Love in the Time of Victoria: Sexuality and Desire Among Working-Class Men and Women in 19th Century London

Introduction1. LABOURING CLASSES, DEPRAVED CLASSESThe SettingA Vast Hothouse of Sexual ImmoralityThe signs of immoralityUse of the Streets / Places of Amusement / Living Conditions: One-Room Dwellings and Sexual LicenceCharacters in the family dramaThe Head of the Family / Children / Young People / WomenThe Natural History of TransgressionsProfligacyThe Reign of the Impure / Animality2. THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL3. LOVE AND MARRIAGE'My vile seducer has been the cause of four other young women's ruinCasual Loves and Impossible Romances'Female servants are far from being a virtuous class''Nice life this, for a girl of three and twenty, my Kerristian friends''Home, sweet home'Temptations and Precautions'As I was going to Chelsea one day, I met with a pretty girl on the way…'CourtshipParents and Family / Friends and Workmates / Employers / A Very Discreet Courtship / 'There Was No Courtship or Promise of Marriage''Where they went to I never heard say…but when she returned, Mrs. Gray said she'd very much rumpl'd her muslin…'Sex before Marriage / Promises of Marriage: 'He promised me marriage, they all do' / Love Nests, Love Traps / The Question of ConsentWords of love'Now lost to all, her friends, her virtue fled…''He promised to marry her soon, but soon he forgot all about her…'Posting Banns / Living in Sin: 'Before everything went wrong' / Abortion Attempts / 'I told him at which he seemed frightened' / 'He said he would see me through my trouble'Seduced and abandonedFamily and friends'No Sir, Missus don't permit no followers'Rules of Sexual MoralityEPILOGUENotesBibliography