Women's Rights during the Victorian Era

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Women’s Rights during the Victorian Era The Victorian era, spurred a momentary sequence of both women and men in search of a prosperous relationship regulated by the demanding etiquettes of the Victorian Society. If these desired qualities were not in possession, a man or woman could be labeled as ‘unsuitable’ in the positions of a husband or a wife. Women suffered mostly throughout the Victorian Era as rights were ceased and the rules and guidelines of society were placed. The Victorian Era caused the rights of women to escalate when the Vision of the “Ideal Woman” was introduced amongst society; producing segregation between men and women to last for years to come. 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). “Current views concerning Victorian femininity continued to be dominated by the 19th century concept of domestic purity and the association figure of the ideal woman, the ‘angle in the house’, carrying out her mission as wife, mother and daughter” (Swisher). During this era men had ... ... middle of paper ... ...n People and Ideas. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1973. 50-9. Chiflet, Jean- Loup, and Alain Beaulet. Victoria and Her Times. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. Print. Hudson, Pat “Woman’s Work” BBC News BBC, 29 Mar 2001. Web 03 Mar 2014 Nead, Lynda “Woman and Urban Life in Victorian Britain” BBC News, BBC July 2006 Web. 03 Mar 2014 Petrie, Charles. “Victorian Women Expected to Be Idle and Ignorant.” Victorian England. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000. 178-87. Schomp, Virginia. The Countryside. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2011. Print. Swisher, Clarice. Victorian England. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2000. Print. Swisher, Clarice. Women of Victorian England. San Diego, CA: Thomson Gale, 2005. Print Wilson, Ben. The Making of Victorian Values: Decency and Dissent in Britain, 1789-1837. New York: Penguin, 2007. Print.

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