#frannymoyle

A feminist rant incoming, so brace yourself! 💪🏻 As many of you probably know, I am currently in the process of writing my Bachelor thesis with focus on Oscar Wilde and the feminist analysis of his female characters, with focus of the “New Woman” phenomenon that might have occurred in his writing of female characters. As we (should) know, Wilde was a big supporter of women’s rights, having grown up in a very female-powered household with his mother Speranza, who was a fighter for women’s rights and women’s education. He had many female friends he regarded highly, loved dearly and valued the opinion of. He didn’t like dull people and would never spend more time than necessary with somebody that he couldn’t have an intelligent conversation with. So it goes without saying that he probably wouldn’t marry somebody that was not intelligent. As I was researching some details about Oscar’s life last night, I came across his biography page on the Victorian Web. Don’t get me wrong, I love VW for quick access information, I love going down a rabbit hole there. BUT! When an unnamed fellow from Brown University called Constance “dumbfounded and unappreciative woman of quite mediocre intelligence” I flipped!!! DUDE! Just because she was not as dominant as Oscar and his actress friends, just because she was quiet and didn’t voice her opinion in society that much doesn’t mean she was dumb!! Constance was an ambitious woman who wanted to be equal to he husband, and wanted to do something in her life. She was well-educated and well-read and spoke several languages, was a fighter for the equality of sexes, called for the rational dress for women, contributed to magazines, gave lectures and so much more. She was so much more than just “an aesthete’s pretty wife”. Do your research. All of this information you can find by a quick google search, but let me recommend Constance by Franny Moyle and Wilde’s Women by Eleanor Fitzsimmons for very well-researched and accessible books. #constancelloyd #constancewilde #wildeswomen #eleanorfitzsimons #frannymoyle #nonfiction #biography #feminism #victorianfeminism #victorian #feminist #suffragette #books #bookstagram #study #studygram https://www.instagram.com/p/CKgh30PgJWt/?igshid=1dv85v0dwwrb7

Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down.  Everyone knows who Oscar Wilde is but, I at least knew nothing about his wife, Constance. She was someone worthy of admiration.   True she was a wife madly in love with her husband but she was so much more.   She had exquisite taste, was a writer and translator.   She spoke several languages but what most surprised me was her work promoting sensible clothes.   Now this may sound ridiculous but clothing in the XIX century was a health hazard.  Corsets deformed chests; the materials were highly flammable and nothing they wore allowed any freedom of movement.  Oscar Wilde was flamboyant, but his wife was not far behind.   Both of them were fashion icons and the brightest London hosts at the time.  I do not want to give the ending away, but although she was not present physically at his trial, she never abandoned him.  Constance, a women truly worthy of admiration.