Victoria Era Women

Women have struggled to obtain the equality they deserved from the society due to male dominance, isolation, hysteria, and gender roles. Female suppression is mostly due to male dominance and isolation from the society because the men felt like they are better and stronger than the women. The major female characters in the Wide Saragossa Sea, Jane Eyre, and The Yellow Wallpaper all shared similar strive to attain equality even though they were from a different society and era, they also had to go to isolation and suppression. Even some women often suppress other women due to wealth and social class. In the Victorian Era, women faced a lot of challenges in the society compared to the 21st century. Although, women have received more equality

and rights in the 21st century thanks to constant fighting from brave women and men who stand up against all odds to accomplish it, despite all the fighting to gain freedom some women are still heavily suppressed in some parts of society.
Female Suppression in the Victoria Era had a lasting effect on women since they had no one to help them some women even got insane (where kept in a lone room), some were depressed had to be placed on the rest cure (Which makes the situation worse) while some women ended their lives.

Women are known to be lighthearted which is a reason they could be prone to a diagnosis like hysteria, most women in the Victoria era had it, which was treated with the recommended rest cure created by a man who felt women should be isolated from the society if they are depressed. In Jane Eyre and Wide Saragossa Sea, A female character named Bertha Mason or Antoinette is a good example of a suppressed woman in the Victoria era. Antoinette was born on a Colonial Island in Jamaica. She lived with her mother in a Community where she had almost no one to talk to and the people there dislike them. Before she married Edward Rochester, an apathetic English businessman, she became isolated and emotionally fragile. Rochester was forced to marry her, despite her problem because of his family arrangement. She got deranged after the marriage forcing Rochester to lock her up in his attic in London. Lack of care and isolation are just some examples of how women are suppressed in the society. Women need a lot of care when they do not receive the care they deserved they could feel isolated and suppressed. Antoinette's marriage made her situation worse but Rochester’s unsympathetic behavior towards her pushed her to be violent. Rochester felt he had all the power to control Antoinette which was the marriage downfall. “ The irony is, of course, that the very means by which Rochester would establish himself as a mature subject results in his inability to do so. By attempting to imagine Antoinette into the role of a proper English wife, he is forced to recognize her ultimate inability to conform to the discourses which constitute the normal within the frame of English upper-class subjectivity.” (Kendricks

2). Male dominance and Gender roles in the Victorian Era also contributed to men maltreatment of women. In the 21st century, Democratical Nations like United States, England, and France have established laws that protect both male and female rights but women in Mideastern nations are still being suppressed because of religious laws that give the man almost all authority over his family including his wife. Antionette later escaped from the attic and burned down Rochester’s home, Thornfield, killing herself and blinding Rochester but no one else got hurt. Women often have to deal with the consequences that fall on them, it also affects the people around them.
Not every woman in the victorian era situation was as bad as Antionette. In Jane Eyre, the main protagonist, Jane Eyre, was raised by her late uncle’s wife, Mrs reed, who disliked jane a lot because of her social class and family traits. She oppressed jane during her time in Gateshead Hall, Mrs. Reed’s Home. But the most bizarre moments was when she locked jane in the red room (Late Mr. Reed’s BedRoom) for hitting her prudent son who started the brawl in the first place. “A singular notion dawned upon me. I doubted not ¬¬- never doubted -that if Mr. Reed had been alive she would have; and now, as I sat looking at the white bed and overshadowed walls………..I began to recall what I had heard of dead men,troubled in their graves by the violation of their wishes, revisiting the earth to punish the perjured and avenge the oppresses” ( Bronte 12) Jane fainted in the red room, she later left Gateshead Hall after listening. But she reflected on the moment as inspiration in her life to move on the life. The Difference between Jane and Antionette is Jane received help from people around her. Poor Assistance could make the situation worse. In The Yellow wallpaper, the main protagonist was treated with the rest cure by her husband because of her depression . The rest cure made her life miserable
Women strive to receive the equality in the society is difficult because they are isolated from it due to their race, social class, and the male dominance. Women impact in the society have seen them gain some equality in the 21st century. Bo