'Victorian' came in the twentieth century to stand for sexual repression and social convention. Personal life was governed by complex and rigid rules of behaviour. Like other aspects of Victorian culture this began to break down in the fin-de-siécle. Yet recent research, discussed in this lecture, has undermined this rather simplistic picture and begun to explore some of the contradictions and complexities of Victorian attitudes to marriage and sexuality. The place of women in Victorian culture was by no means as passive or subordinate as conventional images of the era suggest. All our lectures are available for free download from the Gresham College website, in video, audio or text formats: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Gresham College professors and guest speakers have been giving free public lectures in central London since 1597. This tradition continues today and you can attend any of our lectures, or watch or listen to them on our website. Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gresham-College/14011689941
Gresham College exists for the sole purpose of disseminating knowledge to the public through free lectures. This four century old tradition continues today with three or more lectures a week being made available for free download from our website: