The Sexual History Of London (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Poverty and hunger, rather than an excessive desire for extravagant clothing and a proclivity to sin, drove young women onto the streets. During the course of his research, Henry Mayhew was shocked to hear from one seamstress who sewed shirts from five o’clock in the morning until midnight, but still did not earn enough money to feed herself and her child.1 Struggling to survive on derisory wages, young women often faced a stark choice: ‘render up your body or die’. Prostitution, for all its drawbacks, was a welcome alternative to starvation. It was also a welcome alternative to a wretched, poverty-stricken marriage. For all the glamour of the West End, a million Londoners lived in slums where the streets were frequently so narrow that you could step from the window of one house into that of its opposite neighbour, while the houses were piled so high, storey upon storey, that the light could scarcely penetrate into the court or alley that lay between. Far from the theatres and cafés of the Haymarket, this was a world where there were no sewers or privies or drains and the houses were filthy and overcrowded.
What do You think about The Sexual History Of London (2010)?
