Empowerment of women through the ages

With close reference to literary texts

By Anirudh Iyer

Introduction

• The role of women has changed dramatically over the course of human history.

• The power they have has also greatly increased through time.

• In this presentation you can see how the life of a woman has changed through time

• Their position in society is analysed in reference to literary texts

Timeline Of Events

1599

Elizabethan era Ruler - Queen Elizabeth

1837 to 1901

Victorian eraRuler - Queen Victoria

1925

“Jazz Age”Post World War 1

Today

The Elizabethan Era

• The Elizabethan Era was the time when England was ruled by queen Elizabeth. At this time there were extremely sexist views towards women.

1599

Elizabethan Women• Elizabethan women were tutored at home - there were no

schools for girls• Elizabethan women were not allowed to enter University• Elizabethan women could not be heirs to their father's titles

( except female royals)• Elizabethan women could not become Doctors or Lawyers• Elizabethan women did not have the vote and were not

allowed to enter politics• There were no Elizabethan women in the Army or Navy• Elizabethan women were not allowed to act in the theatres 

• The Elizabethan Era is also when ALL of Shakespeare's plays were written.

• The majority of his influence comes from the people of these times.

• In his play Julius Caesar he portrays two strong female leads, Portia and Calpurnia.

• Both play short but highly vital roles in the play.

• They both have insight into their husbands lives but don’t have the power to persuade them as in accordance with those times.

The Victorian era• This era was also known as the industrial age

and saw great new advancements in technology. It was ruled by queen Victoria and was the age when the housewife was born.

1837 to 1901

Victorian Women

• For the huge majority life was easier if they accepted that a woman's place was in the home.

• The qualities a young Victorian gentlewoman needed, were to be innocent, virtuous, biddable, dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion as they were well groomed for courtship.

• A woman ensured that the home was a place of comfort for her husband after he came back from work

• A woman's main use was to bear a large family and maintain a smooth family atmosphere where her husband did not need to bother himself about domestic matters.

• A married woman could own no property.• All her property after marriage would belong to her

husband.• A divorced woman had no chance of acceptance in

society again.

Referencing with poems

• The lady of Shallot written by Tennyson during this time represents the life of a secluded artist who is confined in a tower.

• She spends all day at her loom weaving. This was a very common activity for women in Victorian households.

• Her death signifies the inability of women to mix with intellectual society.

• The only remark people had about her was about her face which shows that women weren't meant to be seen past that.

• The poem Mariana also by Tennyson explains what life is like for a Victorian woman when her husband leaves.

• Women weren't allowed back into society after their husbands left. So she is secluded in a moated grange.

• Throughout their lives these women were trained to live with a man and when this is lost they are devastated and don’t know what to do with their lives

The Jazz Age

• This age involved a huge amount of free thought and expression and the large influx of money allowed women to break free from all social bonds.

1925