Catharine Maria Sedgwick’s A New-England Tale and Hope Leslie

The title character of Catharine Maria Sedgewick’s novel, Hope Leslie, defies the standards to which women of the era were to adhere. Sedgewick’s novel is set in New England during the 17th century after the Puritans had broken away from the Church of England. Hope Leslie lives in a repressive Puritan society in which women behave passively, submit to the males around them, and live by the Bible. They allow the men of their family to make decisions for them and rarely, if ever, convey an opinion that differs from the status quo. However, Hope Leslie does not conform to the expected behavior of women during that time, behavior that only further expressed the supposed superiority of males. Hope

Over the course of many years, women have struggled to expand their roles and rights in society, hoping to one day achieve complete equality with their male counterparts. Two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady, both recognized the patriarchal society in which women had to endure. They despised the way it heaped inequality and servitude upon women, and decided to assert their opinion on the issue in order to change the perceptions and imposed limitations on women. In Stanton’s speech, “Declaration of Sentiments”, and in Brady’s article, “I Want a Wife”, both women attempt to convince their audiences that females deserve complete equality with men by stating the submissive situations and obligations women find themselves immersed in. This is done to get their female audiences to reevaluate how they have been treated and give them a second chance at attaining equality. Both women employ various rhetorical techniques in their arguments to strengthen, as well as compel other women to oppose the ‘domesticated’ image of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady expressed their views in pursuance of forging a path to a revamped lifestyle for women.

Thesis: A “true women” in the 19th Century was one who was domestic, religious, and chaste. These were virtues established by men but enforced and taught by other women. Women were also told that they were inferior to men and they should accept it and be grateful that someone just loved them.

The question arises as to what a true woman was in the Antebellum Era of the United States. In Barbara Welters, “The Cult of True Womanhood,” she states that all along the pre-Civil War period, people believed that in order to be a “true woman,” women had to instill in themselves “four cardinal virtues––piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (21). Women were judged on whether or not they possessed these expected societal values. If a woman failed to adhere to society’s guidelines, the woman would be shunned by the community. These virtues reigned over a woman's worth and dictated her place in the community––if she possessed all, she was considered a woman, but if she

In the letter to The Times on 24 February 1858, the woman signed her name as “Another Unfortunate”, implying the fact that she had conformed herself to the moral standard. Even though prostitution had brought many privileges to her life, she accepted herself as an unfortunate because the society had imposed so. She further expressed her anger mixed with desperation, “Now, what if I am a prostitute, what business has society to abuse me?...What we have to be ashamed of we who do not know what shame is - the shame you mean? … Why stand you there mouthing with sleek face about morality? What is morality?” Women’s social vulnerability was conveyed through these questions. They did not know the reason their survival choice had turned into a social wickedness. For example, William Acton had already declared the moral standard that prostitution was evil before expanding on his reasons and studies. The deductive reasoning method had taken away the chance for women to argue about the meaning of morality concerning prostitution. In fact, Josephine Butler, a middle class woman, wrote a paper with the title “The Double Standard of Morality” during the late 19th century. Butler pointed out how men were not viewed as sinful for they were fulfilling their desire through prostitution. A man could become a good husband when time passed by but a prostitute would always remain with impurity. She further emphasized that, “Even those men who are personally pure and blameless become persuaded by the force of familiarity with male profligacy around them, that this sin in man is venial and excusable. They interpret the ignorance and silence of women as indulgent acquiescence and support” (1). The moral standard had already been placed, in which women were powerless to change. Thus, the women’s silent endurance became an acquiescence to the morality issue that men had

The "cult of real womanhood" dictated that submissiveness, purity and piety were the features of a woman. Instead of embracing womanhood, the rush was extra towards making

Ignoring women's will becomes an easy routine. Women are taught; they should be compliant of their men. The male dominance is an all-accepted fact in such a community. Women forget their personality, and their journey in life and they just stick with being a toy for men’s satisfaction. Analyzing Hawthorne and Ibsen texts, we should consider the era in which the authors were living in it.

