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The role of women during the Victorian era
The role of women during the Victorian era
The role of women during the Victorian era
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Middlemarch by George Eliot and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
The Victorian era brought about many changes throughout Great Britain. Man was searching for new avenues of enlightenment. The quest for knowledge and understanding became an acceptable practice throughout much of the scientific community. It was becoming accepted, and in many ways expected, for people to search for knowledge. Philosophy, the search for truth, was becoming a more intricate part of educating ones self; no longer were people holding on to old-fashioned ideas.
Central to the story lines of Middlemarch, written by George Eliot, and Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy, is the theme of ambition and the tempering of expectations both to social difficulties, and on a broader scale, human frailty. Dorthea Brooke and Sue Brideshead display elements of the “new woman” and both are driven to accomplish what each desires. Both are intelligent and educated women. The contrast in the two comes from the different motives each has to separate themselves from the norm. Sue is self-centered in her “independence,” while Dorthea is an ardent spokeswoman for social reform and justice. Both women follow different paths, neither ending up at a position they once knew they would attain. Dorthea is depicted early in the novel as having an intimidating presence; however, at a dinner with the supposedly learned and intelligent Mr. Casaubon, she feels quite uneasy. He is an older man with an unattractive appearance which goes completely unnoticed to the “lovestruck” Dorthea. Her sister Celia comments, “How very ugly Mr. Casaubon is!” Dorthea responds by comparing him to a portrait of Locke and says he is a “distinguished looking gentleman.” Later, after dinner, Casaubon and Dorthea discuss religious matters and she looks at him in awe because of his supposed superior intellect. “Here was a man who could understand the higher inward life…a man who’s learning almost amounted to proof of whatever he believed!”(p. 24). As intelligent as Dorthea is, she failed to see Casaubon for the man he really is, and will be, in marriage. Casaubon proposes to her and she accepts. She sees this as an opportunity to further advance her own intellectual abilities and help a great man complete his studies.
Later she would realize her husband has very limited intellectual abilities and is not a suitable companion for...
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... the money, even though she should be entitled to it. She was always faithful do Casaubon, despite not loving him. They marry and have two children with a “house full of love.” Will does become a member of Parliament, but he never makes a fortune. Dorthea lives a happy life because she followed her independence. She made choices she regretted, but overcame them with her strong personality. She never accomplished all the goals she had set out to, but she did find love with Will. The money she gave up could have helped her establish the knowledge and training she wanted to achieve, but her love of Will was more important to her than her academic endeavors. She was indeed an independent woman with a strong sense of moral values. Sue was the exact opposite of her. Sue never wished to help anyone but herself. She did whatever made her happy or secure. Her independent nature came from her own self-absorbed sense of life. She never really loved Jude, or anyone else. She just enjoyed the idea of someone loving her. She was dependent on this in order for her to feel a sense of belonging. Both women followed patterns of being a “new woman,” but neither one followed the pattern completely.
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek to find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
The Victorian Era was under the Anglican Church. England was very religious, that they go to church twice every Sunday, and read the Bible. Religion was behind everything; they viewed the Bible as their foundation of moral behavior. They also believed that if all accepted “religion”, the morality would end the crime and poverty. Furthermore, Victorian education mostly focused on Religion
Thomas Hardy's The Son's Veto, Graham Greene's The Basement Room and alan Sillitoe's Uncle Ernest
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s journey to love and marriage is the focal point of the narrative. But, the lesser known source of richness in Austen’s writing comes from her complex themes the well-developed minor characters. A closer examination of Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s dear friend in Pride and Prejudice, shows that while she did not take up a large amount of space in the narrative, her impact was great. Charlotte’s unfortunate circumstances in the marriage market make her a foil to Elizabeth, who has the power of choice and refusal when it comes to deciding who will be her husband. By focusing on Charlotte’s age and lack of beauty, Austen emphasizes how ridiculous and cruel marriage can be in this time.
Margaret is an intelligent, articulate, and ambitious woman who desires to rise up in social status by marrying a man of higher social rank. She attends to those above her, in hopes of elevating her status as she becomes closer to the upper-class. As a minor character, she plays a small yet crucial role in advancing Don John’s plot to slander Hero and spoil her wedding. As a lower-class character, Margaret serves as a foil to the rich girls, particularly Hero, who embodies every attitude and mindset Margaret does not. But she also offers an alternative perspective on the upper-class characters in the play. Because Margaret is victimized because of her social ambitions, punished for wanting to rise above her ...
