Katie O Connor 

This Thesis focuses on the life of the “gentle woman”. The gentlewoman was a middle-class woman in 1870s England. Her life revolved around her home. She had no staff to help around the house so all housework would be left to her. She not only performed housework all day, she was also a woman of poise and perfection. During 1870s England there were huge expectations as to how a woman should act, these expectations came from not only from men but from women themselves. According to Janet Floyd in Writing the pioneer woman “ the housewife is both active and hardworking and also hermetically sealed within the home”. A gentlewoman was required to uphold perfect etiquette both in her domestic life and when meeting her friends or indeed others, in her public life. John Farer argues in The young ladies friend “ the exercise of good taste, therefore, need not be considered as the privilege of the few, it may regulate the toilet of her who earns what she expends upon it, as well as of her who’s bills are paid by a rich father; the more it is studied, the more good sense and simplicity will be consulted, because these are included in the principles of true taste” Examining Farer’s quote further, he alludes to good taste; this was an essential characteristic of a gentle woman. Taste in her friends and in the people she chose to surround herself with, would have a huge impact on her family . Indeed even how much time she would spend with them could influence her reception by others. Janet Floyd proposes “ she should disdain to spend time with her friends and prefer to withdraw into seclusion.” If a woman in the 1870s were to be seen as a gossip or make unsuitable acquaintances, it could damage the families reputation. There were many other aspects of good taste that a gentlewoman was required to fulfill, and these will be discussed fully throughout this thesis. Taste in her makeup application and products, her cleanliness routine as well as taste in more menial tasks, like her housework chores such as cooking, cleaning and mending of clothing and also what she was expected to do for her family. All her decisions would ultimately be judged and if deemed to be in good taste would confirm her role as the perfect gentle woman.