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Essay / Women's Rights During the Victorian Era - 1071
Women's Rights During the Victorian EraThe Victorian era brought about a momentary streak of women and men looking for a prosperous relationship governed by the demanding etiquettes of Victorian society. If these desired qualities were not possessed, a man or woman could be labeled as "unsuitable" for the positions of husband or wife. Women especially suffered throughout the Victorian era, when their rights were taken away and society's rules and guidelines were put in place. The Victorian era caused an escalation of women's rights when the vision of the "ideal woman" was introduced into society; produce segregation between men and women that will last for years. In life, women had only one main goal:; get married. Before a woman married, she was taught the basic necessities and qualities of a typical Victorian woman. She would learn ideals such as cooking, cleaning, weaving, raising children and much more. If a woman was financially well off, she probably didn't need to learn much or work as hard as other women because she had servants on hand. At the time, women were generally unable to better educate themselves beyond minimal knowledge of household chores, as men essentially ran society. “A woman was inferior to a mother in every way except the one that mattered most [to a man]: his femininity. His place was at home, on a real pedestal if you could afford it, and definitely not in the business world” (Altick, 54). “Current views regarding Victorian womanhood continued to be dominated by the 19th century concept of domestic purity. and the associative figure of the ideal woman, the “corner of the house”, fulfilling her mission as wife, mother and daughter” (Swisher). At that time, men had... middle of paper... people and ideas. New York: WW Norton & Company, Inc., 1973. 50-9. Chiflet, Jean-Loup and Alain Beaulet. Victoria and her times. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. Print.Hudson, Pat “Woman's Work” BBC News BBC, March 29, 2001. Web March 3, 2014Nead, Lynda “Woman and Urban Life in Victorian Britain” BBC News, BBC July 2006 Web. March 3, 2014Petrie, Charles. “Victorian women are supposed to be idle and ignorant.” Victorian England. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 2000. 178-87. Schomp, Virginia. The campaign. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2011. Print. Swisher, Clarice. Victorian England. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2000. Print. Swisher, Clarice. Women of Victorian England. San Diego, CA: Thomson Gale, 2005. PrintWilson, Ben. The Creation of Victorian Values: Decency and Dissent in Britain, 1789-1837. New York: Penguin, 2007. Print.