The Perception of Women in the Early 19th Century

In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected to restrict their area of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to have a real education or pursue a professional career. Also, women were considered unequal to their husbands and all males legally and socially. The day-to day lives of men and women were quite clearly divided during the late 1800s. Woman in the late 1800s were treated inhumane because of society, class, and their rights.

In the United States of America, there is always a power struggle. Women of the late 1800s showed men that they were here to change things up. The struggle even came from within, between the white and black women to see who would get power first. So, the struggle in late 1800s America was between the role of a man and a woman and was ultimately changing the role of a female in America, creating hundreds and hundreds of unions and associations, and finally creating many laws that were create an equal opportunity at the American dream.

The way European women were treated in the nineteenth century is very different than the way women are treated in the twentieth century today. Women in the nineteenth century were thought more of as objects or something to look at instead of people. Men were always superior to women. It is not the same in the United States during twentieth century as it was in Europe during the nineteenth century. Race and sexuality plays a huge role in the superiority of genders. By the end of the nineteenth century there were multiple challenges toward sending gender norms.

I have to let the readers know how I stumbled upon this topic to introduce where I get my ideas from. It all started in the archive located on the second floor of the library in a dark corner behind a clear glass doors at the Hunter College. I have been attending Hunter College for four years and never have I stumbled on such an amazing place full of live history. I say live history because all the documents and books that are held in the archive are all preserved originals, which fascinated me. Thinking how people who lived more than century ago wrote and read the same things I’m writing and reading about excited me to my very soul. Archive research though fascinating is not an easy task that can be done in within fifteen minutes like how researches are done these days using convenient technologies at hand.

The history in the 1800s was really rough then now days because they had the Nez Perce war going on and at the same time, we had problems with woman not being able to vote, and the Immigrants were all looking for jobs. As I said earlier about women not being able to vote was a big step back for woman, not so much for men as they didn’t want women to vote. As the author said in the 1840s, emerging from the broader movement for women's rights”(w.i.t.p.n.). Woman were treated imperfect towards men all because they were a different gender, which is unacceptable back in the 1840s and would be now if it happened because we should all be treated the the same and have the same rights. As it says in the text “In order to earn revenue from their land

Ultimately, the evidence shown above reveals the many apprehensions and difficulties women endured during the 19th century, and the implications of their actions. Through the above examples, it demonstrates that women must show certain etiquette among European society despite personal heritage. As well as one being innocent and denying social norms, there are limitations and one should be cautious to personal decisions. Similarly, young women should be more vigilant towards warnings of others and adult figures that offer helpful advice even if their nature is to be ignorant to rules. Given these points, James emphasizes in the novella ‘Daisy Miller’ the taboo of young sexuality during the Victorian era, and the strict social conventions and

The tragic narratives constructed by historians such as Cornelia Dayton in her article “Taking the Trade” and Amy Gilman Srebnick in “The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers” are crucial in analyzing the transformation of women’s reproductive health between the mid 18th century and the mid 19th century. Although Dayton and Srebnick’s narrations of abortions and death are based upon events that transpired nearly 100 years apart, a collective analysis of both sources creates a greater understanding of the societal perception of the woman’s role in colonial North America. Set in the context of a small New England village in the mid 18th century and the emerging metropolis of New York City mid 19th century New York City. One could argue a variety

America is a nation composed of many, distinct traits. All of these different traits contribute to America’s identity. America’s identity today, however, is not the same as it always was. People’s perception of America is ever changing. This change in America’s identity has occurred in regards to women, men, racial groups and other aspects of America. These changes can also be viewed in more specific terms. Gender roles for women have changed drastically from housewife to independent women since the 1800’s.

