Women In Victorian England In The Eighteenth Century

“Beauty is power, and makeup is something that really enhances that; it’s a woman’s secret” - Charlotte Tilbury. Many women of the Elizabethan era had their own thought on makeup and beauty. Women with long hair and tan skin is the ideal beauty for women today, but this was not the case in this era. In the Elizabethan era, having pale skin was a sign of nobility, wealth, and (for women) delicacy, and was sought after by many. The Elizabethan view of pure beauty, and nobility was a woman with light hair and a snow white complexion complemented with red cheeks and red lips. The way people judge each other tend to make them into something they’re not.

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.

Reason is arguably the greatest ability a human has. Whether you are a man or a woman, you are born with this power. Not much separates men from women other than the obvious; physical differences. Though people believe this now, it was not always viewed this way. In 16th century Britain, men, as well as women, believed that women were inferior; their sole purpose in life was to marry and reproduce. The majority of women did not realize their own abilities because of misogynistic problems within society. Women did not have access to education which led to the underlying feeling of inferiority. Being provided with access to proper education and not being treated as men’s domestic assistants, women would have the opportunity to live life equally.

For centuries men have undermined and mistreated women because of their gender. As Virginia Woolf mentions when she picked up a history book about the life during the Elizabethan era she was astonished to find that one of the only things that she could find is that women were being beaten and how it was a recognized right of the man. She goes on to read that any woman could be beaten in public and that many people would act nonchalant. Woolf reads about how in the history of England marriage was not about personal affairs but it was a deal between two families. Women did not have the same rights that that men had back in the 18th century. In that era woman would not have time to pursue the art of writing, since they were married by the age of fifteen or sixteen whether they liked it or not. We can compare the differences between the social status of women from before the 18th century and modern times. However, even having better equality laws in society now, women are still at a disadvantaged by some of the challenges that were faced in the past.

During the 18th century, women were treated like slaves. They had little authority regarding anything. Women didn’t have the right to vote or the right to own property. Only a spinster or widow woman could own and manage property until they married. Women were owned by the husband just as he owned material possessions. Many women were trapped in loveless marriages and those without families were seen as outcasts. The husband was legally entitled to beat his wife for disobedience. Divorces were rarely granted and women usually ran away from bad marriages. As you read, I will talk about

women had to stay at home to make household goods to use in the 1700s-1800s

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

To recap what many of us know, back in the 1600-1700's and before that of course, gender played a major role in everyday society. Each gender had their own role in everyday life and was expected to complete certain tasks each day. The point made above helps us briefly understand why woman were more commonly targeted as witches. To expand, a female as a whole, were viewed as a easier target for the devil to take over or posses. Because of this gender bias, men were viewed to be able to fight off the devils attacks. Now the main reason certain women were being accused of being witches is because all these woman had something in common. These particular females did not fit into society, or more precisely, society's norm at the time. For example,

“Nothing is so frightening as what’s behind the closed door,” said William F. Nolan… and society proved him right. The human race is terrified of what they do not understand. Whether centuries in the past, or right here in the present, women have rarely ever been, and still are not, afforded the opportunity of individuality and freedom. Victorian society in its time period took on an extremely conservative behavior. Sex and womanly freedoms were strongly controversial topics and thus, society encouraged an overall chaste and modest lifestyle.

In the many writings about gender and power, the authors wrote both to support and go against women's expectations during this time period. During this time period women did not get much if any of an education and their main “jobs” were to care for the children and maintain the house. Throughout the articles many kinds of power were described.

During the Victorian era, a woman’s influence was restricted mainly to domestic spheres, being the angel of the house and tireless supporter of her husband. These gender roles were societally enforced, as women lacked the necessary rights to move up financially or socially without a husband. For women, the only possible moral actions come from choosing to stay pure or being lured by temptation, thereby becoming immoral. In two texts, Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” and Dickens’ Little Dorrit, young women are presented as lessons adhering to this morality, being rewarded for purity and servitude or punished for perceived immorality. Women were supposed to restrain themselves from any temptation, becoming subservient to a husband as the angel of

During the Victorian Era in 1837 the period that was ruled by Queen Victoria I, women endured many social disadvantages by living in a world entirely dominated by men. Around that time most women had to be innocent, virtuous, dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion. It was also a time associated with prudishness and repression. Their sole window on the world would, of course, be her husband. During this important era, the idea of the “Angel in the House” was developed by Coventry Patmore and used to describe the ideal women who men longed. Throughout this period, women were treated inferior to men and were destined to be the husbands “Angel in the House”.

Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, romanticism begins to fade, while the Victorian world begins to come into play. During this time, democracy and capitalism came together as one. Also, many poets described justice in two different aspects: spiritual and freedom. Carlyle believes capitalism should be replaced with a powerful individual whom is appointed (Ten Commandments) by God. However, Mill believes that a perfect society should be based upon individual freedom. Later in the Victorian period, the women of this period started to voice their opinions throughout Great Britain. These women started the Women’s Rights movement, and started joining the gentlemen by writing poetry through the two aspects of spiritual and freedom. So throughout

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,

Women in the 18th century were looked at as voiceless objects in a world ruled by men. Women and men did not always have equal rights. In the 18th century women were mainly defined by their family and household roles. The woman did not really have legal identity apart from their husbands. Women were look at as slaves because all they did was be at the house and satisfy their husbands in what they wanted. Men would have total control over his wife’s property. The woman also did not have the right to vote unlike men. Some things that women did not have the right of was to vote, own property, could not sit in a jury trial, and could not be a part of a lawsuit. In 1830, a number of women in the United States argued for the right of woman to own their property and to divorce. In the 18th century gothic literature was happening. Gothic literature was in fiction, art, music, poetry, film, and television. Gothic tradition also includes sense with extreme emotion, fear, madness, and death. Death as a tomb, entombment was also used which is to be placed in a tomb be buried. A feminist writer, publisher, social activist, public lecture, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, said that women depending on men made them unquestionable slaves to them in the United States society. Perkins married the artist Charles Stetson in1884, which then both had a daughter named Katherine. A story that she wrote that can illustrate how women were like in the 18th century is “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The story “The