women are different, they are equal. The differences between them are meant for them to complete one another Humm, 1992: 27.
Terrey in Women’s Studies Encyclopedia Vol.I states that feminism means a
belief and a commitment to equal right and opportunities for women 1989: 139. It explains the goal of feminism is to gain similar right and opportunities for women.
It can be assumed from the quotation above that the subject matter of feminism is the idea about gaining the equality among men and women. Women tend
to have rights to do what they want to do and responsible for their own choice. Therefore, studying the feminism in which the literary work is created is necessary.
C. Review Socio-cultural Historical Background
1. Socio-cultural Historical Background of Victorian Era
Daniel Defoe is one of the late 18
th
century Englands first true novelist and famous author. One of his great novels is Roxana Or The Fortunate Mistress. Roxana
or The Fortunate Mistress is written in 1776, which is considered as the late
18
th
century Victorian age. This is the reign when many artistic styles. Literary schools, as well as, social, political, and religious movements developed. It was a
time of prosperity, broad imperial expansion, and great political reform. http:victoriapast.comLifeofVictorianWomenLifeof VictorianWomen.html
American History: A Survey , Richard N. Current and friends 1965 explained
about the social system during The British Empire. The British Empire inherited a basic system of social institutions; that is the class structure, the community, and the
family. The most visible inheritance is the class distinction in the society; there are the working class society and the middle class society. The working class society is
the community that works as farmers Current, 1965: 17. Generally, the members of the society in Victorian era are divided into two
big classes according to their wealth and social status. The Rich were known as Middle Class and the Poor were mentioned as Lower Class. Each of them has their
own life style and the way of thinking Clark, 1972: 44. In the former reign, the classes are divided into three classes namely Upper Class contains noble people,
Middle Class contains of rich people, and Lower Class contains of poor people. Yet, there was a churning upheaval of the old hierarchical order, and the middle classes
were steadily growing. The Middle class contains of the noble people and rich people and there is no Upper Class. Middle Class is the combination of nobility and an
emerging wealthy commercial class. By the end of the century, it was silently agreed that a gentlemen was someone who had a liberal public private school education
preferably at Eton, Rugby, or Harrow, no matter what his antecedents might be http:www.victoriapast.comLifeofWomanLifeofVictorianWoman.html
The Victorian Era was also a time of tremendous scientific progress and ideas. Darwin took his Voyage of the Beagle, and posited the Theory of Evolution. The
radical thought associated with modern psychiatry began with men like Sigmund Freud toward the end of the era, and radical economic theory, developed by Karl
Marx, and his associates, began a second age of revolution in mid-century. The ideas of Marxism, socialism, feminism churned and bubbled along with all else that
happened http:www.victoriapast.comLifeofWomanLifeofVictorianWoman.html.
The ideas of scientific and some movements such as Marxism, Socialism, and Feminism
are also grown rapidly in this time.
2. Women in Victorian Era
The life of women in Victorian Era was generally focused on Family commitments. Women were seen as temples of love and purity and so, could not be
used for physical exertion or pleasurable sex. The only role of women in the Victorian era was to get married and had to be innocent, virtuous, biddable, and
dutiful. The young women were mainly educated in accomplishments like French, drawing, painting, singing, dancing-everything which helped them to get a perfect
matchhttp:www.victoriapast.comLifeofWomanLifeofVictorianWoman.html. Ashley in her essay 2005
“Womens Education” explained women education in the 17
th
and 18 century England: During the 17th century, only the daughters of the wealthy or nobility could
get an education. By the mid 17th century young women were allowed to go to school with their brothers. Sometimes if you were from money you would
be placed within a household of a friend and within the household and you would be taught various things. Some of the things you would learn would be
to read and write, run a
household, and practice surgery…..Common studies women learnt were French, needlework, geography, music and dancing.
Studying anything else was thought to be unnecessary and hurtful to the mind of women. In the 17th and 18th centuries schooling was focused on how to
govern a household and how to behave properly within the social class in which her marriage placed her. A lot of the focus was to teach women how to
run a household.
” www.womenseducation.blogspot.com
.
From the explanation above, the writer can see that during 17
th
and 18
th
century, only the middle class girls can go to school. They learn to read and write and they learn language like French and needle work, music and dancing.
A Hundred Years Ago: Britain in the 1880s in Words and Photographs book,
Colin Ford and Brian Horrison stated that the highest class was the Nobility and Gentry, who inherited their land, titles, and wealth. To the outsider, it might seem as
if women of this class did very little--but their work was very important and sometimes very hard, as they were expected to manage the home and the household.
As EttyRaverat, who was a young woman in the late 1800s, said, Ladies were ladies in those days; they did not do things themselves, they told others what to do and how
to do it Horrison and Ford: 1983, 226. From the statement above, the writer see the upper class women are expected to manage the home and household. They have no
duty outside home. They have some servant to help cooking and cleaning the house. The upper class women only command the servants doing what and how to do the
household. Moreover, Lucy Bushman writesan article
entitled “Family Life in the 18th Century”2008,she stated that women and men of the upper classes did not marry for
love. Instead, they married strictly for financial and social reasons. Women who wished to continue living within a wealthy household simply did not marry a man of
the middle or lower class http:EzineArticles.com?expert=Lucy_Bushman
. From Lucy‟s statement, the writer can see that the upper class men and women marry for
financial supported and social status not for love. They want to live in prosperity.
