Queen Victorian Era Research Paper

1. The Victorian era, named after Queen Victoria, held many contradictory ideas and principles, including those of the queen herself. “An icon of motherhood, she [Queen Victoria] detested pregnancy, childbirth and babies” (453). This quote from the text shows that even in the things that Queen Victoria represents, she was not always so forthcoming about actually liking them. Another example to further illustrate this is, “the most powerful woman on earth, she denounced ‘this mad wicked folly of Woman’s Rights’” (453). This example shows that though Queen Victoria was such an easy example that could’ve been used by feminists to show that women can thrive in a position of power, she personally was against the movement. Godey’s Magazine would be a text that agrees with this assertion, that women should just be thankful for what they have and not strive for more, but otherwise …show more content…
Though there were plenty of threats and potential harms to society, the Victorian Era can be seen as a time of improvement with many political and social reform bills getting passed by legislation. “The middle class were the chief generators and beneficiaries of social change” (462). A lot of these reforms helped out the middle class, and so during the Victorian Era coupled with the industrial revolution, the working class thrived like never before. Still, “women had few opportunities for higher education or satisfying employment” (462). In the early part of the era, women didn’t benefit from the reforms being passed as they were still just expected to keep their husbands happy when they came home from the work force and to put others before themselves. In The Awakening most women act very similarly, such as Adele Ratignolle. This section focuses on the improvements of the working class during the era, which is an interesting evolution to see, but one must understand that not everyone was a beneficiary of these reforms, though women did begin to win battles come the latter part of the