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Women During The 19th Century

Decent Essays

Helen Keller once said, “I fall, I stand still… I trudge on. I gain a little… I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory." Keller’s ideas embody the change that occurs in women’s roles in American literature. The first writings of 16th century America contained little reference to women at all. In the early 19th century, women play somewhat larger roles but remain only in supporting roles until later in the century when a shift takes place and women now hold leading roles as the heroines of stories. Not only does the character’s role change, but also beginning in the 1800s, a continual shift occurs in the portrayal of women. Initially, women were portrayed as members of society who served as the man’s wife and remained silent influences to a man’s judgment. Eventually, this portrayal progressed to women of thought who desire to rebel from social norms. As women authors began writing about the suffrage they set internal fires in women that would cause an uproar and craving for change. Writer and social reformer, Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born on July 3, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut. Gilman was a writer and social activist during the late 1800s and early 1900s. She had a difficult childhood. Her father, Frederick Beecher Perkins, abandoned the family, leaving Charlotte 's mother to raise two children on her own. Gilman moved around a lot as a result and her education suffered greatly for it. Gilman’s upbringing

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