19th Century Women's Roles

Without the work of individuals voicing their opinions and sharing their stories, women’s rights would still be nonexistent. Women all around the world delivered messages through literature to nonviolently protest and work for the women rights movements. Some popular authors include Jane Lead, Anne Bradstreet, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Emily Dickinson who expressed themselves in ways comparable and exceeding men during the 15th centuries to the 20th century.
Women’s roles varied throughout the different centuries building up to our current day. Literature allowed women to express themselves and share their stories. For example, prior to the 15th century and Margery Kempe’s work, Marie de France
Margery Kempe is an example of the typical women during this time period, married with many children and unable to own property. She discusses how the Lord created a different lifestyle for her. Kempe wrote one of the first autobiography in English with 99 chapters all together discussing her life as a housewife and “creature how focused on worldly things until she was drawn to the love of Jesus Christ”(The Book of Margery Kempe). The chapters provide an idea of what her life and sins consisted of during her life. Chapter 3 is called [on female celibacy], chapter four [Her Temptation to Adultery], chapter 11 [A Settlement with her Husband] chapter 18 [A meeting with Julian], chapter 28 [Pilgrimage], chapter 52 [charges of heresy], and chapter 76 [Nursing her Husband] (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007). Her role in life was to be married and provide for her family as a housewife. This was a common feature during the 15th century. Margery Kempe built a foundation for other women to support and work off of to create better lives for women in the future
The change from the 15th century to the 20th century still have similarities that women had to deal with that never progressed. Literature allowed women to express themselves and share their stories. Writers like Marie de France, Maria Edgeworth, and Alice James allow readers to see into their lives and get a better understanding of life during their time periods. Although there are differences in the time periods described by these three women, there are also similarities that women were expected to do in society and as social duties. Reading about authors from a range of time periods allows readers to see how the current period they are reading about