The Status of Women in the Victorian Age through Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey (1847)

Abstract

The Victorian era was a significant period in the English history, it changed England radically in almost every aspect. Most noticeably this age marked the rise of women’s awareness about their rights and potentials. This social awareness was in turn reflected in literature .Indeed, this was a time during which women were pleading to be given voice and to be listened to in order to achieve something of their own. Similar to many other female Victorian writers, the Bronte sisters were part ofthis ongoing struggle. The present research specifically focuses on Anne Bronte’s novel - Agnes Grey in which the protagonist is a Victorian woman who worked as a governess. The target objective is to show the status of the Victorian woman and to portray her battle against the oppression and prejudices of her society. Within this perspective, Agnes defies patriarchal norms and traditions that regarded her as a domestic servant rather than a scholar and an educator. In terms of intellectuality and moral propriety, she outperforms her cruel and egoistic employers, who constantly ignored her needs and sentiments due to her social standing as a governess.