The Angel in the House uses a combination of text and portraiture to reflect on how society regulates the female body, appearance, and character through media.  The portrait of three women sits next to a list of six quotes: three from 19th century conduct manuals, and three from modern day women’s magazines. Conduct manuals, unlike etiquette manuals, were specifically directed towards women and took hold in popular culture when women’s roles began to shift in 19th century America. These manuals served as codes of sensibility for women's behavior, and they instructed women how they should think, feel, act and appear. By their nature, these conduct manuals imply that women do not know how to properly conduct themselves. While these manuals may be considered outdated, this assumption still persists. We see the regulation of women continues through women’s magazines, social media, and media at large. To examine this continued regulation, I paired excerpts from popular conduct manuals and contemporary magazines with a portrait of three women. The tension between the text and the portrait builds as the figures both visibly conform and subvert the “rules” set out by the text. This comparative model along with the title of the piece situates the viewer as an inspector, encouraging them to investigate who falls short of the rules listed and who fits them. The dynamic created between the text and the painting reveals how easily one can fall into the act of regulating the female character and appearance as the viewer finds themselves asking, who is the real Angel in the House?