Women in the Scientific Revolution Era

1460 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: role of women in scientific revolution

During the Middle Ages, except for those in religious positions, women were only seen as three things, which were daughter, wife, and mother. But in the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, new opportunities in learning humanism arose for only those in the higher class families. Even though they started to educate themselves, the majority had no rights whatsoever in money matters as well as estate. From the 17th century and up to the scientific revolution, women’s rights had consistently been improving. However, during the revolution, the study of the human body brought to attention that the male brain is quite larger than that of a female. This revelation set back the female race back to a limited role, but this time this setback was argued for by men who believed they had “scientific evidence” that the female is inferior.
Up to the 1600s the role of the average woman was to be stuck at home and kept busy with the dreary work that went along with maintaining a home. Washing, cleaning, mending, cooking, and not even allowed a higher education except for reading and writing in the upper class ladies (excluding royalty) but then only when their husbands allowed it, they didn’t have much freedom. But some women did go on to read about humanism and were encouraged to study classical and Christian texts, but were forbidden to pursue careers in any field. Typically, girls were married off early in wealthier families as an instrument in their own quest for power, but women in lower class families found themselves with occasionally, the power to make their own choices in spouse. The women would have to obey their husband’s wishes, bear the children, and usually bear the brunt of the workload that comes with running a household...

... middle of paper ...

... tangled and ultimately trapped to complete their duties as mother, wife, and with no voice.

Works Cited

The Bible. Imprinted at London: By Christopher Barker ..., 1582. Print.
"Liberty Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution." Chapter 5 Page 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
"The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The 17th Century: Topic 1: Overview." The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The 17th Century: Topic 1: Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
Rutherfurd, Edward. London. New York: Crown, 1997. Print.
"Scientific Revolution." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 01 July 2014. Web. 08 Jan. 2014.
"Women Activists." Women Activists. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. .
"WOMEN INTHE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION ERA." Www.clark.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • The Merchant's Ideas of Marriage

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although it can be said that seeing as women had no rights during the time period, why not have them serve their husbands as a primary goal. Women usually were less educated, had restrictions on trades that they may practice and limited job opportunities. (S.V. Rosser, 2008 p23) They also were considered to be too young at the time of marriage to know what is best for them so their parents chose their suitor. In fact, one could say if the girl is too young to know what is best for he, should she marry at that age in the first place? Although work was not always strenuous for wives of wealthy suitors, they should have their own lives within the marriage like their husband and not have to constantly please them and have their own lives dictated to...

    Read More

  • Caged Beauty in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the early nineteenth century, women were measured as second-class citizens whose existence was narrowed down to the interior life of the home and the care of them children. After marriage, they did not have any rights to own property, maintain their wages, or sign a contract, and were unable to vote. It was expected that women be dutiful wives, never to hold a thought or opinion independent of their husbands. It was also considered inappropriate for women to travel alone or to speak in public. Women were also taught to cease from pursuing any serious education. Silently floating in their cages, they were seen as merely objects of beauty, and were looked upon as intellectually and physically substandard to men. However, among these simple housekeepers are social reformers, wonderful mothers, and powerful women of faith who changed the world by changing their own.

    Read More

  • Western Civilization: Robert Spencer Wells, Jr.

    1489 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women during the medieval period had certain role with their husbands, depending on his social status. The wives were placed into a class according to their husband’s line of work or social status (Time Traveler’s 54). This social status may be favorable, but not all wives were able to make it into the elite social status. Once the woman was committed, and married to her husband, she was totally controlled by her husband. Even though the wife was able to maintain the same social status of the husband, she lost a lot of rights after she married. Women during the medieval period not only lost a lot of their rights, but also became somewhat of a slave to the husband in many ways.

