A renewed interest in Patmore's poem has come about in the past half a century which stems largely from interests in the various aspects of Victorian lifestyles. The poem is often studied primarily for its unadulterated and in-depth look at the common life of middle class lifestyles in Victorian England. It is considered more valuable among scholars for its historical relevance and its detailed accounts of gendered separations than it is for its literary value. Its detailed accounts stem from Patmore's belief that the routine machinations of everyday life are prime subject for the illuminations of the poet. Every day routines and interactions of man and woman are things to be elucidated through verse. Due to his close accounts and evaluations, the role of woman in the poem exemplifies the Victorian theory of
separate spheres. This
ideology asserts that women and men are naturally predisposed to excel in a specific realm of society or culture. Women were regarded as being given to aspects of the private or domestic sphere which generally entailed caring for the house and children, while men were made for the
public sphere which makes it appropriate for them to leave the home for work and civic obligations. Specifically in recent decades, the study of the poem has increased among feminine studies in opposition to the assertion of these spheres. Rather than studying the poem for its depiction of the woman's lifestyle, it is studied to examine the masculine writer's prejudices, his view of these feminine roles and why men held women to these roles. 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 writers like
Virginia Woolf. Adèle Ratignolle, a character in
Kate Chopin's
novel The Awakening, is a literary example of the
angel in the house. Another example is in the
What Katy Did novels of
Susan Coolidge, about a pre-pubescent tomboy who becomes a paraplegic. They are based on her own life in 19th-century America. Katy eventually walks again, but not before she learns to become the "angel in the house", that is, the socially acceptable "ideal" of docile womanhood. In
Thomas Hardy's
The Return of the Native, Thomasin Yeobright is also described as "the angel of the house". Thomasin is the antithesis to Hardy's main female protagonist, Eustacia Vye, who is the opposite of the Victorian female "ideal". Images were also created with this name, including Millais' portrait of Patmore's wife Emily, and
Julia Margaret Cameron's photograph of an enraptured girl. ==Critics==