A more improved ve

1. Empowerment of women
through the ages
With close reference to
literary texts
By Anirudh Iyer

2. Introduction
• The role of women has changed dramatically
over the course of human history.
• The power they have has also greatly
increased through time.
• In this presentation you can see how the life
of a woman has changed through time
• Their position in society is analysed in
reference to literary texts

4. Timeline Of Events
Elizabethan era “Jazz Age”
Ruler - Queen Elizabeth Post World War 1
1837 to 1901
1599 1925
Victorian era Today
Ruler - Queen Victoria

5. The Elizabethan Era
• The Elizabethan Era was the time when
England was ruled by queen Elizabeth. At this
time there were extremely sexist views
towards women.
1599

6. Elizabethan Women
• Elizabethan women were tutored at home - there were no
schools for girls
• Elizabethan women were not allowed to enter University
• Elizabethan women could not be heirs to their father's titles
( except female royals)
• Elizabethan women could not become Doctors or Lawyers
• Elizabethan women did not have the vote and were not
allowed to enter politics
• There were no Elizabethan women in the Army or Navy
• Elizabethan women were not allowed to act in the theatres

7. • The Elizabethan Era is also when ALL of
Shakespeare's plays were written.
• The majority of his influence comes from the
people of these times.

8. • In his play Julius Caesar he portrays two strong
female leads, Portia and Calpurnia.
• Both play short but highly vital roles in the
play.
• They both have insight into their husbands
lives but don’t have the power to persuade
them as in accordance with those times.

9. The Victorian era
• This era was also known as the industrial age
and saw great new advancements in
technology. It was ruled by queen Victoria
and was the age when the housewife was
born.
1837 to 1901

10. Victorian Women
• For the huge majority life was easier if they accepted
that a woman's place was in the home.
• The qualities a young Victorian gentlewoman
needed, were to be innocent, virtuous, biddable,
dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion as they
were well groomed for courtship.
• A woman ensured that the home was a place of
comfort for her husband after he came back from
work

11. • A woman's main use was to bear a large family and
maintain a smooth family atmosphere where her
husband did not need to bother himself about
domestic matters.
• A married woman could own no property.
• All her property after marriage would belong to her
husband.
• A divorced woman had no chance of acceptance in
society again.

12. Referencing with poems
• The lady of Shallot written by Tennyson during
this time represents the life of a secluded
artist who is confined in a tower.
• She spends all day at her loom weaving. This
was a very common activity for women in
Victorian households.

13. • Her death signifies the inability of women to
mix with intellectual society.
• The only remark people had about her was
about her face which shows that women
weren't meant to be seen past that.

14. • The poem Mariana also by Tennyson explains
what life is like for a Victorian woman when her
husband leaves.
• Women weren't allowed back into society after
their husbands left. So she is secluded in a
moated grange.
• Throughout their lives these women were trained
to live with a man and when this is lost they are
devastated and don’t know what to do with their
lives

15. The Jazz Age
• This age involved a huge amount of free
thought and expression and the large influx of
money allowed women to break free from all
social bonds.
1925