fallen woman
Disgraced by sin
A fallen woman is an old-fashioned term for a woman who has lost her sexual virtue—through prostitution, adultery, or sex outside marriage.
The phrase reflects Victorian morality, where such "falls from grace" permanently damaged a woman's reputation and social standing: The novel's heroine was a fallen woman seeking redemption.
The term is now used only historically or ironically.
Deliverance from harm
- atonementCompensation for wrongdoing
- forgivenessReleasing resentment toward offenders
- repentanceRemorseful rejection of past wrongs
- reformationProcess of improving institutions
rehabilitation · rescue · reclamation · Magdalene · convent · redemption arc · second chance · restoration
Rejected, shunned person
- ostracizedExcluded from a group
- shunnedPersistently avoided socially
- disownedRejected familial ties
- banishedForced to leave permanently
marginalized · rejected · abandoned · cast out · social exile · disgraced · untouchable · persona non grata
Painful awareness of failure
- disgraceLoss of honor
- sinViolation of divine law
- scandalDisgraceful public affair
- stigmaMark of dishonor
dishonor · impropriety · promiscuity · sullied · tarnished · defiled · ruined · impurity
Complete destruction or collapse
- seductionEnticing someone romantically
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
- despairTotal absence of hope
sorrow · suffering · heartbreak · fate · doom · victim · innocence lost · exploitation
salvation
Deliverance from harm
- atonementCompensation for wrongdoing
- forgivenessReleasing resentment toward offenders
- repentanceRemorseful rejection of past wrongs
reformation · rehabilitation · rescue · reclamation · Magdalene · convent · redemption arc · second chance · restoration · penitent
pariah
Rejected, shunned person
- ostracizedExcluded from a group
- shunnedPersistently avoided socially
- disownedRejected familial ties
banished · marginalized · rejected · abandoned · cast out · social exile · disgraced · untouchable · persona non grata · blacklisted
shame
Painful awareness of failure
stigma · dishonor · impropriety · promiscuity · sullied · tarnished · defiled · ruined · impurity · transgression
ruin
Complete destruction or collapse
- seductionEnticing someone romantically
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
despair · sorrow · suffering · heartbreak · fate · doom · victim · innocence lost · exploitation · misfortune
- Euphemismspass away, passed away, passed on, expecting, with child
- stock charactersvillain, sidekick, hero, damsel in distress, fool
- literary archetypestragic hero, antihero, heroine, villain, noble savage
- noir charactersfemme fatale, private eye, gumshoe, hard-boiled detective, dame
- Victorian melodramavillain, heroine, hero, damsel in distress, fainting
- Victorian valuesmorality, propriety, respectability, decorum, modesty
fallen womanproper lady
gentlewoman · pillar of the community · pillar of society · matron · grande dame
woman, fallen, falling, women, falls, downfall, womanly, womanhood, womanizer