    Read More

  • How Does Men Control Women In The Yellow Wallpaper

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women in this era had just begun to secure some freedom from their typical cultural expectations. They were expected to take care of the children, cook, clean, sew and be presentable to society. As jobs were made available to women, only a low percentage of these women started to work outside of the home. This means that many women had chosen to stay inside the home to remain in the role of “house keeper”. Even though the woman attained some freedom they were still considered inferior to men. Men still had the most authority in the household and

    Read More

  • The Impact of Social Class Divisions on the Women of Victorian England

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    Two hundred years ago, during the reign of Queen Victoria in England, the social barriers of the Victorian class system firmly defined the roles of women. The families of Victorian England were divided into four distinct classes: the Nobility or Gentry Class, the Middle Class, the Upper Working Class, and lastly, the Lower Working class . The women of these classes each had their own traditional responsibilities. The specifics of each woman’s role were varied by the status of her family. Women were expected to adhere to the appropriate conventions according to their place in the social order . For women in Victorian England their lives were regulated by these rules and regulations, which stressed obedience, loyalty, and respect.

    Read More

  • Cause Of The French Revolution Essay

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Censer, J. (2001). Liberty Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Chapter 6 Page 1. Retrieved May 16, 2014, from http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap6a.html

    Read More

  • The Men of Rule in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    May, Robert. “Lesson 6: The Early Modern Period.” English 110S Course Notes. Queen’s University. Kingston. Summer 2010. Course Manual.

    Read More

  • Medieval Women Roles

    1848 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women in different societies around the world, during the Middle Ages, experienced different hardships and roles. These hardships and roles helped shape how they were viewed in their society. Some women were treated better and more equal than others. In Rome, Medieval England, and Viking society, women’s legal status, education, marriage and family roles were considered diverse, but also similar. In certain nation’s women have more or less power than women in other nations, but none equal to the power that women have in America today.

    Read More

  • Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: The French Revolution

    2154 Words  | 5 Pages

    Censer, Jack R. Liberty, equality, fraternity : exploring the French Revolution. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 2001.

    Read More

  • Women In The Late 1800's

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women were not seen as breadwinners in the household but instead as a supporting role to their husbands. A woman’s job was to clean, cook, nurture, and entertain. Very few universities accepted female students. The few that did were segregated for women only and not highly regarded at all. Parents raised their daughters, preparing them to be good housewives and mothers with no support towards furthering their education. Women were not though to be as smart, strong, or capable as men and when seeking jobs, had a very difficult time obtaining the position. The few women able to acquire jobs were not regarded as highly as a “good” stay at home mother and wife would have been. A woman’s role was not to be a student or a professional, but to be a

    Read More

  • Women's Rights during the Victorian Era

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    In life women had only one main goal; to marry. Prior to a woman’s marriage, a woman would learn the basic necessities and qualities of a typical Victorian Woman. She would learn ideals such as cooking, cleaning, weaving, raising children and plenty more. If a woman was well of in the financial aspects, she likely did not have to learn much or work as hard other women due to having maids at hand. Women at the time were typically unable to better educate themselves beyond minimal knowledge of household duties because in essence men ruled society. “A woman was inferior to a mam in all ways except the unique one that counted most [to a man]: her femininity. Her place was in the home, on a veritable pedestal if one could be afforded, and emphatically not in the world of affairs” (Altick, 54).

    Read More

  • Role of Women in the Scientific Revolution

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    When most people think of the Scientific Revolution, they think of scientists such as Galileo, Newton, Brahe, and Boyle. However, many people do not even know about the many women who played a vital role in the scientific advancements of this period. Even when these women were alive, most of society either ignored them or publicly disapproved their unladylike behavior. Because of this, these women were often forgotten from history, and very little is known about the majority of them. Although their names rarely appear in history books, the female scientists of the Scientific Revolution still impacted the world of science in several ways. In fact, all of the scientists listed above had a woman playing an influential role assisting them in their research. However, assisting men in their studies was not the only role open to women; several women performed experimentation and research on their own, or advancing science in some other way, even though the society of the time looked down upon and even resisted their studies.

    Read More

  • Different Forms Of Love In Shakespeare's Othello

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 34, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (Spring, 1994), pp. 341-356 Published by: Rice University http://www.jstor.org/stable/450905

    Read More

  • The Persuasive Tone of The Flea

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Witherspoon Alexander M., and Warnke Frank J., ed.. Seventeenth Century Prose and Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963, 2nd.

    Read More

  • The French Revolution and Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hunt, Lynn. “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Exploring the French Revolution.” Ed. Jack R. Censer. N.P., 2001. Web. 27 Oct. 2013

    Read More

More about Women in the Scientific Revolution Era

Open Document