Summary
The Angel in the House is a narrative poem written in the mid-19th century by Coventry Patmore.
Inspired by his love and admiration for his first wife, Emily, the poem idealizes her virtues and, by extension, sets out a vision of the ideal Victorian woman: modest, devoted, submissive, self-sacrificing, and morally pure—a guiding "angel" in the domestic sphere.
Structured in a semi-autobiographical style, the poem follows the courtship and marriage of Felix and Honoria, depicting the emotional nuances of romantic and marital love through a lens of religious and moral devotion.
With flowing rhymed stanzas and lyrical reflection, it presents domestic life not as mundane but as a spiritual calling, where the wife sanctifies the home through her virtue.