I’m calling time on the myth of the ‘domestic goddess’

Dr Belle Tindall reveals the true origins of the lie that all women were hard-wired by God to be domestic and challenges society’s expectations

I recently got to interview author and professor of Victorian literature, Karen Swallow-Prior (or, ‘The Notorious KSP’, as her social media channels entitle her), and it blew my mind. Karen has a new(ish) book out, The Evangelical Imagination (Brazos Press), in which she argues that a heap of the things that we think of as ‘Christian’ ideals are actually Victorian English ideals. Did Christianity rub off on Victorian England, or did Victorian England rub off on Christianity? It’s nearly impossible to tell, but Karen reckons it’s probably a little of both.