Evaluation of Female-Creatures in Victorian Novels

This study discloses the multifaceted nature of female-creatures’ evaluation in Victorian literature, highlighting the complex interplay between societal expectations, cultural norms, and the realities of females’ portrayal in Victorian society. The research analyses the assessment of female-creatures across various thematic and evaluative dimensions. A corpus of 22 Victorian novels compiled for this study enables a thorough exploration of modifiers employed in both attributive and predicative positions with the word creature. From various senses of the word creature in the corpus texts, reference to female-creatures constitutes nearly half of all its occurrences.Through an examination of modifiers used to describe female-creatures, the study estimates their overall frequency in the corpus texts and identifies the prevailing trend in their assessment, specifying the qualities that were judged. The findings reveal a slight preferencefor positive evaluation of female-creatures over the negative one. It was particularly evident in their general characterisation, in the assessment of their physical appearance, character, and age. Conversely, negative evaluation is more pronounced in areas such as manner/behaviours, emotional state/feelings, and intellectual abilities. By elucidating the nuances of female-creatures’ evaluative characterisation, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the meaning of the biblical word creature and its attitudinal perception, as well as discloses gender dynamics in nineteenth-century literature, enriching scholarly research on the representation of women in Victorian society.