In A Vindication of the Rights of Women with structures on Political and Moral Subjects, Wollstonecraft argues that women are subject to what a man’s ideal traits in a woman are instead of what a woman thinks her ideal traits are. The patriarchal society lets men have a monopoly on education, books, and government. Because men control society, they push women in to social roles of mistresses, wives, and mothers above anything else. This has harmed women’s mental integrity.

Women of this era were told that they must gain “the protection of men” which could be accomplished, in part, by maintaining an even temper and displaying an “outward obedience”

Throughout human history’s course, women hardly retained free speech rights. The men possessed an absolute authority over females because they had strength and larger duties. However, women’s low societal position confined them from seeking independence, security, and achievements. The general public’s analysis was strictly constrained to female domestic tasks. If one defied the social structure, the consequences would result condemnation and shame on the entire family. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice contain many underlying information regarding women’s hierarchy status, maintaining social distinctions and obligations, and acquiring power.

“In a rapidly changing world where men were charged with the task of creating and expanding an industrialized civilization from a wilderness, a True Woman was expected to serve as the protectors of a religion and civilized society (188).” An 1800’s woman spending most of her time at her home, “A “true woman” was designed as the symbolic keeper of morality and decency within a home, being regarded as initially superior to men when it came to virtue (188).” The woman being the “angel” of her house was to always be religious and teach her children to be also. Not many women had jobs at this time, but most women would be Sunday school teachers. “The world of churches, camp meetings. Sunday Schools, and missionary societies - a world dominated by women (820).” Considering the world of religion was dominated by women in a world dominated by men, religion would sometimes cause tension between the men and women.

Society is burdened with inherent flaws. From the times of antiquity to the modern age, social imbalances and power struggles have perpetually existed. One such inherent flaw is the differences in social expectations that exist between men and women. Even during the drafting of the constitution, a document designed exclusively for the protection of democracy and the assertion of equality is the premise of acknowledging man and woman as social equals ignored. Even today, women still face the challenges of their predecessors who had been mired in the “cult of domesticity” for countless centuries, adhering to the traditional values that their ancestors had feigned upon them. Republican politician, Faith Whittlesey argues that even in today’s relaxed social atmosphere, “In order for a woman to be considered equal to a man, she has to do even more than a man.” This rough assessment of women’s current social status although true for most cases, is not entirely concise.

During the mid-nineteenth century there were strict ideologies and guidelines held for women that they were supposed to follow. These expectations were especially strict for the women in the upper and middle classes. Women of the time period were expected to be elegant, beautiful, innocent, and domestic. The standard model for an ideal woman was exemplified in the idea of the True Woman. A True Women was “a pillar of moral strength and virtue” while also being “delicate and weak” (Cruea 189) A True Women was pure and wholesome, displaying all of the desirable traits and utmost femininity.

To make a good match, Elizabethan women were expected to hold values such as “...patience, chastity, reticence, humbleness, modesty, faithfulness, self-control, goodness, sympathy, and compassion.” (Ahsan 12); Men, however, could themselves be “...drunkards, womanizers, gamblers…” (Ahsan 12) and still be able to find dutiful wives. Another subject in which men and women of this era had different experiences with is premarital sex. There would be no consequences for a man if he chose to have sex before marriage because it was seen as “...a mild offense and pardonable for men.” (Smith 99). And yet, if a woman chose to have premarital sex, her life would practically be ruined because “...their value as commodities decreases enormously if they are thought to be unchaste…” (Smith 100). This double standard between the genders in the Elizabethan era shows that women led a much more confined life than men.

However, women throughout history have not always obeyed these gendered constructs. Women over time have begun to question the framework of sexual relationships and masculine power that exist. They began challenging the prevailing view of women as naturally unequal and inferior to men. In the nineteenth century, “Legally, women did not count as persons and were not possessors of property” and further, women were forced to “renounce indolence on marriage and submit to the domination of the husband”(Mendus 178). Women began questioning their subordination, challenging a construction of femininity which imposed sexual ignorance. Women have faced challenges of this sort throughout history, and over time have challenged these gender roles.