Issues that Women Faced During the Time Period of the Poem “Aurora Leigh”

There were many issues that women faced during the time period of the poem “Aurora Leigh”. Those issues are portrayed really well here, and it really shows us how those women had to live. One of the issues of that time that we learn in the lecture is that women weren’t allowed to do many of the things that men could. For example, women couldn’t attend certain universities because they only admitted men. Even when there were colleges they were able to attend, those weren’t even close to as prestigious as the ones that men attended, and didn’t have even close to the same resources.

One of the major issues that are portrayed here is how women were expected to be. Women were expected to live a quiet life and Aurora’s aunt portrays that well. She has not done anything with her life, and also lives a very quiet and calm life. This is shown on line 288 where she says, “She had lived, we’ll say, a harmless life, she called a virtuous life, a quiet life, which was not life at all.” This is how women were expected to live. Aurora gives a very bleak image of what her aunt looks like, which helps the reader get a better understanding of how women were expected to look. She says, “Her somewhat narrow forehead braided tight as for taming accidental thoughts.” This gives the idea that women were not supposed to be very outspoken, and that they were mostly supposed to keep to themselves. She also says, “Brown hair picked with gray by frigid use of life (she was not old)” This shows that she most likely lived a stressful life. Women had many responsibilities at this time, and many of those responsibilities were to take care of others. Women lived quietly and close to themselves, and never aspired to be anything more. This is a major issue very early, as we can see that this is not a life Aurora aspires to have. Women are supposed to live simple lives, and not move from the norm. Her aunt lives what Aurora calls a “cage-bird life”, this was not Aurora though, as she describes herself as a “wild bird.” Women were bound to their duties and they were very restrained. They were not meant to chase goals or aspirations. An issue that arises from this is that Aurora did not want to be an ordinary woman like her aunt and everyone else.

Another issue for women that is portrayed here is education. She had goals to be a writer and poet, and wanted to be educated in those areas. This was not a very commonly traveled path for women and especially not a very respected one. Women in these times were usually minimally educated. We learn that women are only educated in school for a few years, and then they are taken out of school and taught at home by someone else. Women did not normally go to college and they learned a very standard curriculum. This is shown here in the story. When Aurora lives with her aunt, her aunt educates her like women are expected to be educated. She learns different languages like French and German, because “she liked a range of liberal education.” She says, “I learnt a little algebra, a little of the mathematics, brushed with extreme flounce. The circle of sciences.” Aurora is basically taught a little bit of everything by her aunt, which fitted only what she thought a woman should expect to know. A perfect description of what she gets taught is where she says, “A general insight into useful facts.” Her aunt only wants her to know certain things that will help her talk or impress a man, or further a conversation. Women were expected to be average, and that is what her aunt was trying to make her. They were expected to entertain, which was mostly towards men. This is why she was taught the different languages. But her aunt didn’t want to teach her too much, or most of all let her read too much. She didn’t want to let the reading corrupt Aurora’s mind into something she shouldn’t be. She wanted Aurora to be who she wanted Aurora to be and she didn’t want any outside influences on that.

One last thing that I think portrays women’s issues at this time is in line 455. She says, “By the way, the works of women are symbolical. We sew, sew, prick our fingers, dull our sight, producing what? A pair of slippers…” This really shows how Aurora views the life of women during this age. She makes it seem like women are only there for the benefit of others or getting the unwanted work done. She explains it through a really sarcastic tone, which helps us see how boring and scripted the life of a woman really was then.