Jane Austen, author of Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and many other well-known books, was born on December 16th, 1775, in England. Her parents, George and Cassandra Austen, came from lower middle-class English families. When Austen was a child, her home had an open and intellectual atmosphere, and her family frequently discussed politics and social issues. This influenced her writing as an adult, which explored themes of social class and the treatment of women. As a teenager, Austen was sent to Oxford to be educated, but she contracted typhus and nearly died. She was then educated at home, learning what girls were normally taught during that time, such as French, needlework, and music. Austen was also a enthusiastic reader,
...rature and art. Industrial and technology advances were documented in numerous ways as both a good movement and a not so good movement. And the realism religious controversy also played a part in the changes in the Victorian Age that changed the views of some individuals. Although the Victorian Age did overcome the Romantic Period for some time, each has its part to play in literary education among students; whether it’s everyday life or imagination, a focus on industry and technology or nature, or it’s religious controversy and feelings/emotions.
“The Signalman” by Dickens and “The Withered Arm” by Hardy The story of "The Signalman" opens with the words “Halloa! Below there”, this short, but effective line is very significant to the plot of the story. A questioning atmosphere is already created, as it is not clear to the reader as to who is speaking, or whom the anonymous figure is being shouted at? The opening paragraph of the "The Signalman" is unexplained, leaving the readers questioning.
In her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen brought to life the struggles and instability of the English hierarchy in the early 19th century. Through the heartaches and happiness shared by Elinor Dashwood, who represented sense and her sister Marianne, who stood for sensibility, Austen tells a story of sisters who plummet from the upper class to the lower crust of society and the characters that surround them. Austen juxtaposes the upper and lower classes in English society to give the reader a full understanding of the motivation to be a part of the upper class and the sacrifices one will give up to achieve such status. Austen exposes the corruptness of society, the significance of class and the fundamental building blocks both are to the decision-making surrounding her protagonists, Marianne and Elinor.
Austen was raised in an unusually liberal family where her father was a part of the middle-landowning class. They had a moderate amount of luxuries, but were not considered well off. Unlike many girls of her time Austen received a fairly comprehensive education. She received this mainly through the undivided support of her family. Austen and her sisters, like most girls of their time, were homeschooled. Austen’s zealous parents encouraged the girls to play piano, read and write. Her parent’s encouragement led to her interest in writing. Austen’s father housed an extensive library filled with books which kept Austen occupied for years (“Sense and Sensibility” 119). Through her observant nature and passion to read and write, Austen was able to eloquently write of the many “hidden truths” of social and class distinction during her time. They included daily societal changes some of which foreshadowed future societal leniency. Familial support also extended societal norm of marriage. Her parents attempt...
There are many differences between Pride and Prejudice, and Wuthering Heights. One of the main differences is the women in the stories and how they act. The two women that are surrounded by the two stories and all the problems throughout are Elizabeth Bennet, and Catherine Earnshaw. These two women share major roles in all the conflicts in their respective stories. These two women are also vastly different sharing very few similarities.
The span of time from the Victorian age of Literature to the Modernism of the 20th century wrought many changes in poetry style and literary thinking. While both eras contained elements of self-scrutiny, the various forms and reasoning behind such thinking were vastly different. The Victorian age, with it's new industrialization of society, brought to poetry and literature the fictional character, seeing the world from another's eyes. It was also a time in which "Victorian authors and intellectuals found a way to reassert religious ideas" (Longman, p. 1790). Society was questioning the ideals of religion, yet people wanted to believe.
suffered her entire life and what she did; she did for love of one man
Similar to many of the great feministic novels of its time, Jane Eyre purely emerges as a story focused on the quest for love. The novel’s protagonist, Jane, searches not only for the romantic side of love, but ultimately for a sense of self-worth and independence. Set in the overlapping times of the Victorian and Gothic periods, the novel touches upon both women’s supposed rights, and their inner struggle for liberty. Orphaned at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle, without any major parent roles to guide her through life’s obstacles. Instead, she spent much of her adolescent years locked in imaginary chains, serving those around her but never enjoying the many decadences life has to offer. It is not until Jane becomes a governess that many minute privileges become available to her and offer Jane a glance at what life could have been. It is on her quest for redemption and discovery that she truly is liberated. Throughout Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre, the story’s protagonist Jane, struggles to achieve the balance of both autonomy and love, without sacrificing herself in the process.
The Victorian era was the time period after the Romantic era, it went from poems, plays