It was rare for man and woman to be equal in the days of Eliza Washburn. Being ten years of age she would perform all the activities an average housewife would perform. At 6 o’clock every morning Eliza and her mother would wake up and cook a meal for her father Charles and three brothers James who was six, William nine, and John fifteen. Her father would wake up expecting the meal to be hot and ready the minute he woke up. Her brothers would wake up soon after to devour the rest of the meal they prepared. Her mother Mary would stay home all day cleaning clothes in a bin and preparing food. Everyday they would go pick the ripe vegetables out of their garden cut them into thin slices and set them out to dry, this took up most of the women’s day. …show more content…
Mary and Eliza would often wear the same clothes for days on end. Not often did the family get the luxury to take baths however in the summer they would all take trips down to a nearby river and bathe when they found the time. The women of the area were forced to wear corsets and various kinds of laces as well as gloves to keep their bodies properly covered in the mens eyes. Eliza grew an interest for always wanting to know more, she wanted an education rather than just being the “Average housewife” however she did not want to disappoint her family. She lived at home helping her family with money issues and keeping the house tidy until her family found her a wealthy husband who was willing to marry. At the age of twenty three Eliza’s family arranged a wedding for her and a man by the name of Leo Miller. He expected her to be the average wife to give him children, work around the house, as well as keeping the house tidy. Eliza promised to do all for Leo as part of the wedding vows. Leo was minister of a calvinist church just down the street from her and her new husband's house. Eliza educated herself from home, she would find books about laws as well listen to teachings however she had torn feelings throughout her husband's teachings she felt conservative as she felt her husband's beliefs were wrong. Eliza and Leo had five children a girl and four boys they had a very peaceful life as she stayed at home tending to kids while he worked for his church. As the children grew older Eliza started thinking of alternatives to staying home. She would go on secret walks leaving her children home to tend to themselves, she loved being outside and having the feeling of being free however she could never be gone too long as for fear her husband would come home to see her gone and shame her. As her children grew to the ages sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten and nine the girl being fourteen she decided to go to her husband's church. She became outraged at the speeches and unrealistic beliefs as she felt they were wrong and didn’t make much sense. Elizabeth believed in more traditional teachings such as the Catholics and Methodists. Soon after the couple came home they started arguing about how women should stay home rather than going out and questioning her husband's beliefs.
Eliza yelled stating she was going to go to the methodist church across the street. Her husband grabbed her and forced her to the ground yelling saying “you must obey me, You are my wife!” She snapped back saying “I don’t care!” The husband took a step back shocked she would snap he mumbled “How could you?” Eliza got back up, glaring at him she ran to their bedroom and said “Surely I won’t be coming out for a while”. The husband walked back out as the boys followed shortly behind. Eliza's daughter Elizabeth watched from a distance cleaning dishes staying quiet as she refused to get involved in the …show more content…
quarrel. Later on that night her husband returned with two patrolmen following in front of him. When the men knocked on the door Elizabeth opened the door as the men walked up stairs ripping Eliza out of her bed “What’s going on?” she hollered as her husband looked with a blank facial expression saying “You’ve went mad, my love”. She starting kicking trying to get away from the men as they drug her down stairs “No! I’m not crazy I swear! Please let me go!” The men put her in handcuffs and assisting her to the mental institution. Leo went into the house asking Elizabeth to take care of the usual house duties from now on, She nodded yes not saying a word. Her father patted her back saying “She will get better.” When Eliza got to the hospital she was assigned to Dr. Veilder who was strictly calvinist, he took a liking to her, however when she refused to change her views about her beliefs he became outraged contacting Leo about the condition she’s in. Doctor Veilder transferred her to a ward for the violent and clinically insane. For years she fought the system with doctors constantly questioning her hoping to change her religious views, when Eliza was questioned “are you insane?” she would consistently deny she was sick at all whatsoever. While at Jacksonville state hospital she maintained to stay sane however it was a struggle with all the real sick people constantly being around her. She maintained the bathrooms and kept track of her health to help keep her mind off of all the things going on around her. Eliza soon gained the trust of most of the staff in the hospital getting along with them well she found insight to what was happening to other patience among the hospital and how they were being treated, she convinced the staff she was sane letting her out of the hospital. However Eliza still stressed her husband would find her as she was left broke and alone. She began writing about the treatment of the people in the hospital she would write about how easily the staff trusted her because she gave the impression of being another person helping others and keeping busy throughout the time she was there. She published her book gaining recognition throughout hospitals and insanity wards throughout the country. Leo tracked down Eliza locking her up in small rooms boarding up the windows to keep anyone from seeing her.
