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The portrayal of women in 19th century literature
Essay about the victorian era in literature
Gender roles in the Victorian era
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Abrams and Greenblatt (2006) explain that during the Victorian Era, women did not have the same rights as men. Women were not granted the right to vote until 1918, and married women were not permitted to own or handle their own property until the passage of the Married Women’s Property Acts (1870 – 1918). Men could divorce unfaithful wives, but wives could only divorce husbands committing adultery if their behavior included cruelty, bigamy, incest, or bestiality.
Abrams and Greenblatt (2006) describe how women had limited educational and employment opportunities. In 1837, women were not permitted to attend England’s universities. The majority of working women worked as servants. Unmarried middle class women worked as governesses but did so at low wages and lacked job security. Lower-class women had factory jobs and worked under dreadful conditions. Other women worked as field laborers, seamstresses, or maids. Some women turned to prostitution.
As Abrams and Greenblatt (2006) write, during this time, women writers were becoming major authors. Novels became the predominant type of Victorian literature. Victorian novels were representative of real life. Several female Victorian authors used their writing to bring attention to women’s rights, including the right to higher education, property, employment and suffrage.
Abrams and Greenblatt (2006) write that early Victorian writers responded to the social changes due to the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society and the decline of traditional religious beliefs. This era focused on artistic and creative literature. Authors scrutinized obstacles of forming a personal identity in a world in which traditional social structures were breaking down. Socia...
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...child relationship is pure agony and resentment. In the same way her master forced her to work he forced her to bear a child that she does not want. In response, she runs away from her master by running away to Pilgrim's Point. She runs away from her duties as a mother by killing her child.
The writings analyzed by Kate Chopin and Elizabeth Barrett Browning show bold and radical attitudes that were very uncommon and rare for their time. They, along with other writers of the Victorian Era, have given their literary gift that continues to captivate and inspire readers today. They have undoubtedly influenced many writers that came after their time.
References:
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Herbert S. Stone & Co., 1899 Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, the Major Authors. New York: Norton, 2006. Print.