The 'fallen woman' in Victorian painting: Hunt, Egg and the double standard
In short
The 'fallen woman' was a woman shown as ruined by sex outside marriage, a favourite subject of Victorian moral painting. In The Awakening Conscience (1853) William Holman Hunt depicts a kept mistress rising from her lover's lap, a reading Ruskin explained in The Times. Augustus Egg's triptych Past and Present (1858) traces a family's collapse after a wife's adultery.
What the full article will cover
- Who was the Victorian 'fallen woman'?
- What does The Awakening Conscience show?
- How did Ruskin read Hunt's painting?
- What story does Egg's Past and Present tell?
- What do these paintings reveal about the double standard?
- Where can they be seen today?
Frequently asked questions
- Why is the woman in The Awakening Conscience not wearing a wedding ring?
- Are the paintings on display at Tate Britain?
- Did any Victorian paintings show 'fallen men'?
- How did Victorian audiences react to these works?
Sources
- tate.org.uk — https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hunt-the-awakening-conscience-t02075
- tate.org.uk — https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/egg-past-and-present-no-1-n03278
- en.wikipedia.org — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awakening_Conscience
- en.wikipedia.org — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Egg
General information, not legal or religious advice.