A Cry For Independence
A Cry For Independence
In the last half of the nineteenth century, Victorian ideals still held sway in American society, at least among members of the middle and upper classes. Thus the cult of True Womanhood was still promoted which preached four cardinal virtues for women: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Women were considered far more religious than men and, therefore, they had to be pure in heart, mind, and, of course, body, not engaging in sex until marriage, and even then not finding any pleasure in it. They were also supposed to be passive responders to mens decisions, actions, and needs. The true womans place was her home; “females were uniquely suited to raise children, care for the needs of their men folk, and devote their lives to creating a nurturing home environment.” (Norton 108). However, the tensions between old and new, traditional and untraditional, were great during the last years of nineteenth century and there was a debate among male and female writers and social thinkers as to what the role of women should be. Among the female writers who devoted their work to defying their views about the womans place in society was Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman (1860-1935)
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