to become concerned with the "Great Social Evil" that was permeating many of the large cities. The concern over prostitution led to many actions, such as the Contagious Diseases Acts, which then led to the formation of the feminist group called the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts (Vicinus 96).

Victorian society held many common beliefs relating to what kind of person constituted a prostitute, such as the prostitute comes from the lower social classes. The commonly held belief was that a main determinate for prostitution was the lack of money, so the women who fell prey to this situation were the lower class women. On this subject, Charlotte Bronte portrays many opposite situations and characters that do not fit the ideas of the Victorian period. The naiveté of a young girl from another city or country coming to London also leads to the vulnerability to the trade of prostitution. The belief was that a young girl just moving to a city would be susceptible to prostitution because they were ignorant to the lifestyle of the city and would be easily seduced into the trade. Also, a woman’s love of finery also led to a susceptibility to prostitution. Acton states, "It was not only the equation of poverty with prostitution which was stressed, but the ‘love of vanity’ was sternly denounced. If I seek to number the operative courses other than passion of a woman, I am met on the very threshold of the task of vanity, vanity, and then vanity--for what but this are love of dress and admiration and what sacrifices will not tens of thousands of the uneducated make to gain these?" (Vicinus 82). The love of finery was seen as a key element in the fall to prostitution because the want of material items that were beyond a woman’s economic means made her susceptible to supplementing her income with prostitution so that she would be able to afford all of the items that she desired. The love of finery was related to the character of Celine in Jane Eyre. Vicinus states, "…Women in needle trades, shop girls, domestic servants, women employed in factories or in agricultural trades. Their common characteristic was to work long hours for low pay. Low earnings, even when employed, it was argued, presented a compelling temptation to supplement income with the receipts of prostitution" (Vicinus 80). The need for supplemental income was extreme in many cases. Judith Walkowitz also states, " The most distressing causes of prostitution are those which arise from poverty-want of employment-and insufficient remuneration for needle and other kinds of work in which females are employed" (Walkowitz 37). In Jane Eyre there are many instances related to Jane in which poverty affects her circumstances.

Works Cited

Vicinus, Martha., ed. Suffer and Be Still. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1973.
Walkowitz, Judith R. Prostitution and Victorian Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1980.

Viršutinis paveikslėlis: © JJ Jordan