should at least go to Eton, but women are allowed to be unintelligent. Women education also very limited. They just study about household management and
languages. Sex education for women is considering taboo while men are allowed to have such education. Victoria Daltry said that she not really understands why
she could got pregnant. It is because women education is limited.
3. James’ Views toward Gender
James‟ view toward gender reveals by the characters and setting in this novel. James reveals her ideas that men is considering higher than women. Men is
the head of the family, they should lead the women and children in the family. Prince Gabriel is the head of the family, he takes responsibility to his entire
household, even he is willing to marry an heiress because he needs money for his family. Men are the head of the family, and they are responsible for their family.
Men have higher status than women do because women could be a head of the family only if there is no man in the family. Mariana is the head of her family
because there is no man in the Daltry household. James also thinks that men have more freedom than women do. Men are
allowed to have a free life outside the house, for either work or fun. In the upper class society, men are permitted to have mistresses or go to brothels. Victor Daltry
is an upper class man, he has a mistress even when his wife was still alive. Men also free to have a wild party and drank in a public places:
“Dear me,” Gabriel commented. “England seems to have suffered a rash of trollopy young ladies without fathers.”
“All right ,” Beckham snapped. He jerked his chin at the footman. “You. More champagne.”
There was silence as the wine gurgled into his cup. He drank, and looked up, a fugitive sort of courage burning in his eyes. “They wanted it anyhow,”
he said. James, 2010: 223.
J ames‟ view toward men party is that it is allow being wild and the men also
allowed to drunk. Women are not allowed to drunk in a public places. James‟ view toward women position at that time is that women freedom is
limited compared to the men. Upper class women have more limited freedom. In the upper class society, men are allowed to go anywhere he likes while a lady who
is in the age of marriage should not go out of the house unaccompanied. In the novel, A Kiss at Midnight Kate is traveling without a chaperone, it is become a
concern to Prince Gabriel since a lady should have a chaperone: “You spoke to me for quite a while. You have no chaperone with you.
Wick tells me that you arrived with a single maid to attend you.” Damn Mariana for t
hrowing their governess out of the house. “I would have brought my maid downstairs with me but she has indigestion,” Kate
said. “I think you forgot to summon her. I assure you that young ladies in the
court never forget their maids, and they are never alon e,” he stated. “They
travel together, like flocks of starlings. Or packs of dogs,” he added, as Caesar growled at the lion. James, 2010: 98.
Upper class women have very limited freedom. They never go anywhere alone. When a lady going out of the house unaccompanied it will damage their
reputation. Her reputation will considered as contaminated and impure, while men were free to pursue pleasure even before he is married. When Mariana asks Kate
to disguise as Victoria, Kate asks about a chaperone because a young lady should
not go outside the house without one if she wants her reputation not tattered. Kate also berated Mariana about Victoria pregnancy, because she did not want to pay a
companion for Victoria. While an upper class woman get pregnant outside of the wedlock, such actions would apologize if the woman going to marry but her name
will be tarnished and destroyed in the eyes of society if having a baby without marriage. That is because women were very reserved and lacking in education,
usually women that era a little naive. Just like Victoria, she admits that she does not really understand why she could be pregnant, because women are not allowed
to know about sexuality before marriage.
4. James’ Views toward Morality
In the novel A Kiss at Midnight, some of the characters will do everything to reach their goal. They will do something that could be immoral to get what they
want. Bristish society in the 19
th
century exalts the higher class because they have certain benefit rights. It makes people want to be able to join the highest class or
aristocrats. James thinks that sometimes to achieve that, they do things that are not always in a moral line. In this novel, Mariana Daltry come from the lower class,
she is succeeds in being an aristocracy. In her book A Kiss at Midnight Eloisa James wrote that Mariana elevate her status by marrying Victor Daltry, a son of an
earl. Mariana first elevate herself and cover his origins by saying that she is a widow of a colonel who died in the battlefield. In reality, Mariana is Victor
Daltry‟s former Mistress, means she come from the lower class. When she