In the last decades of the nineteenth century, United Stated encountered an urban migration; it was something different and never experienced before. As factories began to open up across the Midwestern and Northern countryside, cities grew up around them. A whole new world was introduced, bringing a mixture of both positive and negative effects into the American society. While the new elite, big businesses, and the American economy in general, enjoyed the benefits of industrialization, many Americans were not so fortunate. Immigrants and former soldiers moved to the cities in search of jobs, money, and new opportunities. This created scarcity in employment and other resources. Cities grew and developed quickly, which caused women to work outside of their homes and farmers felt the difference in urban living. United State was changing because of industrialization. For example, the roles for women had changed greatly in the society because of industrialization. Women who once were caring mothers and housewives became a part of the working class. They didn’t have the time to stay home during the day and take care of their husband and making sure that their children acted properly and were respectful with high moral values. On the other hand, wealthy women considered to be lucky if they were able to stay at home and devote themselves totally to their families. Another example, farmers who were dependent on their skill in farming and the land grew their crops. However, throughout

behind the job. Women of higher class had laborious work to do, although one of the

Women began standing up for themselves using literature in the nineteenth century. The time periods of the feminism booms were called waves. There are three waves of feminism starting from the nineteenth century to now. They all occurred in the United Kingdom, Britain, France, and the United States. These waves lead to women getting closer to being treated equal to men.

The years Two thousand and fourteen (2014) to eighteen (2018) reminds those who attended a great war. These years commemorate the 100th anniversary for the event that occurred in 1914 to 1918. Australia and its allies fought for our nations to ensure that it would turn out to be what our country is now. At the time all of the men were sent to war at the; Western Front, Eastern Front and Gallipoli this left the women at home whether they were mothers, widowed or single, this left a lot to do for these women left back at home and also offering their services first handedly to the soldiers. The memory of these brave women are but only magnificent.

Authors, Jean Rhys and Charlotte Bronte constructed their novels in completely different time periods and came from different influences in writing. Jean Rhys’s fiction book, Wide Sargasso Sea is an interesting relation to Jane Eyre. The female character of Jane Eyre forms into a furiously, passionate, independent young woman. The female character of Jean Rhys’s illustration is a character that Jane will know further on as Rochester’s crazy wife who is bolted in an attic. Jean Rhys further studies this character, where as Charlotte Bronte approved that it was left explained (Thorpe 175). Antoinette, considerably like Jane, evolves in a world with minimal amount of love to offer. Both these women are taken cared of as children by

Gender roles were sharply defined in the 19th century. Women were expected to stay at home and carry out the domestic duties as well as taking care of the children and educate them and provide a peaceful home for their husband. Women were seen as loving and caring. On the other hand, men were expected to work and earn money for the family. They would fight wars and were seen as strong and powerful. Men had more freedom and rights, such as the right to vote, than women in the 19th century. Society had created two completely separate spheres. In the medical field, men were doctors. There were laws in many states, such as, that prohibited women from becoming doctors. Women, who decided to practice medicine in the 19th century had to struggle with much opposition because it went against prevailing ideas about women’s role in society. Women belonged in the private and domestic sphere. Men belonged to competitive and immoral public sphere of industry and commerce. The women in medicine would face accusations that they were abandoning their sphere and threatening society. Due to these arguments and the fear of economic competition from female practitioner, male medical schools and hospitals denied women access to institutions. However, Elizabeth Blackwell, changed this idea of separate spheres when she decided to take on the medical field and become a doctor. Although Elizabeth Black had a natural aversion to the medical field, her

   Jean Rhys' complex text, Wide Sargasso Sea, came about as an attempt to re-invent an identity for Rochester's mad wife, Bertha Mason, in Jane Eyre, as Rhys felt that Bronte had totally misrepresented Creole women and the West Indies: 'why should she think Creole women are lunatics and all that? What a shame to make Rochester's wife, Bertha, the awful madwoman, and I immediately thought I'd write a story as it might really have been.' (Jean Rhys: the West Indian Novels, p144).  It is clear that Rhys wanted to reclaim a voice and a subjectivity for Bertha, the silenced Creole, and to subvert the assumptions made by the Victorian text.  She does so with startling results.