Women and Divorce in the Victorian Era Essay -- Victorian Era

Wowork force and Divorce in the straitlaced EraTheres a sanctity in this relation of life, said Mr. Bounderby, and - and - it essential be kept up.--Hard Times, 73Once married, only one in ten women divorced.--Life for WomenFor Victorians, divorce was not only extremely expensive, it was genuinely hard to do. Women and men stayed in unhappy marriages for numerous reasons. Many stayed away(p) from divorce because of the stigma attached to divorced women. It was also considered a social taboo. Prior to 1857 England was the only Protestant country in Europe that did not have provisions for civil divorce. Divorce could only be obtained through and through private Acts of Parliament (Divorce). Divorces were very hard to attain because on that point was no civil divorce. Private Acts were inconvenient and extremely costly. The poor had no way to attempt divorce under these circumstances. Just 322 divorces were approved previous to the passing of the 1857 Divorce and Matrimonial Caus es Act. Subsequent to this Act passing, divorce rank rose to about 369 in 1890, and 560 in 1900. (Divorce).Divorce laws highlighted the mismatched status of women to men through the unequal circumstances which divorce was granted. A man could divorce a woman merely on the railyard of criminal conversation. Yet a woman had to prove her husband guilty of adultery combined with cruelty, bigamy, incest, or bestiality (Marriage). The unequal status of women to men was also evident through how the courts classified married and single females. When a Victorian man and woman married, the rights of the woman were legally given over to her spouse. This suspension of the married womans legal personality was know as coverture. An unmarried woman was known in the law as a feme sole (... ...n before and during her marriage. * 1883 Custody Acts allowed for women to be awarded custody of children up to the age of 16 (Moore par.4-5).Works CitedDickens, Charles. Hard Times. Pearson Education . 2004.Divorce. The 1890s, An Encyclopedia of British Literature, Art, and Culture. rude(a) York. Garland Publishing, INC. 1993.Interesting Facts. 5 November 2004. .Life for Women. 2004. 7 November 2004. .Marriage and Divorce. Victorian Britain, An Encyclopedia. New York. Garland Publishing, INC. 1988.Moore, Melissa. Womens Issues Now & Then, A Feminist Overview of the quondam(prenominal) 2 Centuries. 2004. 6 November 2004. .