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Earnest Essay: Gender Roles In The Victorian Era

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Gender Roles Pertaining to the Victorian Era In The Importance of Being Earnest, the author often reflects on the gender roles that were considered the standard during the Victorian Era. Currently with the Modern Era these roles have vastly changed throughout the centuries. Women and men were considered opposites of each other. Men would be the head of the family earning money to support their kids and wives. The women would stay at home and take care of the children, cook, and clean while doing any other household chores. Children would carry on the family name and work towards men's status or women's. Nobody would complain. Overall, the Victorian Era was classified as a time of varying roles associated with your gender. With Current times being associated with near-perfect equality. Gender roles with marriage, an important …show more content…

Typically during the Victorian Era families could be supported by one singular income. The man would work and the women would stay at home and tend to the household chores and raise the children. However, there were very few jobs that a woman could have, that being a maid or teacher. If you were a teacher as a woman you were typically well educated and respected by everyone. “The highest job that women could hold was that of a teacher” (Gender Roles of Victorian Era for Men and Women). This was reflected in the Importance of Being Earnest by Mrs. Prism holds the position of teacher to Cecily and is well-liked and respected by everyone for her knowledge and expertise. With men, you had to do your absolute best to make the most amount of money at your job if you wanted to get married. Whoever had the best ties to work, knew the best people, and earned the most got to marry. And this was typically the first question when asked for consent to marry. One of the questions Lady Bracknell asks, Bracknell: “What is your income?” Jack: “Between seven and eight thousand a year” (Wilde

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