Consuming angels

Timid and retiring, the Victorian housewife was an "angel in the house," or so says the stereotype. But when this angel picked up a popular magazine she saw in its advertisements images of Grecian goddesses, women warriors, queens, actresses, adventurers. Stylishly written and featuring a wealth of illustrations, Consuming Angels demonstrates how advertisements picked up hedonistic patterns in Victorian culture, glorified the culture's consumerism, and mythologized a middle-class life which offered prosperity for all. Since advertisements appealed to female as well as male consumers, Lori…