Exploring Gender Roles in the Victorian Era: A Historical Analysis

The essay delves into the distinctly separate roles assigned to men and women during the Victorian era, illustrating a reversal in societal positioning from previous centuries. Men primarily engaged in external work in factories and offices, while women managed domestic duties at home. This segregation extended beyond household tasks, as women were deemed inferior due to their relegated roles, highlighted through Charlotte Bronte's novel 'Jane Eyre,' where Jane asserts the need for intellectual exercise akin to that granted to men. Florence Nightingale's confinement at home further exemplifies the restricted opportunities available to women despite their aspirations for societal contribution. Victorian fiction often portrayed women in dissatisfying marriages or as 'fallen' due to straying from sexual norms, with works like Thomas Hardy's 'Far From the Madding Crowd' depicting the consequences of such transgressions. The essay underscores how these narratives reflected and reinforced feminine stereotypes, limiting women's autonomy and emphasizing their dependence on men for realizing personal ambitions, as illustrated by Eustacia Vye in 'The Return of the Native.' Ultimately, Victorian literature served to maintain the inferior status quo while simultaneously providing a platform for critiquing the oppressive structures faced by middle-class women.

Running head: GENDER ROLE IN VICTORIAN ERA
Gender role in Victorian Era
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1GENDER ROLE IN VICTORIAN ERA
The roles of men and women became sharply defined in the Victorian age. In the 19th
century, a reversal was seen in the position of men and women. Men went out for working in
the factories and offices whereas women were left to manage household chores.
The two genders became separate spheres and they were ascribed different roles in the
society. Women were considered to be physically weak as compared to men and hence they
were thought of to be fit only for household work. Charlotte Bronte in her famous novel, Jane
Eyre highlighted the limited role of women. Jane Eyre in the novel proclaims that women
also need exercise for their faculties that highlights the inferior position ascribed to women.
(Branca). Florence Nightingale wanted to deliver useful services to the society but was kept
confined at home with her mother and sister. They were asked to supervise the servants that
did not require any exercise in the faculty of creative thinking. She could not tolerate the
inferior position and felt trapped within the home. As a teenager, she used to suffer from
hysterical outbursts and could not sit to eat with the family.
Women trapped in dissatisfying marriage were often the subject of Victorian fiction.
The Portrait of a Lady, Jude the Obscure were tragic novels that highlighted the sorry plight
of women of the age. The Mayor of Casterbridge brought to the fore the depressing vision in
relation to marriage that was the norm of the age. In a way, they thus emerge to be tragic
novel on account of the position relegated to the female gender. The financial security of
women could only be achieved with the help of marriage. Women were held to be guardians
of sexual restraint and it was held that their sexuality poses a grave danger to Victorian
culture. The Victorian fiction used to define women by the help of male desire. In Far From
the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, Bathsheba is depicted as the fallen woman who has
committed a vital sin sexually and she was portrayed as being full of guilt. Fanny Robin in
Far From the Madding Crowd was held as an example of fallen woman who will have a
grave impact on the contemporaries (Brandt and English). They were meant to alarm readers

2GENDER ROLE IN VICTORIAN ERA
about the female gender who stray from the path and they were held as examples of negative
factors in the society. Women had to abide by a lot of rules and regulations and any attempt
to express their individuality was penalized by the mechanisms of the society. Eustacia Vye
in The Return of The Native wanted to escape from the confines of Egdon Heath with the
help of Clym Yeobright (Hartman). She wanted to escape to Paris by taking recourse to
Clym. She thought that Clym would escape with her but she was proved wrong. It highlights
the sad state of women in the Victorian Age who had to rely on men for fulfilling their
ambitions.
The Victorian fiction stressed on the inferior position of women and reflected the
feminine stereotypes within the Victorian society (Modleski). Women in the Victorian age
craved for anticipation and freedom from the bondage of society.

3GENDER ROLE IN VICTORIAN ERA
References:
Branca, Patricia. Silent Sisterhood: Middle-Class Women in the Victorian Home. Routledge,
2013.
Brandt, Makenna, and I. I. English. "Feminism during the Victorian Era." (2014).
Hartman, Mary S. Victorian Murderesses: A True History of Thirteen Respectable French
and English Women Accused of Unspeakable Crimes. Courier Corporation, 2014.
Modleski, Tania. Feminism without women: Culture and criticism in a" postfeminist" age.
Routledge, 2014.