What would Maggie, a 14 year old girl in Victorian England, REALLY know about denying herself (following Thomas á Kempis) in sexual terms? Quite a lot, it turns out. She was already considered of marrying age. Most girls were married by 18, and women unmarried by 25 were considered old maids.
During the time of the play, the age of consent for girls in Victorian England was 12. In 1875 it was raised to 13. In 1885, it was raised to 16. There was no age of consent for boys. Interestingly, the symbol of romantic perfection was the 'girl' more than the 'woman' (because it implied sexual innocence). Accordingly, in this period there was a substantial number of engagements between adult men and teenager girl-brides, who had sometimes first attracted their future husbands in childhood. Lots of them were celebrity engagements, including the son of the prime minister, the archbishop of Canterbury, poets, novelists, artists, and even the chief barrister of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children!
From Family Ties in Victorian England, Claudia Nelson.
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