The Image of Women in Late Victorian Times: The Case of “The Mandrake Venus”, “A White Night” and “The City of Blood”

The intensity of violence perpetrated on women can b e regarded as a common denominator that ties togeth er “The Mandrake Venus” (George Egerton), “A White Night” (Ch arlotte Mew) and “The Red City” (Anna Kingsford). The au thor’s of these stories pertain to the Victorian age, which spanned over the rule of Queen Victoria between 1837 and 1901. They introduce themselves as spokespersons of a communit y wherein people are fettered by forces greater than themselves. The first story is a demeaning portrayal of prostitutio n in a society where women are suppressed to the sub servient position. They are subjected not only to the reductive ethos of th e condescending male discourse, but also to the inj unctions laid down by the patriarchal system at large. The anonymous heroine is displayed without a name, dignity and honor. She is referred to as the Mandrake Venus, which is concomitantly a source of at tr ction and repulsion. The second story is about a ‘f llen’ woman displayed on the altar of shame. The agonizing and panoptical gazes of the throng around her are meant to play havoc with her self-esteem and strip her of humanity, but, lik e ‘the world harlot’, in the first tale, she shows s pectacular signs of resistance. The third story is a meticulous delinea tion of vivisection. The author establishes herself as a high profile animal rights activist denouncing the torture inflicted on animals, which resemble, in their helplessness, the disparaged female characters. Generally, this article is an attempt t o look at how women are discursively constructed in a p triarchal society. The way they are represented is indicative of the po wer of a dominant culture to shape the world under th e pretentious claim of knowing it. The analysis acquires significance by looking at the text in terms of its worldliness; th at is the idea that literature cannot be separated from the political r eality of the world in which it is written.