Essay On Inequality In The Victorian Era

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During the Victorian Age, 1830-1901, society had firm opinions on how they believed women should behave. The opinions, however, changed and varied a great deal over the span of the 71 years that made up the Victorian period. Towards the beginning of that era women were seen as the fairer sex, and the majority of their early lives were spent preparing for marriage. Over the course of the Victorian era, however, society made many different social, political, and economic changes, as well as witnessed the creation of many new gadgets. As society evolved throughout the Victorian era to be more advanced, it also became more aware of the need to treat women as equals in regards to rights, jobs, pastimes, and opinions. An example of inequality that women faced during that time was when men would keep up the appearance of being in a loving family, meanwhile they would be cheating on their wives and betraying their families (Frost 196). As Horrible as husbands cheating on their wives was, that was not what was seen as the issue at that time. The part of cheating during that era that bugged society was that if a woman committed the same trespass and was unfaithful in a marriage she would be publicly shamed (Frost 196). It is because of this injustice to women, and the many other examples of inequality that they faced that during the Victorian era, that the English wished to reform marriage. They felt that the structure of marriage was unfair to the females involved. By the end of the era, there had been a significant amount of ground laid towards female equality. The literary works The Lady of Shalott and The Goblin Market address and respond to the conflicts and roles of women as they changed over the course of the Victorian era. Both p... ... middle of paper ... ...nocence. Another big change during this time was that dress making evolved. Instead of everything being homemade by women for their entire families, families began buying their clothes (Burman 80). This change was seen as being important because it signifies feminism's rise, which meant that more and more individuals were beginning to support the women and their plight (Burman 80). As more jobs for women became available more homemakers were lost, which meant that everything that the wives and mothers used to make and take care of in the home now had to be available from outside sources (Burman 80). -we see this change in Goblin Market where Lizzy is a female hero Basically the Victorian era sucked for women. During the beginning they were expected to be smart, but to not have an opinion. They were to be beautiful, yet act and appear virginal. Women were also

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