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Introduction
Women occupied different statuses during the Enlightenment age and the Victorian era. Although the Enlightenment age preceded the Victorian age, women made major strides to increase their role in the former period rather than the latter. The Age of Enlightenment is characterized by the feminist writings of women, such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Catherine Macaulay, who endeavored to enhance the status of women in society. These writings called for a reevaluation of the place of women in society (Peters 887). Despite the early feminist writings to alleviate the position of women, women’s status during the Victorian age declined relative to the Enlightenment period.
Writings on Women’s Rights During the Enlightenment Period
During the Enlightenment period, some philosophers, thinkers, and authors wrote extensively about women’s rights. One of these writers was Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. In this book, she advocated for the equality of the sexes. She also challenged the long-standing notion that women only exist to serve men (Wollstonecraft 5). Instead, Wollstonecraft argued that men and women should be extended equal rights in both education and work, which would bolster economic growth. Another scholar who championed women’s education was Catherine Macaulay through The Letters of Education.
In addition to advocating for women’s right to education, the Enlightenment age writers also debated the political rights of women. For instance, French philosopher Nicolas de Condorce believed that suffrage should be extended to women, a topic he wrote about in On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship (Caritat and Condorcet 17). In general, some of the writings of the Enlightenment period attempted to reevaluate the position of women in society. Some scholars strongly advocated for equal rights through the books and letters they published.
The Status of Women During the Victorian Period
Despite the efforts made by scholars in the Enlightenment period to advance the status of women, women continued to be treated as second-class citizens in the Victorian age. They did not have the right to work outside the home. Rather than obtaining an education, women were taught to aspire to marriage. Girls were prepared for marriage from a tender age by being taught to cater to men. They were taught that their role would be to cook, clean, and care for their children. They were also nurtured to develop “feminine” traits such as chastity, sympathy, charm, and selflessness (Woolf 237). Additionally, they were discouraged from developing an individual sense of being because they would eventually inherit their husband’s interests. In short, the lives of young girls revolved around the imaginary men they would eventually meet and marry. Since they were financially reliant on their husbands, women had very limited choices as to any decisions in their lives, including the number of children to birth. Thus, it appears that the revolutionary ideas of the Enlightenment period about the things women could achieve were not realized in the Victorian age.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the status of women varied between the Enlightenment and Victorian periods. Some of the writers from the Enlightenment period envisioned a brighter future for women. They hoped that women would be granted equal rights to education, employment, and political involvement as men. However, the status of women seemed to decline in the Victorian age, and women have not conferred these rights. Nevertheless, the writings of such people as Mary Wollstonecraft and Nicolas de Condorce were influential in the latter periods. Although the written works of the Enlightenment period did not positively impact the Victorian age, they formed the cornerstone of feminist literature in later years, Wollstonecraft.
Works Cited
Caritat, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas, and Marquis de Condorcet. On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship, Garden City Press. 1790.
Peters, Michael A. “The Enlightenment and its Critics.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 51, no. 9, 2019, pp. 886-894.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.” The Works of Mary Wollstonecraft, 1792.
Woolf, Virginia. “Professions for Women.” The Death of the Moth and other Essays, 1942, pp. 235-42.
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