In the latter part of the 19th century, one of the biggest questions in the working world was "should women work?" Of course, women had been working for centuries. Victorians - surrounded by female servants, housekeepers, cooks, etc. - were clearly not in doubt as to whether a a person of the female gender could "work." The question was whether well-bred women could work without sacrificing their social status (and the status of their families and children). If one is a gentlewoman, but enters into trade, does one risk becoming a member of the "working class"?
Yet it was becoming increasingly evident that "gentlewomen" could no longer rely upon marriage as a means of support. As Sophia Caulfeild notes in in her 1890 article, Women's Clubs in London,
"...we may observe the increase of improvident marriages and those of the physically unsuitable, the many failures of financial enterprises, the deterioration of the value of land... Thus the daughters of the very elite of the untitled aristocracy are driven from home...to become the bread-earners for themselves and their families..."
As Caulfeild observed, more and more women in the late 19th century no longer had the luxury of choice. It would be awhile before the idea became widely accepted that a gentlewoman might choose to work as a matter of preference rather than necessity... but, one step at a time! The "women's work" portion of this section looks at the controversies surrounding the question of women's work, how a woman could find "suitable" employment. It also examines women's working conditions - and concerns about how work would affect women's morals.
Moving beyond the question of women's work, looking at the jobs of the Victorian era is a bit like strolling through a museum. It isn't often today that one will find work on a whaling ship, or repairing church steeples, or painting over the white bits on funeral hearse horses. On the other hand, some jobs remain virtually unchanged; the Victorian advice on how to become a successful writer is as apt today as it was over 100 years ago.
This section also brings you articles on "the servant problem" in Victorian life - how to manage the servants, hire servants, and work with servants, as well as information on how to become a servant and secure a position.
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