# Work with sources

Taking into account the undeniable prominence of the United Kingdom in the 19th century, mainly in the imperialistic context, this period is often called the Victorian Age, taking the name from England´s Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years.

- Let´s see some examples of women´s education models defended in this society.

> A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages….; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions…

> Jane Austen

From Jane Austin,”Pride and Prejudice”1813, quoted by Kathryn Hughes in The Brithis Library website

> 'The man's power is active, progressive, defensive. He is eminently the doer, the creator, the discoverer, the defender. His intellect is for speculation, and invention; his energy for adventure, for war, and for conquest... But the woman's power is for rule, not for battle - and her intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement, and decision... She must be enduringly, incorruptibly good; instinctively, infallibly wise -wise, not for self-development, but for self-renunciation (...).'

> John Ruskin

From John Ruskin,"Sesame and Lilies", 1865, quoted in an article by Jan Marsh in the Victoria and Albert Museum website

- But we can find similar statements in the Spain of that period:

> In general terms a woman doesn´t need a great instruction (…) the excess of instruction transforms a woman into a spirit of male wisdom, pedant and ridiculous, wanting to dominate the stronger gender (…) A woman does have an instruction, but without becoming wise.

> Martínez Ginesta

From Martínez Ginesta “La educación de la mujer”,1875, quoted by Estrella de Diego, “La mujer y la pintura Española en el siglo XIX”,Ed. Cátedra 2009.

Famous English writer

Renowned English art critic and social thinker in the Victorian Era

Spanish journalist of the XIX century

# Come to your conclusions

After having read the previous information and texts, choose if the next assertions are True or False

# Question 1

The higher education a woman had, the easier it was for her to get married

True False

# Feedback

False

When Oxford and Cambridge Universities opened their doors to women, many families refused to let their daughters attend for fear that they would make themselves unmarriageable

# Question 2

Some doctors at that time reported that too much study actually had a damaging effect on the ovaries.

True False

# Feedback

True

Unbelievable but true!

# Question 3

The goal of a woman´s education was to prepare her for her role as "Angel of the house"

True False

# Feedback

True

This expression summarises the duties of a woman as the perfect daughter, wife and mother.

# Question 4

More than a great instruction, a woman was supposed to need some kind of "accomplishments" to please her husband

True False

# Feedback

True

A woman needed to adorn herself with some skills to please her husband and make him proud of her.

# Question 5

Educating women was trully appreciated by their social context

True False

# Feedback

False

They were considered unfeminine and called "bluestoking" as they attempted to usurp men´s natural intellectual superiority

peyorative term that we can translate as marisabidilla , intelectualoide

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 4.0