Gender Roles In The Romantic Era

The concept of gender and relationships changes throughout time. Thanks to the widespread use of literature, we can now track and compare the views of old times to now. Romantic Period: The standards for men and women in the late 18th century was completely separate. Women were held to a completely different social and legal standard than men. However, the shift from male supremacy to gender equality began in this era. The “Ideal woman” was a thing during this time period that went to the Christian view of women belonging in the home and kitchen. Men were expected to provide for their family and were higher on a social level than women. It was also more acceptable for men to be more promiscuous.
In a marriage, women were expected to obey and submit to their husbands. Any income they made was to go
Laws and customs still enforced female dependency, and men did not lose the legal obligation to provide financially, or to protect their families. The highest job a woman could hold was that of a teacher, while men generally had freedom to choose their career. Morals were a big part of the Victorian era, so men were considered fallen due to their sexual desires. Women were considered pure. Premarital relations could cause a woman to be unable to marry. Their sexuality either belonged to their husband or the government.
During the Victorian period, gender roles were very distinguished. Men and women knew their places and that men were to be in charge of women. “The Subjection of Women” by John Stuart Mill was chosen by the suffrage movement to be the “definitive analysis” of women in society (Greenblatt 1104). “The legal subordination of one sex to the other -- is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement” (Mill 1105). “But was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it?” (Mill