WOMEN’S PATH TOWARDS EQUALITY
During the Victorian Age, women had no political or social rights and
they were considered as belonging to the domestic sphere. By being
the ideal type of woman and wife, whose job was to raise the children
and to be loyal to her husband, she provided the family the image of
respectability, which was fundamental in the Victorian society. Sex
was a crucial aspect of respectability, as there was a great concern
for female prudery and chastity. As a matter of fact single women
with a child, no matter what class they belonged to, were considered
as “fallen women”, and were marginalised from society. Inevitably,
many writers felt the necessity to show the distorted Victorian
morality, such as Thomas Hardy. In his novel “Tess of the
D’Urbervilles”, Hardy describes a young lady who is traditionally seen
as a “fallen woman”, as a consequence of getting pregnant after
being taken advantage of by her master Alec. In reality, he wants to
portray an innocent and pure victim of blind chance and hostile fate,
in a society where a socially superior and rich man thinks he can do
whatever he wants regardless of any morality, without having to face
the consequences of his actions, since moral values do not apply to
him. Tess’ condition is underlined by the fact that her freedom of
choice is limited, since her mother sends her to work on the
D’Urberville estate and later on she forces her to become Alec’s
mistress. Besides, she is unable to reject his advances because she
feels uncomfortable and embarrassed about her rude behaviour to
her master and she feels like she needs to return something to him,
as he gave some presents to her father and brothers. However, there
are novels that are presented from a different point of view, such as
“Jane Eyre”, written by Charlotte Brontë who, like many female
writers in that period, had to use a pseudonym to write her works.
“Jane Eyre” is a novel that shocked many readers, not only because it
During the Victorian Age, women had no political or social rights and
they were considered as belonging to the domestic sphere. By being
the ideal type of woman and wife, whose job was to raise the children
and to be loyal to her husband, she provided the family the image of
respectability, which was fundamental in the Victorian society. Sex
was a crucial aspect of respectability, as there was a great concern
for female prudery and chastity. As a matter of fact single women
with a child, no matter what class they belonged to, were considered
as “fallen women”, and were marginalised from society. Inevitably,
many writers felt the necessity to show the distorted Victorian
morality, such as Thomas Hardy. In his novel “Tess of the
D’Urbervilles”, Hardy describes a young lady who is traditionally seen
as a “fallen woman”, as a consequence of getting pregnant after
being taken advantage of by her master Alec. In reality, he wants to
portray an innocent and pure victim of blind chance and hostile fate,
in a society where a socially superior and rich man thinks he can do
whatever he wants regardless of any morality, without having to face
the consequences of his actions, since moral values do not apply to
him. Tess’ condition is underlined by the fact that her freedom of
choice is limited, since her mother sends her to work on the
D’Urberville estate and later on she forces her to become Alec’s
mistress. Besides, she is unable to reject his advances because she
feels uncomfortable and embarrassed about her rude behaviour to
her master and she feels like she needs to return something to him,
as he gave some presents to her father and brothers. However, there
are novels that are presented from a different point of view, such as
“Jane Eyre”, written by Charlotte Brontë who, like many female
writers in that period, had to use a pseudonym to write her works.
“Jane Eyre” is a novel that shocked many readers, not only because it
