Critical scholars have pointed to the status of women in the Victorian era as an illustration of the striking discrepancy of the United Kingdom's national power and wealth when compared to its social conditions. The era … See more

By the Victorian era, the concept of "pater familias", meaning the husband as head of the household and moral leader of his family, was firmly … See more

'The Household General' is a term coined in 1861 by Isabella Beeton in her influential manual Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. Here she explained that the mistress of a household is comparable to the commander of an army or the leader of an enterprise. To … See more

Prostitution and Medicine
Prostitution was a social concern in the Victorian era relating to sexuality, morality, class, and medicine. … See more

Prior to the passage of the Married Women's Property Act 1870 and Married Women's Property Act 1882 the property and legal rights of married women in Britain were severely limited. Under English common law a married woman lost her legal … See more

Domestic life for a working-class family was far less comfortable. Legal standards for minimum housing conditions were a new concept during … See more

Domestic violence and abuse
The law regarded men as persons, and legal recognition of women's rights as autonomous persons would be a slow process, and would not be fully accomplished until well into the 20th century (in Canada, … See more