Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender relations in elizabethan england
Gender relations in elizabethan england
Gender relations in elizabethan england
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gender relations in elizabethan england
Moll Flanders is a woman of great knowledge and drive, which she attempts to utilize to further herself in society and wealth. In the 18th century, there was a vast divide in the role that men and women have to play in society, both trying to gain advantages for themselves in their lives. Moll runs into the problem of marriage throughout her whole life, especially when it comes to her reflecting on society after her marriage to the linen draper who went bankrupt. In this scene, Moll depicts men as all-powerful to suggest that women are dependent to society's standards in order to have an opportunity to obtain wealth and status through marriage. Through Moll, Defoe examines marriage as an economic exchange between men and women, yet the unequal …show more content…
Men hold all the power in society in relationships and women because Moll is not able to raise her position in society without the status of a married woman. An issue that Moll runs into is the distribution of choice that men and women in society must adhere to. When looking for the next prospective husband, Moll has to yield to the fact that "The Men had such Choice every where" in accordance to women and future wives (112). Defoe utilizes this phrase to demonstrate that women are subject to men's wishes or choice of which female they choose to spend the rest of their life with. This emphasis is given to the readers to portray the limited distribution of choice women have in society because they are unable to marry a man they truly would want to marry. Women must find a match that suits them, but are limited because they have no control over which man chooses them. Because a woman gains all this wealth and status in a marriage, "Women had lost the Privilege of saying No" due to the fact that there was a shortage in proposals and a woman did not want to risk losing the possibly of security (112). Defoe sees the marriage market as a sort of supply and demand where men and women are vying for the best prospective partner, making it prominent focus in the book because the marriage market controls a woman's life. Because all women are trying to achieve the same goal of being married, society has made marriage a necessity for women in life and in turn, has made women dependent on
The angry tone of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Women” significantly contrasts with the cautionary tone of Austen’s “On Making an Agreeable Marriage,” seeking to reform society rather than guide people to live in that society. When Austen describes the drawbacks of loveless marriage, she writes that “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection” (Austen 72-73). Austen uses “preferred” and “endured” to warn her niece against marrying too quickly, creating a cautionary tone. Moreover, “anything” emphasizes the miserableness of a marriage without affection, beseeching Austen’s niece to verify her love before diving headfirst into a marriage. In contrast, when demonizing the education system, Wollstonecraft
Throughout history, especially in the fifteenth century, it was extremely rare for a woman to choose her husband. The majority of marriages were planned by the head of the household, which was usually the father of the bride or groom. The purposes of these marriages were to gain power and social standings. This in turn also provided the chance for the heirs of the marriages to have possession of power, territory/land, and a set social standard for the family for all future heirs. This was more of a benefit for the men than the women, for the men could own territories and be the head of the household, women could not. Instead, a woman’s obligation was to fulfill their family’s jurisdiction in their future.
The novel is set in a cultural background wherein women had every reasonable freedom to talk about their marriage and children, but could not carry on what they found it to be good and reasonable because they were restraint by social constructs. Women were bound to their husbands and children and religiously they were conditioned to lots of dos and don'ts. However, a critical look reveals that women were construed to be mere objects of amusement, possessions cared for and displayed. They were expected to be subordinated to their husbands and children (Wyatt, 1995).
The early, twentieth century was not a positive time for females and marital relationships. As depicted through countless novels, there were two main female roles in society and neither created much opportunity for females. Whether a woman was a humble housewife or a mysterious mistress, there was controversy in every aspect of both roles. These roles also placed females in oppressive relationships that almost always decreased the qualities of honesty and loyalty that are necessary in relationships. From the beginning of the twentieth century all the way up until now, the treatment of females thrust into these roles has caused controversy and problems in countless marriage and all throughout our society.
Astell says that the women need to wake up and realize the inequality before they can take action. In order for this plan to work, women need to be firm and they cannot give into the men. The women need to realize that they are playing their parts like puppets, "and for this reason `tis less to be wondered at that women marry often haste, for perhaps if they took time to consider and reflect upon it, they seldom would" (2284).
