ABSTRACT
Marriage with a deceased wife's sister (MDWS) struck at the heart of Victorian ideas about the scope of the family. Growing criticism of scripture had profound implications. It forced those who supported the existing prohibition on marriage to focus on the social impact of reform, as the so-called 'Social Question' rose to prominence. Attitudes continued to be shaped by prevailing middle-class notions of femininity and long-held suspicions of the unattached single woman. The assumption that women should give service to the families of their deceased siblings had significant implications for women's status. The law for most of the nineteenth century afforded married women in Scotland little protection regarding property. The social conscience which emerged in Scotland continued to be shaped by an old moral compass. As the Victorian family started to be reconceptualised in line with wider scientific, legal and colonial changes, the incestuous social stigma that hung over MDWS diminished markedly.
