Victorian Era Ideology

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The ideology behind the Victorian Era is vast and extensive. When it comes to mind, most people conjure up images of elegant balls, fancy carriages, and romance. This might have been the case for some, but the vast majority didn’t get to bask in that picture. For the lower class, they were projected to make an annual income of only 25 pounds, while the aristocrats made up to 30,000 (English.uwosh.edu). The Victorian Era began in 1837 when King William IV died, and Victoria took over the throne. It ended in 1901 when she died. Though she was a woman in highest form of power, this was not the norm for society at the time. She is an exception to the rule of that time. “The Victorian Era is associated with the ideology of ‘great men’” (vam.ac.uk). …show more content…
While men had universities they could attend, women didn’t even have that option. While men had governesses in their homes, then went off to a some other form of schooling. Girls were taught almost entirely at home. There they learned how to be respectable in society, not to learn basic academic skills. They were taught French, dance, drawing, and other skills to make them attractive in the eyes of men and society. From an early age they measured their self-worth, by the skills that they could use to attract men to them. One of the few life skills that they may have learned at their home is sewing (English.uwosh.edu). This skill could later help them score a menial job of sewing for people for a minimum amount of money. If a lower class wife had to help support her family, she would take a job as almost anything. Either working on the streets, taking any job they could get, sewing, or perhaps if they were educated enough they could be a governess. Women who had no other options worked on the streets at labor intensive jobs, for little pay. Prostitution became a means for some women that had no other …show more content…
During the Victorian Era was the same as previous societies before it. They were oppressed by the men in their society. To conform to the ways that the men wanted them to be. Women had to remain pure, and have all the qualities that a lady should. Though some women may have wanted more, they couldn’t aspire for much. Society held them back. Women couldn’t get the education required to break through the glass ceiling that was made for them. For the persona of a female, they were expected to be perfect in all manners of the word. To remain pure before marriage, uphold an angelic and humble personality, and to knowledgeable in the miscellaneous skills that make them more attractive to the opposite sex. Prostitution seemed the only solution to some women of that era, they had no education, no prospects, and not enough money to support the family. They were driven to that profession. Once they went down that moral corundum though, they would never be accepted into high society ever again. Most people accepted that prostitution was an occurrence in society, but they were disgusted with the institution of it. Men thought that women who were prostitutes had no morals and have fallen from society. All of these things were stacked against women in the Victorian Era, because of this the

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