Abstract

In the Victorian novel, the occasion of St Valentine’s Day, and the valentine cards that mark its passing, might be viewed as conventions that gesture symbolically towards the continued popularity of sentimentality. However, both public and private expressions of sentiment could also serve as a disguise, which highlighted the capacity of sentimentality to camouflage inauthenticity. The proliferation, by the end of the century, of mass-produced, commercial Valentine cards increasingly raised concerns about the loss of sincerity, authenticity, and self-expression in a culture of consumer capitalism. This created a corresponding kaleidoscopic perception of the valentine itself, whose personal and social meaning was not always clear.