Roles Of Women During The Nineteenth Century

During the nineteenth century, women did not have the rights men possessed. Men worked to make money for the family, while women would tended to domestic chores, and took care of the children. Without education, equal family laws, and property rights, women became second class citizens. The poem accurately represents the relationship between men and women and how their roles differed during the nineteenth century. The first line in the poem “Man for the field and women for the hearth” refers to a society in which men go to work in the “fields” or other occupations and women remain at the “hearth” or home. Whether at work or at home, men supervised the women and benefited from their labor. Laws such as the Napoleonic Code and hints of

The second line refers to men are protectors and providers of the house and to women as the nurturers for the household and children. The Cult of Domesticity subjected women to domestic lives, prohibiting them from following their true desires. While men were allowed to fight in wars, women could not and were forced to stay at home. At home, they did domestic chores such as washing, cleaning, cooking, and cloth making. Women were also in charge of religious education for the children. They attended mass regularly and helped out at charities for the less fortunate. These people included younger women, children, and the homeless. The Napoleonic Code and Roman laws also made women legal minorities throughout Europe. Other laws made divorce a difficult, a process that differed with each country. France forbade divorce from 1816 to 1884; Great Britain required a separate act of Parliament; and Germany considered adultery and physical abuse as admissible reasons for divorce. If the divorce was acknowledged, the men would always take custody of the

In Europe, most of the schools admitted only men, who would attend and go on to find jobs. Women, on the other hand, were only taught what they needed to live domestic lives. Because of these circumstances, the men made the decisions, thinking with “the head” while women were left to feel with the “heart,” exhibiting courage and grit. They would most likely gain these characteristics while dealing with domestic problems at home. It was not until the third quarter of the century that universities in Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Prussia, and other countries started to open their doors to