18th and 19th Cent. Roles of Women Change Essay Example

Today Women and Men are equal in almost all aspects, but a few decades ago that was not the case. Imagine ladies that you couldn’t vote, you couldn’t decide things for yourself. That you where looked at as a lower role model than a man. I cannot even begin to imagine how horrible life would have been. But women in the 18th and 19th centuries have been there and survived. They were both very different in many aspects. The eighteenth century helped mold and shape the way women were treated in the nineteenth centuries which all helped to lead us to where we are today. In this essay I am going to tell you how the role of women changed from the 18th to the 19th centuries and what significant contributions they made in terms of political, philosophical, and artistic achievements. Also, I will supply you with three women as examples of these events during these times. First, let’s take a look at the eighteenth century during the enlightenment and women’s rights. Mary Wollstonecraft is a great example during this time. She fought for women’s right and really pointed out how women where acting poorly and pathetic. She criticized women embracing their roles in society so well “the great art of pleasing (men)”. She was a self educated Britain whom believed in the equality of sexes and wasn’t scared to share her views. Wollstonecraft died at the age of thirty-eight following the birth of her daughter Mary Shelley. She is still looked at as the one who influenced the threshold of the modern movement for female equality. Not only was Mary apart of the 18th century but many things happened to women during this century. By the time of the enlightenment almost 75 percent of women could read and write which eventually influenced the course of modern history. To continue, later in the eighteenth century Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence was written and released. Despite that it made clear the fathers’ beliefs in equality among men and women; they still didn’t believe in