Women in The Victorian Era History Essay Example

Can you see yourself divided into ranks and bound by expectations? That is, how ugly it is to say, all a woman was in the Victorian age (19th century). If you belonged to the middle class, you were lucky because you had pretty much a luxurious life. Yet, you had specific roles to perform. The vision of the role of women has changed a lot over time. Women were marked, sometimes still, as the weaker sex. In this article, I will explain how a middle-class woman from the cities lived during the Victorian age.

There were many household chores to do and as a woman it was your job to get them in order. The most known tasks of a woman were childbearing and housewife. The women ensured the family line continued. She stayed at home to maintain the house, to take care of and raise the children and husband. As a middle-class person, other things do and do not come into it. They always tried to marry a boy from nobility, so she had an even more luxurious and wealthier life. Sometimes, middle-class women are self-employed, most common as nurses, writers, or governesses. If the family had their own business, the woman helped now and then, depending on the work to be done. One thing a middle-class woman did not have to do was to cook. Cooking was a job for their domestic servants. 

A middle-class woman her days were well filled, although she did not have to go to work. She had her roles that needed to be done and her daily trip to the dressmaker because clothes were meaningful. They represented what class you belonged to. The middle-class women had beautiful, chic dresses and they looked well-groomed. For the rest of the day she says to the domestic servants what they had to make or do, she takes some time for herself, or she socializes with her friends in the afternoon while drinking a cup of tea. In the middle class, you had the luxury of having holidays. Most of the families just did their daily routine and things while some also went visiting other cities. 

Habitually, they lived in relatively large families, but it still was comfortable, they had a fairly spacious house. There is just one important main rule: always respect the father or husband in your family and do what he says. You were raised with that idea. Middle-class women learned to read and speak from an early age. They not only learned how to do it but also to what extent, talking was good, but it shouldn't be too much. As with speaking and reading, gentle manners that women had, were as well learned as little girls. If you did not have good manners, you were regarded as weird, something you absolutely did not want. 

You did not suffer from poverty and you had a good house, but it was quite monotonous. While it was common to do the same tasks over and over, I don't think Victorian women found it a problem. You were tied to tasks that were expected of you, so you performed them. Therefore, you would not be viewed as strange and you showed you were well-raised. You were what you were, a woman, what a difference is nowadays.