Role of Women in Victorian Eng
The Role of Women in Victorian England The evolving role of women in Victorian England is the main subject of George Gissing's The Odd Women. Gissing's novel deals with the struggle that many English women faced in the later part of the nineteenth century as they struggled for independence and finding means to support themselves. Prior to the women's equal rights movement, which began in the middle part of the 1800s, women were either expected to marry or follow careers as nurses, governesses, servants or teachers as their main means of survival. However, as English society advanced and the life expectancy of women began to exceed that of men's English women began to have more and more difficulty in obtaining a suitable income (Gissing 338). When Gissing's novel was published in 1893, the number of women exceeded the number of men by over 500,000. This made it impossible for every woman to find a husband and also led to too many women entering the "traditional" female fields mentioned above. Women were forced to find new jobs to support themselves such as the clerical and business realms. For the women not lucky enough to find a suitable husband or who lacked the education necessary for a professional life the alternatives wer
It allowed her to live the way she wanted and not to have to rely on other people. Unable to find traditional jobs or to marry Gissing is stating that women must challenge traditional social views. Milly Vesper is one of Mary and Rhoda's students and she also lives a somewhat comfortable life. When commenting about the role of married women in Victorian England and the desire of men to control their wives Monica Caird said, "It will be a happy day for humanity when a woman can stay in her own home without sacrificing her freedom" (Gissing 375). Miss Barfoot was never in such health and spirits - nor myself. "We flourish like the green bay-tree. We shall have to take larger premises . Madden in the opening paragraph of the novel sums up the current view of women's role up to the middle of the nineteenth century. Gissing also makes comments on marriage and the role it served as women struggled to find independence in Victorian England. Although, Bella did not marry, she left Mary and Rhoda to seek love with a married man. Gissing used Monica's marriage to make a statement against marriages of convenience for young Victorian women. Gissing also makes a similar comment through Bella Royston. The traditional jobs of women are overflowing with too many women which is creating lower wages and harder working conditions and indifference for the women by their employers. Gissing is making a strong feminist comment through these two instances by saying that women must find their own means of support and not try to look for it through men. Caird is alluding to one of the biggest problems married women faced - being governed by their husbands.
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