Victorian Women in the Work Force The Victorian period is often defined by its antique images of flowers, doilies, rosy-cheek children and intricate fashion. However, these trite images shadow the true realities of middle-class families struggling to succeed in the emerging business world. Traditionally, the men spent long days in the city working out business affairs, while the women stayed home with the children preparing meals and planning for social gatherings. Work was often not an option for women because they were seen as incapable of any duty outside of the home. However, with the onset of Queen Victoria’s reign, the women of England slowly began to challenge their subservient roles, taking on jobs as teachers, writers, and charity workers. Over the next fifty years, women explored many occupational fields that were before only available to men. The Victorian women were able to controvert many of the stereotypes that existed about them, while also creating a future filled with new opportunities for women of all classes. Queen Victoria From 1760-1820, King George III ruled England, inheriting the throne from his grandfather and father, King George I and II, respectively. He was responsible for ending the long governmental control by the Whigs, yet many conflicts arose as a result of his abuse of his patronage powers. Campaigns of criticism were created by politicians throughout the country, eventually driving the King to go insane, thus forcing him to give up the throne. After his demoralizing reign, England was seeking a person capable of improving the British Empire’s economic and social situation. With no legitimate heir to the throne, Alexandrina Victoria became the Queen of England, marking the ... ... middle of paper ... ...n and Domestic Ideology in Victorian Culture. London : Cornell University Press, 1995. 62-79. Palmer, Heather. “Queen Victoria’s Not So ‘Victorian’ Writings About Pregnancy, Children, Marriage and Men.” Victoriana Behind Closed Doors : n. pag. Online. Internet Explorer. 18 February 1999. Available http://www.victoriana.com/doors/queenvictoria.htm. Peterson, M. Jeanne. “Gentlewomen at Work.” Family, Love, and Work in the Lives of Victorian Gentlewomen. Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, 1989. 132-161. “The Ladies.” The Ladies : n. pag. Online. Internet Explorer. 18 February 1999. Available http://etext.virginia.edu/ladies/ladyhome.html. Walters, Frank J. “Woman’s Power.” Godey’s Lady’s Book (February 1850) : n. pag. Online. Internet Explorer. 18 February 1999. Available http://www.history.rochester.edu/godeys/02-50.html.
Singer’s utilitarian theory points out his main arguments for his statement “If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it” (375). He supports this by suggesting that were are morally obligated to prevent bad no matter the “proximity or distance” , “the number of other people who, in respect to that evil, are in the same situation we are” and that we ought to prevent hunger by sacrificing only their luxuries, which are of lesser moral importance (378). This meaning that we shouldn’t limit our aide to only those that we can see or that we know because morally there is no different between our obligation to them and our obligation to those overseas. Also, we should limit our aide to what we think ...
In the first half of the classic novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, author Ken Kesey uses many themes, symbols, and imagery to illustrate the reality of the lives of a group of mental patients. The story takes place during the 1950s in an Oregon psychiatric hospital and is narrated by a patient on the ward named Chief Bromden. When the novel’s protagonist, Randle P. McMurphy enters the confines of a mental institution from a prison farm, the rules inflicted by the Big Nurse begin to change. Chaos and disruption commence throughout the standard and regular flow of the hospital life, altering the well-established routines due to the threat that McMurphy opposes on the ward. Obviously, it becomes evident that Kesey will convey many viewpoints throughout the course of the story, however, I strongly believe that a recurring theme can be singled out. The main theme behind One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the idea of freedom and confinement and how it affects human behaviour.
Calder, Jenni. Women and Marriage in Victorian Fiction. New York : Oxford University Press, 1976.
...y uses anecdotes and stories of women in the 17th and 18th centuries to provide evidence to the reader and demonstrate the roles women filled and how they filled those roles. Furthermore, she illustrates the individuality in each woman’s story. Although in several of the stories the women may be filling the same roles, the uniqueness of the situation varies from woman to woman. Ulrich’s use of period stories helps add to the credibility of the arguments she makes. She makes the reader feel the weight of responsibility on the shoulders of colonial New England women. A sense of appreciation is gained by the reader for the sheer number of roles fulfilled by the women of New England. In addition, Ulrich’s real life accounts also give valuable insight to life as it was during this time period in American history and the silent heroes behind it – the wives of New England.
...ues women’s work becomes wrong. Yes, in today’s society one could argue further that a woman who stays at home and does not work is only reinforcing the stereotype and prolonging the inequality. However, this essay was not written to change the world. It simply strove to identify and prove the reasons behind a ruined sense of self worth that many women in the early 1900’s felt as a result of their work being demeaned. By reaching out to people’s emotional sides, McBride relayed her grandmother’s tale so that people could clearly feel the hurt and demotion that women of that time lived with in order to have them persuaded that the oppression of women in any manner and capacity is wrong.
