Women in Victorian Britain

 Women in Victorian society had one main role in life and that was to marry and to take part in their husbands interests and business but before marriage the women would have to learn housewife skills such as weaving, cooking, washing, and cleaning the house unless they were of a wealthy family. If they were wealthy they did not always have to learn these skills because their maids would take care of the household chores. Women were also not allowed to be educated or gain any knowledge out of the home because it was a ‘mans world’. Her place was at home where on a veritable pedestal if one could afford. 

Women were denied the opportunity to work or even take part in a ‘mans world’ so they spent their formative lives in preparation for marriage. The women expected the men to take care of them and provide for them since they were unable to provide for themselves.

Victorian men expected women to possess feminine qualities as well as innocence or else they would not be ‘marriage potential’.  Innocence was demanded from the girls in the class and they must not only be innocent but shall also give the impression of being innocent.

If a man or woman did not possess desirable qualities by the Victorian society then the opposite sex may have dismissed the person as an unsuitable mate.

The expectations men had for women caused them to prepare themselves for marriage and gave women hardly any freedom at all. The men’s expectations had pressured women to be the ideal Victorian woman society had always expected them to be. The women had to prepare for what was to come of their lives and it determined their future and if a woman did not meet up with the expectations of the Victorian male she would then end up unmarried/single.

Just as men had expectations for the ideal Victorian women, the women and the rest of society had expectations for the ideal Victorian man.

Where and when did this happen?

20th June 1837 - 22nd January 1901 

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland