Woman in Victorian Britain

530 Words3 Pages
Victorian era was a time of great developments and changes. One of the changes was that there was an education reform: it allowed free elementary school (which was previously provided by church); and in 1878 it allowed woman to go to university. Changes in education are one of the key aspects of the Victorian era that showed how this reign, ruled by Queen Victoria, changed drastically in relation to how woman were treated at the time and their position in society . These changes are of great importance to society of today as changes were done in term of developing human and woman rights, which are considered vital rights in today’s society in order for us to cooperate in harmony with each other. Woman in special were in of great need to be given rights as they were classified as almost nothing in society. At the time there was a lot that woman could not do due to the poor laws, while legally and morally a man could get away with doing so much more. Woman couldn’t open any bank accounts and once married the husband would had complete control over any financial incomes that they earned. Also woman were expected to have sex with only one man while it was acceptable for men to have multiple partners in their life. In a way this moral and legal discrimination is equally a big issue in the 21st century. Often it is harder for woman to find a job than a man and there is still a big issue with woman experiencing the ‘glass ceiling’. This shows that even the changes done in the Victorian era to help woman are still not enough and that adjustments need to be made. Although I do believe that the new laws had great impact in helping woman be considered more human and were very beneficial. The changes included that in 1857 if men were violent, wives could divorce; in 1870 woman could keep their own money; in 1891 wives were no longer forced to stay with their husband as they
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