Leo became insane trying to protect his reputation among the church. For months Eliza called for help hoping someone would hear her and try to help get her out of the house. She wrote a letter and wedging it through the boards making it out the window as it fell to the ground, her neighbor Sarah found the letter writing a habeas corpus stating the arrest of her husband. Eliza fought her husband in the courts accusing him of depriving her rights to think for herself and testified to divorce Leo. The courts fought by testifying people of the neighborhood who did not attend Leos church. The people of the neighborhood testified saying they never saw Eliza showing any kind of insanity and that Leo was always a strange character accusing him to be the “Violent”
type. Divorcing Leo, Eliza wrote women's rights books and stating should not be treated as an object or be subjected to being an average housewife. Being confined to do chores and everyday activities, Eliza fought for the right for women to be able to do whatever they want to do in the educational sense and for personal rights making it illegal for people to be forcibly confined against their will. Leo being in prison was diagnosed with hysteria strangling two other inmates than being confined to his own personal room for life under court approval.
In her final letter to her mother, Eliza admits her wrong doings. She tells her mother she ignored all the things she was told. All their advice fell on her deaf ears. She explains that she had fallen victim to her own indiscretion. She had become the latest conquest of “a designing libertine,” (Foster 894). She knew about Sanford’s reputation, she knew his intentions, and she knew that he was married, yet she still started a relationship with him. And her blatant disregard for facts and common sense caused her unwed pregnancy and premature demise. Eliza Wharton had nobody to blame for her situation but herself. She ignored warnings, advice, common sense, and other options available to her. She chose her ill fated path and had to suffer the consequences.
She then started shouting, “By the cross of God, you loathsome sot, you’re not going to come in here tonight. I will not tolerate this conduct of yours any longer, It’s time I showed people the sort of man you are and the hours you keep.” She accuses him of drinking and sleeping around, and the people surrounding the yelling couple believe her and the people gave him a
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
In the 1800’s, women lived under men’s rules and ideologies and were forced to conform to the social “norms” of the time. To women, these rules seemed normal as they were used to them. In the story, Jane is put in a nursery because she is said to be sick and
...devoted herself to the practical and compensating notion of supporting a household during the early 1900s. The farm girl’s exclusion from society allowed her to possess freedom, unattainable to the Gibson Girl. Victorian society bound the Gibson Girl to unrealistic expectations and oppressive restrictions. Society possessed no dominance over the ideals and appearances of a farm girl thus demonstrating that the Gibson Girl’s life held just as many, if not more, difficulties.
Women were not seen as equal to men in English colonies, and were solely expected to tend to the family and home. When settlers arrived in Virginia, men outnumbered women nearly five to one. In an attempt to maximize their profits, The Virginia Company had women sent to Virginia in order to install families within the colonies. The company believed that “the plantation can never flourish until families be planted and the respect of wives and children fix the people on the soil.” (p.26 line 14) In their letter to the settlers of Virginia, the company clearly objectifies women with statements like, “There hath been especial care had in the choice of them” (p.24 line 17) and “...though we are desirous that marriage be free according to the law of nature, yet would we not have these maids deceived and married to servants.” (p. 26 line 21). The Virginia Company’s shipment of women into the colony along with their letter to the settlers indicates how dismissive women were seen during England’s colonial
Patmore wrote that “Man must be pleased; but him to please is woman's pleasure.” This common concept of the nineteenth century reveals itself in this stanza. Women held one position in society, and it held constant throughout the eighteen hundreds: Please man. Ma, in The Little House series, is a prime example of the “Angel in the House.” Ma is always there for Pa. She realizes that he provides and she obeys. Ma, in The Little House in the Big Woods, had a schedule for each week. .She washed on Monday, Ironed on Tuesday, Mended on Wednesday, Churned on Thursday, Cleaned on Friday, and Baked on Saturday. On top of those chores, Ma prepared food and tended to Pa and the children. There wasn’t a day for Ma’s needs and desires. Ma presents herself as the stereotyp...
Peterson, M. Jeanne. "The Victorian Governess: Status Incongruence in Family and Society." Suffer and Be Still: Women in the Victorian Age. Ed. Martha Vicinus. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973.
