The duty of women seems to be the support behind their man. They are in the need “to be of essential service in aiding the judgments of their husbands, brothers, or sons, in those intricate affairs in which it is sometimes difficult to dissever worldly wisdom from religious duty” (556). The role of women seemed to expand from housewife to “house-caretaker” in that they must organize everything under the house, including the people. They help men discern right from wrong, help them to be “a wiser and a better man” (557). “The sphere of their direct personal influence is central, and consequently small; but its extreme operations are as widely extended as the range of human feeling” (558). This sentence states it perfectly what a woman does and her influence. No matter how small that sphere of influence may be, it is one that is important.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen
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Joe,
ReplyDeleteThis post presents a very general and unspecific discussion, with no mention of any particular author or work (even though you quote three passages from Sarah Stickney Ellis, you never credit her). It is not the case that all Victorians thought the way Ellis did, but your post gives no evidence of that diversity of opinion.