“I Know I Must Conceal My Sentiments”: the repression of female emotions in Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens , North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Abstract

​As the 19th century progressed, emotional and sexual repression became integral norms in Victorian society. This norm fell most heavily on middle class British women. Among the cultural indicators that best exemplified this phenomenon were the novels written at the time. In Victorian literature, the heroine was often characterized by her need to repress her own emotions and sexuality. Three such heroines are Jane Eyre from Charlotte ​Brontë’s​ ​Jane Eyre​, Margaret Hale from Elizabeth Gaskell’s ​North and South​, and Florence Dombey from Charles Dickens’ ​Dombey and Son.​ Their behavior reflects societal expectations for young women in Victorian England.