Wollstonecraft argues that if women are given more rights in society in regards to choosing an ideal partner, then this will contribute to distinguishing inequality between sexes, and will help to provide women with more control in her marriage. She will be able to select her husband based on her own decisions, and select if he will truly care for her and will consider her, and she will be able to teach her children equality. Wollstonecraft suggests that for gender equality to occur in society and in a marriage then a “marriage should be modeled along the lines of a higher friendship” (Todd & Butler, 1999) and that people should marry “another based on the basis of character rather than status or wealth” (Todd & Butler, 1999). By having friendship
As Clive Emsly explained in The Old Bailey Proceedings, in the eighteenth century, men were viewed as the stronger sex. They were expected to be tougher, both physically and emotionally, to have determination and will. Men were to be logical thinkers and erudite, they had to dominate their households and provide for their families. By the nineteenth century, historians argue that even though women began to experience more freedom in the workforce, they were still confined socially. Men were still expected to lead their households and be “breadwinners.” For many years, men dominated almost every aspect of society. However, in the past few decades, a movement known as feminism emerged. The feminist movement fought for women’s rights to an education and equality. Women longed for an opportunity to gain knowledge and freedom to seek adventure. In recent years, more so than ever, the feminist movement has made great advances. It has instigated a shift in gender roles and constructs forever altering how society views women and men.
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
For centuries, women have struggled in the fight to gain equality with men. Despite the major advances in civil and political rights, society still has a long way to go in addressing the issue of gender inequality. One major factor that prevents society from achieving gender equality is the idea that marriage is a women’s ultimate life goal. This notion has been significantly presented in literature causing women to appear less powerful than men, more specifically, in the fairly tales “Cinderella, or the little Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault and “Ash Girl” by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The stereotypical depiction of women only being ambitious toward marriage has led to women being inferior to men.
This source provided the unique perspective of what was thought to be the perfect household, with a man who worked and a wife who cooked and cleaned. However, it also showed how a woman could also do what a man can do, and in some cases they could do it even better. This work is appropriate to use in this essay because it shows how men talked down to their wives as if they were children. This work shows the gradual progression of woman equality and how a woman is able to make her own decisions without her husband’s input.
Before her marriage, a woman was allowed to own properties, run businesses, enter contracts, file lawsuits, be charged with crimes and keep her own earnings. However, once married, all of her prior rights became invalid as her legal identity merged with her husband’s. The husband would have control over all properties she had owned before and any she would gain afterwards. The only way for women to keep their property ownership intact was to stay single. However, to maintain such status was nearly impossible. In the early 19th century, almost all jobs and professions excluded women-employment. This left women who wished to stay single with only their personal and familiar weal...
During the 1800’s, especially in the beginning, the American society was run by males. They were seen superior to women in nearly every way. They got the best education, they were paid the most, they had the only voice in the family, and they had complete control over women. Especially at home, women weren’t respected. The father was the highest voice and everybody was expected to listen to the father. A woman’s roles at home included taking care of the children, cooking, cleaning and doing whatever her husband asked of her. A women’s money belonged to her father if she wasn’t married. If she was married, they money belonged to her husband. It was because of these reasons that men looked for wealthy women to marry so they could have more mon...
Sexy, attractive, dependent, traditional…successful, smart, determined, independent; why must a woman choose, why can they not be a woman of all these characteristics? Dalbey and duCille explain how women are objectified starting at a young age of playing with dolls and attending pageants. This objectification continues into advertisements, Kilbourne, Bailey, and Powers all argue why women are portrayed as objects of sex which ultimately dehumanizes women. The reliance on a man is a constant issue women are faced with, along with the notion that men are to be the breadwinners. What if a single woman making half a million dollars as a doctor is out buying a new vehicle; does a dealer have the right to ask “shouldn’t you ask a man permission
Martineau clearly had a strong political agenda in writing this story, however in doing so, she addresses the fundamental difference she sees in the roles of responsibility in marriage. In her mind, the husband and the wife have clearly defined roles, not so much along lines of production, but rather in terms of the household. That which is in the household, whether it is the domestic duties or financial responsibility, falls to the wife while it is the husband who is responsible for the income stream.
The female gender role in society has created a torturous fate for those who have failed in their role as a woman, whether as a mother, a daughter, or a wife. The restrictive nature of the role that society imposes on women causes extreme repercussions for those women who cannot fulfill their purpose as designated by society. These repercussions can be as common as being reprimanded or as severe as being berated or beaten by a husband or father. The role that women were given by society entails being a submissive homemaker who dotes on her husband and many children. The wife keeps the home impeccably neat, tends to the children and ensures their education and well-being, and acts obsequiously to do everything possible to please her husband. She must be cheerful and sweet and pretty, like a dainty little doll. The perfect woman in the eyes of society is exactly like a doll: she always smiles, always looks her best and has no feelings or opinions that she can truly call her own. She responds only to the demands of her husband and does not act or speak out of turn. A woman who speaks her mind or challenges the word of any man, especially her husband, is undesirable because she is not the obedient little doll that men cherish. Women who do not conform to the rules that society has set for them are downgraded to the only feature that differentiates them from men; their sex. Society’s women do not speak or think of sex unless their husband requires it of them. But when a woman fails to be the doll that a man desires, she is worth nothing more than a cheap sex object and she is disposed of by society.