Social Mobility and Woman vs. Lady in Victorian Soceity

Education was not equal between the sexes and neither between the classes. Gentlemen were educated at home until they were old enough to attend well-known or lesser schools. A lady’s schooling was

Those women of the lower class were considered below the Victorian order and any diversions, of either men or women, from their set societal positions were overlooked as being done because of a lack of refinery. The broad onset of the way the Victorian class felt towards

Women in the Victorian society had two main goals which were to marry a respectable man and to have/raise children. The society had a vision of the “perfect woman” who did what she was told and did not question it. She did what her mother did before her, and her mother did what her mother did before her. They were constricted, as if they lived in a box. They couldn’t go too far forward or backward and they couldn’t tray too far off the sides. There were high standards and a true Victorian woman upheld those standards no matter how she felt about them. Victorian women were not their own; they were property-- property that was owned by their husbands or fathers.

The ideal woman in Victorian Times epitomized the good and virtuous woman whose live revolved around the domestic sphere of the family and home. She was pious, respectable and busy with no time for idle leisure. Her diligent and evident constant devotion to her husband, as well as to her God. She accepted her place in the sexual hierarchy. Her role was that of a domestic manager: wives and mothers. By the time that the industrial era was well under way in Britain, the ideology that committed the private sphere to the woman and the public sphere of business, commerce, and politics to the man had been widely dispersed. Women had to fight for an education equal to that of men, many struggled for suitable,

“The position of a woman in the seventeenth-century English marriage was dictated by the patriarchal nature of family relationships, with an emphasis on the subordination of women.” (Alice Brabcová, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň)

During the 18th to 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution sparked various new ideas and introduced a modernized way of life to the people of Great Britain. Citizens had to adapt to an array of social and economic changes. During this time-period, gender roles and family order were shifted which created new dilemmas in the household. Working-class families were negatively impacted by the transition from the cottage industry to an industrialized society. Industrialization forced working-class families to depend on wages which eventually drove them into a state of poverty. “Families Disrupted”, “Pains of Poverty” and “Women’s Right to Work” all explore the hardships and changes that working-class families in Great Britain faced because

In conclusion, Victorian England was divided into classes, with different subcategories. There was the upper class, middle class, working class, and underclass. This idea transferred into the working field. There were different jobs for different social classes. The victorian era was the reason for the industrial revolution, creating many manufactured products available to, even, the underclass. All in all, this era was a time of changing in

In the Victorian era, the status of women in society was extremely oppressive and, by modern standards, atrocious. Women had few rights, in or outside of the home. Married women in this period relied on men almost completely as they had few rights or independence. With this mindset in focus,

In the novel, the role of women, especially the upper class in England at the time are supposed to look beautiful, be educated, marry quickly, preferably to someone with wealth and security at their convenience. The women in this novel are all equally the same, considering they’re all supposed to be the same. The 18th century women are all looking for the same thing, security; the satisfaction that they will be provided for. As well as the men are all the same, in the sense that they all know their part in society. They are raised to want a woman to stay at home with their kids and to want nothing more than their husbands.

The female role was not greatly affected by reign of Queen Victoria, as the role of a woman was at home, being the perfect wife and mother to her husband and children, respectively. At a young age, women were groomed and taught only the essentials, such as being “innocent, virtuous, biddable, dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion…” as well as “being able to sing, play an instrument and [to] speak a little French or Italian” (Thomas, Pauline Weston). These qualities were taught to women so that they may serve their husbands and create an atmosphere of comfort for her husband and family. A woman was not to create problems and to be able to run the house smoothly, so that the man may focus on his work and be able to return to his home and relax.

The Victorian Era consists of three groups of the upper, middle, and lower class that differ in what and how they ate. The upper class had more etiquette and availability in what they ate compared to what the other classes had. The middle class were able to eat with what they made or bought, but not as much as the upper class had. The lower class had only a limited choice of what they ate. Although divided by separate groups, all classes had the same format of what to eat depending on time; starting with breakfast, then lunch, and lastly dinner.

During the late eighteenth century, women experienced an unjust society which promoted ideas of inequality between men and women. Society created a legal environment, which deemed women to be inferior to men. The laws in entitled men to more rights than women. Women did not obtain a social status as high as men in society, due to gender inequality. The laws in the late eighteenth century meant that men had more power in society, as men were allowed the right to an education, which would credit them a high paying job, whereas women weren’t allowed to work. Men would go to work everyday to support his wife and family, and the women would stay home and take care of the children. This made women dependent on men for a home, money, and support. This made men feel like the were in control and owned women, especially if they were married (Todd & Butler, 1999). Being married was important in society as a means of reproduction, and women’s reputations influenced if she would find a suitable wealthy husband to take care of her. In the eighteenth century, most people didn’t marry based on generally caring and loving the other, instead people would be married based on social status and wealth, as this was important for supporting a wife and family

The image on the right is known as “The British Beehive.” I think this is a good image because it represents the social classes during the Victorian Era. In the Victorian Era, social class wasn’t dependent on the amount of money a person had like today, but more so on the source of income, birth and family connections played a bigger role. We usually see social classes as mainly 3 the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. At the top of The Beehive is a smaller section which consists of the royal family, in the middle is a broad section including booksellers, mechanics, tea dealers and inventors; and at the bottom are the cabmen, shoeblacks, coalheavers, sweeps and dustmen. Relations and viewpoints on people of different social

During Victoria’s reign there were changes of great importance economically, socially, and technologically. London had a rapid growth from a 2 million to a 6.5 million population by the time of Queen Victoria’s death, due to a significant change. As a result of the industrialization, instead of a life based on ownership of lands, England was transformed to a modern economy. Based on trade and manufacturing they changed from an agrarian society in 1800’s with 75% rural to an industrial society by the 1900’s with a 75% modern urban economy. Socially, there were extreme discriminations especially between men and women. Consequently, women were not eligible for a higher education, employment and were denied the right to vote. Gradually and by the end of Victoria’s reign, women won significant political and legal rights. These included a greater access to education, the custody of children, economic independence and were able to work under fair conditions. Definitely, the Victorian Period was an era of dramatic changes that highly developed England’s power and

Social standing, and moral values were vital elements in Victorian society, and the fundamental doctrine of establishing this ideology, began at home. The home provided a refuge from the rigour, uncertainty, anxiety, and potential violence of the outside world. (P, 341) A woman’s role was to provide a safe, stable, and well-organised environment for their husbands and families. However, change was on the horizon with an underlying movement of business and domestic changes both home and abroad, with industrialization, and the suffragist movement. Women were beginning to gain autonomy and began to grasp their opportunities, thus significantly curtailing male supremacy and the definable acceptable ‘role’ of the woman.