Degeneration and Fallen Women in Late-Victorian Theatre

The Victorian society was defined by strict gender roles that were linked to sociopolitical ideals. Breaking them meant losing respectability. Particularly for women, this meant that they would become impure to the eyes of other members of society, thus morally falling. This paper aims at analyzing the way fallen women were perceived. Firstly, their condition in relation to gender roles will be delved into. Secondly, the analysis will focus on the idea degeneration and the study of physiognomy. Lastly, the character of the fallen woman will be described as it appears in Victorian drama, more precisely in George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession and in Arthur Wing Pinero's The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.