In her autobiography, “The Life of an Ordinary Woman, Anne Ellis describes just that; the life of an ordinary woman. Ellis reveals much about her early—ordinary if you will—life during the nineteenth-century. She describes what daily life was like, living a pioneer-like lifestyle. Her memoir is ‘Ordinary’ as it is full of many occurrences that the average woman experiences. Such as taking care of her children, cleaning, cooking the—world’s greatest—meals. It also contains many themes such as dysfunctional families, insensitive men, and negligent parents that are seen in modern life. The life of Anne Ellis is relatable. Her life is relatable to modern day life, however, very different.
In society, there has always been a gap between men and women. Women are generally expected to be homebodies, and seen as inferior to their husbands. The man is always correct, as he is more educated, and a woman must respect the man as they provide for the woman’s life. During the Victorian Era, women were very accommodating to fit the “house wife” stereotype. Women were to be a representation of love, purity and family; abandoning this stereotype would be seen as churlish living and a depredation of family status. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Henry Isben’s play A Doll's House depict women in the Victorian Era who were very much menial to their husbands. Nora Helmer, the protagonist in A Doll’s House and the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” both prove that living in complete inferiority to others is unhealthy as one must live for them self. However, attempts to obtain such desired freedom during the Victorian Era only end in complications.
Mary Wollstonecraft lived with a violet and abusive father which led her to taking care of her mom and sister at an early age. Fanny Blood played an important role in her life to opening her to new ideas of how she actually sees things. Mary opened a school with her sister Eliza and their friend Fanny Blood. Back then for them being a teacher made them earn a living during that time, this made her determined to not rely on men again. Mary felt as if having a job where she gets paid for doing something that back then was considered respected than she wouldn’t need a man to be giving her money. She wasn’t only a women’s right activist but she was a scholar, educator and journalist which led her to writing books about women’s rights.
Catharine Sedgwick’s novel, A New-England Tale, tells the story of an orphan, Jane Elton, who “fights to preserve her honesty and her dignity in a household where religion is much talked about but little practiced” (Back Cover). The story take place in the 1820s, a time when many children were suffering in silence due to the fact that there was really no way to get people to understand exactly how bad things were for them. The only way anyone could ever really get a true understanding of the lives of the children in these households would be by knowing what took place in their homes. Outside of the home these women seemed perfectly normal and there was not reason to suspect any crookedness. The author herself was raised by a woman of Calvinist religion and realized how unjust things were for her and how her upbringing had ultimately play at role on her outcome. Sedgwick uses her novel, A New-England Tale to express to her readers how dreadful life was being raised by women of Calvinist religion and it’s affect by depicting their customary domestic life. She takes her readers on an in deep journey through what a typical household in the 1820s would be like providing them with vivid descriptions and reenactments of the domestic life during this period.
In “The Revolt of Mother,” written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, along with the narrator, we can experience how human beings communicate. Time and setting are the most important definitions of a person’s life. A person cannot change the time he lives in. He lives in the present, the past, or the future. However, his place in location, he is able to choose himself. If a person lives in a city, on a farm, in the mountains, or by the ocean—this can define the nature of his daily activities and even his character. The heroes of this story lived nearly a century ago. They resided on a farm. This was a time when there weren’t a lot of modern accommodations. That’s why Mother and Father had to do everything themselves. Mother raised the children, milked the cow, and cooked the food, which she produced on her own farm. Father also had many responsibilities, such as tending to the animals and farming. They both worked a lot—completed their own given tasks. This separates them from each other, and at the same time, adds to their character.
Eliza seems to have stood up for herself against Higgins and support Shaw's theory of Victorian women breaking the ideals of the housewife and child-rearer but once she is married to Freddy, or to anyone else, and starts a family she will have to go behind the scenes and keep the house and tend to her children. Pulling Eliza from the gutter and making her into a duchess revolves around a friendly bet between Higgins and Pickering. Eliza is passed off as a duchess but as the play draws to a close the bet is uncovered and Higgins and her squabble. The play ends ambiguously, we are told she is going to marry Freddy but their marriage is left up to the reader. However, it is with the understanding of Victorian ideals the reader can hypothesize what is going to happen once they are married; which is taking on the original roles of men and women in the Victorian era.
The nineteenth century saw rapid development and reform across the whole of the country; with the Industrial Revolution transforming life in Britain. For working class women life was an endless struggle of passivity and labour; as soon as they were old enough they worked on farms, in factories or as servants to the middle classes (Lambert, 2009). For women in general, life was oppressive; constantly overshadowed by the male gender who were considered dominant leaders. In a Victorian household, the male was head of the family; his wife and children respected him and obeyed him without question. This critical analysis of two nineteenth century novels - Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, will discuss the representation of the two female protagonists in the context of the Victorian period and question whether they do indeed portray an endless struggle for survival and independence.