The electoral college started in the year 1804. This mechanism is a group of representatives in the United States who cast votes for the election of a leader or co leader of America. In recent years, there has been a lot of debate amongst citizens of this country on whether or not the process of electing the president is fair. To most, they can agree that something isn't right with the system for individuals in America to vote. There is too much confusion going on and not to point out the total unfairness that some don’t realize. The U.S. presidential election is biased due to the reasoning that it is out dated for its time, senators are valid to hijack the election, and the electoral college gives the Americans a right to vote for the president,
Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” The American Family in Social Historical Perspective. Ed. Michael Gordon. New York: St. Martin’s P, 1978. 373-392.
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
Poverty is multifaceted, and often hard to define. Its definitions consist of objective and subjective components, which, when trying to address, present a series of challenging debates. For simplicity, however, poverty can be defined in one of two ways; absolute poverty and relative poverty. Grounded in the idea of destitution, absolute poverty refers to when a person lacks the vital resources needed to maintain a healthy existence (Spicker et al., 2017). Access to clean water, sufficient food, and shelter, for example, are all considered essential elements of human life. Relative poverty, on the other hand, defines poverty in relation to the deprivation of the agreed living standards, set to a specific society, at a particular time (Alcock, 2016). Although humans must fulfill similar biological requirements, it is argued that human need tends to vary, both within, and across, societies. What is considered as a luxury to some, for example, may be considered as essential to others. Arguably the most influential theory on relative poverty is that of Peter Townsend (1979) who, in his pioneering work ‘Poverty in the UK’, defined relative poverty as;
Individuals who lack basic requirements for human existence – such as sufficient food, shelter and clothing – are said to live in poverty. In absence of basic needs it is almost impossible to have proper housing, edible food, proper infrastructure and education including health facilities. There are two basic kinds of poverty: absolute poverty which states that basic conditions must be met in order to survive in a healthy manner. Whereas relative poverty deals with people who are poor compared to people around them but have enough to fulfil their basic amenities (Giddens, 2009). Poverty can manifest itself on (many) different life domains (width) and
Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” Nineteenth Century Literature March 1966: 102-106. Jstor. On-line. 10 Nov. 2002.
The Victorian woman was her husband’s chattel. She was completely dependent upon him and subject to him. She had no right to sue for divorce or to the custody of her children should the couple separate. She could not make a will or keep her earnings. Her area of expertise, her sphere, was in the home as mother, homemaker and devoted domestic. Clear and distinct gender boundaries were drawn: Men were “ . . . competitive, assertive, . . . and materialistic.” Women were “pious, pure, gentle . . . and sacrificing” (Woloch 125).
The Victorian era was an extremely difficult time for women in Great Britain. They were subject to gross inequalities such as, not being able to; control their own earnings, education, and marriage. As well as having a lack of equality within marriage, women had poor working conditions, and an immense unemployment rate as well. Not only was the fact that women were viewed as second-class citizens and had limited rights compared to men during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a major problem, but women were also held to a much different standard, and expected to carry out many
The industrialization of the nineteenth century was a tremendous social change in which Britain initially took the lead on. This meant for the middle class a new opening for change which has been continuing on for generations. Sex and gender roles have become one of the main focuses for many people in this Victorian period. Sarah Stickney Ellis was a writer who argued that it was the religious duty of women to improve society. Ellis felt domestic duties were not the only duties women should be focusing on and thus wrote a book entitled “The Women of England.” The primary document of Sarah Stickney Ellis’s “The Women of England” examines how a change in attitude is greatly needed for the way women were perceived during the nineteenth century. Today women have the freedom to have an education, and make their own career choice. She discusses a range of topics to help her female readers to cultivate their “highest attributes” as pillars of family life#. While looking at Sarah Stickney Ellis as a writer and by also looking at women of the nineteenth century, we will be able to understand the duties of women throughout this century. Throughout this paper I will discuss the duties which Ellis refers to and why she wanted a great change.
In John Mill 's’ essay, “The Subjection of Women”, Mill evaluates and analyses, the social differences between the sexes of the Victorian era. Mills raises some valid points about the subjection of women pertaining to the 19th century. Mills argues that during this time women are treated by their husbands as slaves to a master, not offered an equal opportunity in terms of employment, and their educational achievements aren’t recognized nearly as much as their male counterpart.