Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen

The terms “ladies” and “gentlemen” were very significant during the Victorian Period, and were social positions that all people of the time wished to obtain. They were status markers reserved for the aristocracy and not for the working classes. The social divisions of the time seemed to run deeper than times past; however, it was not this division in wealth status that caught my attention in this section, but rather the accepted division in gender roles. After reading this section, I suddenly had a newfound appreciation for just how far women have come since those times. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with women who choose the “more traditional” lifestyle of being a homemaker and focusing primarily on raising children, while the man provides the means for living; however, I do have a problem when this is the only choice give to the women. Men and women should have equal opportunity to receive an education and pursue a career of their choice. This is something that we take for granted today but was not the case in England during the Victorian Age. Lord Tennyson seems to give an accurate depiction of the gender roles of the time in The Princess:

“Man for the field and woman for the hearth:
Man for the sword and for the needle she:
Man with the head and woman with the heart:
Man to command and women to obey:
All else confusion” (555).

The part that I have the hardest time understanding is what seems to be the general acceptance of this by both men and women alike. I wonder what Felicia Hemans would have to say about these words from Tennyson. Women in this time were not allowed to vote, have legal right, work outside of the home, or even pursue the same educational or career opportunities as men. What is even more disconcerting is that women like, Sarah Stickney Ellis actually encouraged the women of this time to simply accept their inferior roles within Victorian society. As I said before, hearing all this, just made me appreciate how far women have come. You go girls!