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Roles of women in the Victorian era
Impact on Victorian literature
The role of women in the Victorian period
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As one of the best authors during the Victorian Period, Amy Levy had a unique and hard life that influenced her works. The works of Amy Levy were influenced by her religion, feminism, her loved ones, and her illness. Amy Levy was born in Lambeth district of London on November 10, 1861. She was the child of Isabel and Lewis Levy, who recognize themselves as English Jews, Jewish descendants with English culture and values (Hetherington 27). Her parents valued the education of their daughters more than of their sons; therefore, Levy received very well education in London (Shires 151). She went to Brighton High school for Girls in 1876 and Newnham College of Cambridge University in 1879 as the second Jewish woman (Beckman). The friends she …show more content…
She attended Brighton High School, which was founded by feminists Emily and Maria Shirreff. Then she attended Newnham College, which was one of the two women colleges in Cambridge University (Firger). These schools created an environment that contributes to her feminism. There she met many of her feminist friends such as Dorothy Blomfield. Her feministic views were shown in her works such as “Xantippe”, “Magdalen”, “A Ballad of Religion and Marriage”, and The Romance of a Shop, “The Poetry of Christina Rossetti”, and “Women and Club Life” (Hetherington …show more content…
In the novel, four sisters earned money by opening a photography shop when their father died and refused to live off of their relatives (Beckman). This novel showed Levy’s feminist views in despite of the society’s belief during the Victorian Period. In “The Poetry of Christina Rossetti” and “Women and Club Life”, Levy demonstrated the importance of women’s clubs as spaces for women in London to meet and not be disturbed by domestic work. Levy also joined club and organizations such as Karl Pearson’s discussion club and First Ladies’ Literary Dinner to meet with other intellectuals and to celebrate the achievement of women writers (Hetherington
Kathleen Orr, popularly known as Kathy Orr is a meteorologist for the Fox 29 Weather Authority team on WTXF in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was born on October 19, 1965 and grew up in Westckave, Geddes, New York with her family. The information about her parents and her siblings are still unknown. As per bio obtained online, Kathy Orr is also an author. She has written a number of books like Seductive Deceiver, The drifter's revenge and many others. She graduated in Public Communications from S. I. Newhouse which is affiliated to Syracuse University.
Rachel Dein is a London Based artist, who studied Fine Arts at Middlesex University . She is most famously known for her tiles made of cement and plaster featuring molds of flowers. She currently runs and owns the Tactile Studio in North London to support herself and her three children. Before setting up her own studio, but after going to art school, she decided to take up an apprenticeship at The Royal Opera House and later branched out to other theaters to continue her prop making career including The English National Opera, The West End Theaters, London Transport Museum and Selfridges Christmas windows. Her time in prop making allowed her to explore her love of theatre, film, and opera while expanding her knowledge of 3d design. She also enjoys gardening, which is where she has gotten some of the materials for her craft.
At any point in time, someone’s world can be turned upside down by an unthinkable horror in a matter of seconds. On June 20th, 2001 in a small, suburban household in Houston, TX, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub after her husband left for work. The crime is unimaginable, yes, but the history leading up to the crime is just as important to the story. Andrea Yates childhood, adulthood, and medical history are all potent pieces of knowledge necessary to understanding the crime she committed.
For a long time, women’s potential in Science was little to none. However, over the years, it has now changed because of the outstanding breakthroughs and encouraging accomplishments women have done through the years. It is because of them, women’s potential in Science and other realms of studies has now evolved with more understandings and discoveries. It is for the reason of Maria Mitchell, one of the first female astronomers to be recognized in Science, that women’s potential were essentially respected. Her discoveries during her time as a student, a teacher, and an astronomer paved the way for many others, not just in Science, but also for woman’s rights and potential to be seen.
Material to understanding the works “Goblin Market” and “The Thorn” is recognizing the common underlying themes of gender and gender and how these themes affect perspective in both poems. In Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market,” the main focus is on feminism and the oppression of women by men. The first part of Rossetti’s message is given through her thoughts on feminism, which is surely a major theme in this poem. For instance, the two main characters, Laura and Lizzie, reside free of any positive male interaction. Considering Rossetti’s background as part of Victorian society, the conclusion can be made that Rossetti longed for a place where she could be free of masculine overbearance.
In 1886 her family went to Europe for sixteen months. This is where she broadened her knowledge of the classics. Upon returning to Massachusetts her father arranged an interview for Mary with the President of Wellesley College, a liberal arts college for women that was a few miles from their home. She was offered a position there as a tutor in Greek and began teaching in the fall of 1887. Mary remained in the Greek Department for three years. However, a professor in the Department of Philosophy noticed her talent of teaching. He discussed with Mary the position needed to teach the new field of Psychology, which was still a sub-discipline of Philosophy. Due to the scarcity of women in that area, it made it realistic to see her potential and offer her the position.
Woolstoncraft, Mary. A Vindication of The Rights of Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 134-136. Print.
Writing based on their own experiences, had it not been for the works of Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and similar feminist authors of their time, we may not have seen a reform movement to improve gender roles in a culture in which women had been overshadowed by men. In The Story of an Hour, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a young woman with a heart condition who learns of her husband’s untimely death in a railroad disaster. Instinctively weeping, as any woman is expected to do upon learning of her husband’s death, she retires to her room to be left alone so she may collect her thoughts. However, the thoughts she collects are somewhat unexpected. Louise is conflicted with the feelings and emotions that are “approaching to possess her.”
What is Feminism? How does feminism affect the world we live in today? Was feminism always present in history, and if so why was it such a struggle for women to gain the respect they rightly deserve? Many authors are able to express their feelings and passions about this subject within their writing. When reading literary works, one can sense the different feminist stages depending on the timeframe that the writing takes place. Two such works are ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by, Charlotte Gilman and ‘Everyday Use’ by, Alice Walker; the feminist views within each story are very apparent by the era each author lives in. It is evident that a matter of fifty years can change the stance of an author’s writing; in one story the main character is a confident and strong willed young woman looking to voice her feminist views on the world, while the other story’s main character is a woman trying to hold on to her voice in a man’s world which is driving her insane.
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a
Amy was born in Enfield, London, in England September 14, 1983. She was raised into a culturally jewish family, but they didn’t consider themselves religious. Amy’s mother was Janis Winehouse, she was a pharmacist. Her father was Mitchell Winehouse. He was a part-time taxi driver. Amy also had an older sibling, Alex. He helped his mother around the house with Amy, at the young age of only four. Growing up in Southgate was rough for Amy and Alex. Amy’s uncles who were professional jazz musicians, she wanted to follow in their footsteps.
In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can "reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back" (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, "The Lady of Shalott" provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian woman's conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on women's roles in Victorian society, "The Lady of Shalott" may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speaker's commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society as he "punishes" the Lady with her death for her venture into the public world of men, or does he sympathize with her yearnings for a more colorful, active life? Close reading reveals more than one possible answer to this question, but the overriding theme seems sympathetic to the Lady. By applying "the feminist critique" (Peterson 333-334) to Tennyson's famous poem, one may begin to understand how "The Lady of Shalott" not only analyzes, but actually critiques the attitudes that held women back and, in the end, makes a hopeful, less patriarchal statement about the place of women in Victorian society.
Within the context of this historical epoch, characterized by its reverence for "earnestness, moral responsibility" and "domestic propriety," the function of art as a device to both commemorate and conserve societal ideals makes it an effective instrument for the delineation of the Victorian individual. Those operating within the domain of literature, therefore, attempted to recreate their experience of the issues challenging Victorian society. The efforts of poets in this period to identify and explore these issues, including the position of women in society, are reflected in their works. Nineteenth century poets Tennyson and Rossetti endeavored to confront the prevalent social issues within England at the time. Amy Roxana in her writing explains that their texts, The Lady of Shallot and Goblin Market respectively, engage in “literary discourse with one another on the Victorian Era's perception of women in society, presenting dissimilar views on the idea of women's need for male protection, but mutually concluding that the place of women is indeed within the domestic sphere”.
When it comes to women’s writing it is possible to view each work as having a singular motive as though the works of a particular gender, despite being written by different women at different time periods in different parts of the world, all adhere to a particular agenda. The texts that fall into the category of women’s writing are intrinsically informed by the life and experiences of the writer, and while the way they broach the same topic may be similar it will never be exactly alike. This is true of Katherine Mansfield’s presentation of motherhood within her works; There are few parallels between themes in her works and that of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, particularly in Mansfield’s ‘Bliss’ and Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, but Plath’s outlook
The discourse on the status of women and their struggle for liberation in the society and in literature, however, is not new. Women’s liberation movement, popularly known as ‘feminist’ movement, started with an aim of establishing and defending equal rights and opportunities for women. Until late eighteenth century, women, whether of Europe or non-Europe, did not raise any voice to claim their rights in the society. With the publication of the British feminist writer and advocate of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft’s revolutionary work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), there emerged a women’s...