Disease and Society > Victorian
Syphilis Stigmas
Victorian
Syphilis Stigmas
By
Tessa Reck
In
Victorian Britain, syphilis (and other venereal diseases) was generally
thought of as a terrible, punishing disease. Britain's treatment of
those afflicted with the disease in the Victorian era is entangled
with several other aspects of life, including moral standards and
expectations for men and women and the sexual and moral ideals that
surrounded them. This discussion also encompasses the perceived need
for prostitution within the Victorian society and the stigma of immorality
that surrounded prostitution and those afflicted with syphilis. This
paper seeks to explore the culture of fear that was created by these
attitudes and the resulting faulty treatment and governmental intervention
that arose as a result of these outlooks. HTML
Full Text.
Web
Links
<http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide19/part10.html>(provides
basic background on Victorian attitudes and gender roles)
<http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah/grtscrge.htm#'The%20Great%20Scourge'>
(an excellent article by author Lesley A. Hall, which describes the
moral impact of syphilis within Victorian society and the ways in
which it functioned as a moral metaphor)
<http://www.cdc.gov/std/Syphilis/STDFact-Syphilis.htm>
(provides physical description of the disease and its effects and
how it can be treated today).
