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The Role of Women in the Victorian Era
The Role of Women in the Victorian Era
The Role of Women in the Victorian Era
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The Essential Role of Servants in the Victorian Family
I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer; it seemed scattered on the wind then faintly blowing. I abandoned it and framed a humbler supplication; for change, stimulus: that petition too seemed swept off into vague space; "Then" I cried, half desperate, "Grant me at least a new servitude." ( Bronte 93; ch. 10)
Jane was not approaching any new territory when she wanted a new servitude. In fact 12.8 percent of the female population in England and Wales were engaged in domestic service in the nineteenth century (Horn 24). In nineteenth-century England, for any household with social pretensions at least one domestic servant was essential. The guide to the social status of a well-off Victorian family was the status of the domestics employed
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There were many types of servants, among them the housekeeper, and the nurse (Horn 49). On the female side of the domestics there were numerous servants. Since this essay is not concerned with male domestics, only a list of female domestics is provided. Female domestics would include the housekeeper, the cook, lady’s maid, nurse, housemaids, kitchenmaids, scullery-maids and laundry staff (Horn 49).
The housekeeper was responsible for hiring and dismissing the female staff. The housekeeper was expected to be a "steady middle-aged woman . . . morally exemplary and assiduous to the harmony, comfort, and economy of the family" (Horn 54). Most often a housekeeper would stay with the same family for several years, forming a close bond with the family (Horn 57). If the family came into financial trouble a loyal housekeeper might stay behind as a general servant, while the rest of the staff would be dismissed. Housekeepers that worked for kin were either unmarried daughters of any age or widows (Hill
responsibilities at the hospital included being a maid, a washerwoman and a cook. Then in 1863,
This article talks about the growing movement of hiring maids for household work. This article starts off as being about gender inequality, but then turns into an issue of class and moral standards. The author explains her own experiences of house cleaning. She also describes how “wealthier class’s children are being raised with the attitude”. (Barbara Ehrenreich) That the people that clean up after them are “lower” than everyone else. Additionally she talks about how the hiring of house hold workers will increase and eventually move on to the middle class homes.
The women in Waknuk are also protective of their loved ones. While there are people like Mary Strorm who will follow everything her husband says and not question him or his religion at all, there are...
“The Pastoralization of Housework” by Jeanne Boydston is a publication that demonstrates women’s roles during the antebellum period. Women during this period began to embrace housework and believed their responsibilities were to maintain the home, and produce contented and healthy families. As things progressed, housework no longer held monetary value, and as a result, womanhood slowly shifted from worker to nurturer. The roles that women once held in the household were slowly diminishing as the economy became more industrialized. Despite the discomfort of men, when women realized they could find decent employment, still maintain their household and have extra income, women began exploring their option.
The man’s role had a duty to support the family financially while women had the duty to tend to
The industrialization of the nineteenth century was a tremendous social change in which Britain initially took the lead on. This meant for the middle class a new opening for change which has been continuing on for generations. Sex and gender roles have become one of the main focuses for many people in this Victorian period. Sarah Stickney Ellis was a writer who argued that it was the religious duty of women to improve society. Ellis felt domestic duties were not the only duties women should be focusing on and thus wrote a book entitled “The Women of England.” The primary document of Sarah Stickney Ellis’s “The Women of England” examines how a change in attitude is greatly needed for the way women were perceived during the nineteenth century. Today women have the freedom to have an education, and make their own career choice. She discusses a range of topics to help her female readers to cultivate their “highest attributes” as pillars of family life#. While looking at Sarah Stickney Ellis as a writer and by also looking at women of the nineteenth century, we will be able to understand the duties of women throughout this century. Throughout this paper I will discuss the duties which Ellis refers to and why she wanted a great change.
Peterson, M. Jeanne. “Gentlewomen at Work.” Family, Love, and Work in the Lives of Victorian Gentlewomen. Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, 1989. 132-161.
... a feme covert, a dependant. Jeanne Boydston paints a wholly different picture of Eighteenth Century America and women’s involvement in the burgeoning labor market. In The Woman Who Wasn't There: Women's Market Labor and the Transition to Capitalism in the United States Boydston points to the emphasis on household productivity in order to deal with an erratic economy. She tells us that by the mid-eighteenth century the flexible nature of “woman’s work” (which could be done at home, with tools that were readily available) gave rise to the role of wife as “deputy husband”. Though soon the growing linkage between what Boydston calls “independent manhood” and “economic agency” began to overwhelm. There was a reordering of the concept of gender in late eighteenth century America, and the concept of separate spheres that Linda Kerber eloquently debunks began to take hold.
