a young age, girls are taught to control and suppress their emotions, to be constantly kind and perpetually pleasant. This expectation of emotional suppression and control is perfectly summed up with the quote from Maggie Royer, “woman’s first blood doesn’t come from between her legs but from biting her tongue”

Virginia Woolf satirised the ideal of femininity depicted in the poem, writing that "She [the perfect wife] was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed daily. If there was a chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it ...... See more

Following the publication of Patmore's poem, the term angel in the house came to be used in reference to women who embodied the Victorian feminine ideal: a wife and mother who was selflessly devoted to her children and submissive to her husband. The term then evolved into a more derogatory assessment of antiquated roles with critiques from feminist... See more