Cruelty And Companionship

In this account of the darker side of marriage in Victorian and Edwardian England, A. James Hammerton draws upon previously unpublished material from divorce records and matrimonial proceedings to challenge popular views about changing family patterns and to give new insights into the sexual tensions of everyday life and routine tensions which shaped marriage in middle and working-class families. Using contemporary evidence ranging from prescriptive texts and public debate to autobiography and fiction, Hammerton examines the intense public scrutiny of marital breakdown and charts the growing critique of men's behavior in marriage. Including a range of views, from paternalist to feminist, this study takes an unprecedented look at the origins and trajectory of 19th century feminism, legal change and our understanding of of changing expressions of masculinity.