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=Women in Victorian Society=

Summary
Innocent, righteous, obedient, responsible, weak, helpless - all of these are all the descriptors of an ideal woman in a Victorian society. The Victorian Era, which lasted from 1837 to 1901, was a period of time in which the rights of women portrayed the societal limitations of female life in comparison to their male counterparts. This unjust phenomenon was partially influenced by the notion of remaining in separate spheres where women stayed in the private sphere of the home while men took part in the public sphere of business, politics and sociability. During the Victorian period, a woman’s career was marriage, her purpose being the proper raising of her children, such as the teaching of moral values. The ideal gentlewoman was the lubricant which smoothed the atmosphere within the household, so that when the husband came back from his publicly demanding job, the man would feel right at peace. The extent to which the idealized Victorian woman had to undertake such strict and discriminate guidelines for their roles in society was unreasonable. If a woman divorced from her spouse, then she lost all rights to see her children. She also lost her place in society, simply ostracized, while the man had not a single thing to sweat about. In addition, while it was deemed a heinous crime if a Victorian woman was found to be having an affair with another man, no penalty would be given out if a man was caught in an indecent liaison. Were his woman to find out about such misdemeanor, she was still expected to be faithful to her husband and possibly place a blind eye upon the socially acceptable actions of her husband. The degree to which this underlying prejudice persisted during the Victorian Era for over 60 years was very high, as all of England was subject to such injustice.

Thomas, Pauline. "A Woman's Place in Victorian Society - Social and Fashion History." //Fashion History Costume Trends and Eras, Trends Victorians - Haut Couture//. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.

Abrams, Lynn. "BBC - History - Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain." //BBC - Homepage//. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.

Visuals


Seurat, Georges. La Grande Jatte. 1884-6. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Victorian Fashion History for Women from 1860 to 1900. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.



William de Leftwich Dodge. Portrait of a Victorian Woman in White. 1891. Thread for Thought. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.

For Further Research

 * Abrams, Lynn. "BBC - History - Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain." BBC - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .


 * 1) The source is that of a respectable source: BBC.
 * 2) I had used another source by the same author, and the information was legitimate.
 * 3) BBC is a news broadcasting network, and its purpose is therefore to accurately inform the audience of events occurring throughout the world.


 * "Women's Life." VictoriasPast.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .


 * 1) The site is a devoted source to Victorian Era facts.
 * 2) There doesn't seem to be a clear author, but upon further cross inspecting this source with others, the validity of the information seems to be true.