Victorian Attitudes
Looking back at the nineteenth century life wasn’t so easy for women, especially in marriage and divorce. Marriage in the nineteenth century was seen as a trade in some ways. In the texts of, Marriage as a Trade Hamilton states that, “women were relied on men ever since they have been born” (page 9).
The nineteenth century was a time in period known as the Victorian Age. Authorized by the law, and signifying the arbitrary power of husbands and fathers over wives and children, “patriarchal marriage” met its clearest challenge in 19th century legislation, reforming such crucial areas as married women’s property, divorce, and child custody. Women should not face such problems and have the right to be free.
Married women’s property was a major issue in the nineteenth century. In the year of 1882, the Married Property Act was signed and passed. The Married Property Act stated that when a woman got married, all her wealth would be passed to her husband. In the Four Decades of Trends in Attitudes toward Family Issues in the United States: The 1960s through the 1990s, Thornton states, “basically all the woman’s earning after marriage belongs to her husband” (page 1027).
The women couldn’t keep her hard work worth of earnings. That is because the men had rights over the women. In the nineteenth century men were seen as superior, so the wives had to obey their husbands. Thornton said, “a women’s job was to look after kids, do household chores, and take care of the husband” (page 1010).
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... and subordinate herself to her husband. However, as time progresses and the nineteenth century opens, the woman begins to work outside the ... the early history of the colonies, women married prematurely which increased the birthrate. Women generally married a man for financial support ... at some time prior to marriage. The vast majority of working women were single. Upon marriage, they left their paying ...
Women did not have much knowledge on educational bases, because they were left uneducated in some areas. Before marriage and after marriage, women were a property of the men. “It was seen that women had to stay dependent on a man: first as a daughter then second as a wife” (Lori, page 4).
Therefore, in the nineteenth century, we can say that men ruled women ever since they set a foot into the world.
Attitudes towards divorce were very strict and bitter around the 19th century. In the Victorian time period, divorce was very hard for a woman to obtain. It was difficult for women to be separated because there was no law in which gave them permission. It was considered tough to even try. That is because the court usually favored the men. “In the time of the 19th century many people were being very sexist” (Thornton, page 1022).
In the year of 1857, the Matrimonial Causes Act was signed and passed. That law gave men the right to divorce their wives. Lori states, “that even if a women discovers that her husband is being unfaithful, then they still won’t be granted the divorce” (page 6).
In 1857 the Divorce Act that was passed is well known, set up by law a different moral standard for men and women. “Under this Act, which is still in force, a man can obtain the dissolution of the marriage if he can prove one act of infidelity on the part of his wife; but a woman cannot get her marriage dissolved unless she can prove that her husband has been guilty both of infidelity and cruelty” (Lori, page 8).
Then men were the only ones that could take action for the divorce. In other words, if a man does something wrong it shouldn’t matter but when the woman does something wrong, then it’s considered wrong. After a divorce takes place, remarriage was prohibited from both parties. In the text Victorian Marriage and the law of matrimonial cruelty, Hammerton explains, “that it was known as the absolute divorce” (page 4).
So getting a divorce does free the women from the cruelty that she receives from her husband, but it does not allow her to remarry.
child custody was another area that did not favor women in the nineteenth century. After a divorce took place, the mother would lose her child because the child would no longer live with the mother. Hammerton states,
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that it is very crucial to separate a mother from her child, because a mother and a child have a very special bond that they share with one another. That bond is something they don’t share with their fathers (page 7)
Hamilton mentioned that after a divorce is taken and granted, the husband is able to make decisions and is able to forbid the mother from seeing her child, or having any relations with him or the child as well. So basically, the child becomes the husband’s property. Even though some women wanted a divorce in order to be free from her husband, but they wouldn’t take it because they don’t want to end up losing their child. Hamilton relates,
The children’s mother has no legal right to have a voice in deciding how they shall be nursed; how or where educated; what trade or profession they shall adopt; in what form of religion they shall be instructed. For example, the father wants his child vaccinated, or if he is indifferent, and so does not lay an objection before the magistrate, the mother is not able to prevent the child being vaccinated. If the father wishes the child to be left unvaccinated, the mother cannot legally have it done (page 8)
That is because the men is superior then the women, and has the power, which women can’t go against.
Even though in the nineteenth century, many people do not consider married women’s property, divorce, and child custody as crucial. That is because it was the law, and people believe following the law is the right thing to do. The government cannot be wrong. However, it may seem right that the men should have hands on their wives earnings, should have the only right to divorce, and should have the right over the child. However, a woman is also a human being, she should also have the rights to be free and make decisions. It is very crucial for a woman to be the property of a man, not having the right to divorce, and not having the right over her child. I believe that a woman should be treated equally as the men. A woman should have the right to keep her earnings, and be able to use them whenever she needs to, she should have the right to obtain a divorce from her husband if they are having problems, and she should be able to make decisions for her child. In the nineteenth century attitudes towards women were negative and made women equal to children in the realm of their personal rights.
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Attitudes towards marriage and divorce were very strict in the nineteenth century. That is because everyone saw men as the superior of all. Authorized by the law, and signifying the arbitrary power of husbands and fathers over wives and children, “patriarchal marriage” met its clearest challenge in 19th century legislation, reforming such crucial areas as married women’s property, divorce, and child custody. Women were challenged with the hardest obstacles in their life. Women shouldn’t be treated that harshly, because they themselves have feelings and a life. But men made life difficult for a woman to live that is because a woman had to be dependent on men all her life.
Works Cited:
Anderson, Lori. “Marriage and Women: 19th Century On…” Green Family, Green Building,: Sustainable Solutions, Local, Energy-Efficient Homes-Houses, Kids, Parents, Grandparents, Stepparents, Spouses, Marriage, Children, Renewable Energy, Love, Local, Dallas-Fort Worth, DFW, North Central Texas. 1997. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://www.cyberparent.com/women/marriage5.htm>.
Four Decades of Trends in Attitudes toward Family Issues in the United States:
The 1960s through the 1990s
Arland Thornton and Linda Young-DeMarco
Journal of Marriage and Family
Vol. 63, No. 4 (Nov., 2001), pp. 1009-1037
Hamilton, Mary C. Marriage As a Trade. New York:
Moffat, Yard and, 1909. Print.
Hammerton, A. James. “VICTORIAN MARRIAGE AND THE LAW OF MATRIMONIAL CRUELTY.” Victorian Studies 33.2 (1990): 269. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 8 Apr. 2011.