Traditionally the woman's place was thought to be in the home. She was responsible for
However, despite the growing arguments they are all nothing new to the states. in fact, the first noted case on same sex marriage was brought to the supreme court in 1972. The dream for everyone’s equality, including same sex couples, has been an issue within America for many years. Unfortunately, matters like this aren’t restricted by a time frame. In the year of 2013 the Department of Defense began allowing same-sex couples to apply for marriage identification cards. As each state began giving the O.K for these couples, we were also taking steps that were bringing us closer to achieving our dream. Unfortunately not all states feel the same. It was during this time that Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana refused to process applications. As the arguments continue to drag on The American Dream is becoming harder and harder to achieve. Meanwhile, In Iowa the legalization of same sex marriage was passed and couples rushed to fill out their applications. Unfortunately, like all good things this didn’t last long. “The chance was fleeting. After four hours, Robert B. Hanson, the same county judge who had deemed the ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional, delayed further granting of licenses until the Iowa Supreme Court decided whether to consider an appeal. [...] Here, the brief flurry of applications for marriage licenses was low key. About 20 couples applied before a
With the economic support, the adoption rates rising, and the equality same-sex couples deserve, gay marriage deserves to be legalized throughout the nation and the world. Rejecting the right of marriage to these couples hurts them and the way they are able to live their lives. Everyone deserves marriage and life equality despite the person they love because we have equality rights based on us as an individual, not on who we decide to love.
The concept of evolution surrounds us and is used to explain many behaviors and helps us to gain understanding of life’s history, but still people have many misconceptions when it comes to considering the theory. Some of the most common ones, which I have previously discussed, include that it is always progressive, that life evolves randomly and that survival of the fittest is simply about the strongest or biggest animals. Whilst some features of these ideas are correct to an extent, they are mostly inaccurate, and the fact that these are widely believed concepts it suggests that they are commonly thought amongst
Firstly, an African American maid raised white children and had many chores while doing so. An experienced black maid quoted on “History Matters” refers to the amount of work she had to do by saying, “It’s “Mammy, do this, “or “Mammy, do that,” or “Mammy do the other,” from my mistress, all the time.” The maids were required to wash, dress, and feed the children more than three times a day. Somet...
The Pre-Civil War novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is about a young boy named Huck. His mother is dead and his father is an alcoholic. Huck is now being raised by the Widow Douglass, a woman who is attempting to raise Huck to be a successful, educated member of society, despite his many protests. Because of the violence and forced conformity, Huck runs away and unites with a runaway slave named Jim. Instead of turning Jim in, Huck decides to help him break free from slavery. By doing this, he is going against the societal norm and refusing to follow certain rules just because that’s what everyone else is doing. As they run away together, Huck begins to notice and understand the common stereotypes within society. He rebels and goes against society in his attitudes and philosophies. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain explores why humans follow ridiculous ideas just because they are the societal norms by pointing out the hypocrisy within society’s ideals, incorporating satirical examples about religion, education, and slavery into his novel.
He meant to poke fun of as much as possible it seems when he wrote this book as it is quite the list starting with religion, greed , civilization, romanticism, and the list goes on. Through Huck he shows a young boy being civilized by a society in which slavery exists and of course mistreatment, or a barrier between blacks and whites which affect Huck. “I see it warn’t no use wasting words- you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit”(60). It shows just how much a certain idea can catch considering Huck just called Jim less intelligent than he is which is pretty ironic considering Jim is much older than Huck. Twain just proves that blacks were thought less of during such times, but such a thing was not taken so seriously and with the publishing of this book gave more insight to everything in the south that was a little off. Many instances go farther and show what everyone thinks about blacks in a southern society. Most of what Huck has been taught in the south makes him conflicted when it comes time to decide certain things.”All right then I will go to hell-and tore it up”(162). Huck’s momentary decision here sort of set out how much he was affected by Southern ideology of returning and keeping slaves in check. Huck did start writing to Mrs. Watson in hopes that she would come get Jim. The thought of this really put Huck at such an ease due to the fact that he was used to