Widowhood

The 17^th century

During this century, 15% of the female population in Britain were widows, as noted by Moring and Wall. As a result of this, there were harsh stereotypes created about this group. Examples of stereotypes against widowed women were that they were lusty or manipulative. Because of these stereotypes, there were a lot of plays written about widows during the 17^thcentury, as they were easy to capitalise from. For example,The Widdow, which was published in 1652, conveyed widows as opportunities for young men. In the 17^th century, widowhood was integrated into social life through stereotypes and consequently, pop culture.

The 18^th century

During the 18^th century, lots of widows took up the role of landlady. Widowhood was seen as an opportunity for independence, yet they still came under the scrutiny of cruel stereotypes. Landladies were viewed as prostitutes or brothel madams, and this is conveyed in paintings of the time. Nonetheless, landladies were able to earn money and be sociable while staying in their family home after the death of their spouse.

The 19^th century

For the 19^th century, we examine the case study of Queen Victoria as a widow after the death of Prince Albert in 1861. This century saw the explosion in the use of photography: it was central to Victoria’s mourning, allowing her to combine private mourning with her public role. Busts of Albert used to be included in family photographs as a method of memorialising him. Furthermore, Victoria wore black clothing until she died in 1901. She mourned Albert for the rest of her life, becoming known by later generations for her permanent mourning through her black clothing.

The 20^th century

The 20^th century saw a large increase in the amount of widows as a result of the First World War. There was a lot of commotion over pensions – a widow could receive half of her late husband’s pension if his death was directly caused by the war. But a sum was introduced for remarriage to encourage women to remove themselves from the pension list. As a memorial, the ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ was given to the next of kin of soldiers who died directly because of the war. It was also known as the ‘Death Plaque’ or the ‘Widow’s Penny’ – it was distributed from December 1918.

The 21^st century

Today, there is no ‘correct way’ to mourn as there seemed to be in the past. Joann Filomena describes the famous stages of grief as ‘whatever you’re feeling’. A method of memorialising a late spouse is memorial accounts on social media. Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow for accounts to be frozen in remembrance of the deceased. Louisa Young says that ‘widowhood seems almost an old-fashioned concept’, conveying the development of widowhood through time because it is so different today than in the past. There are less societal expectations and less stereotypes in an era of increasing female independence.