Edmond Perrier's Victorian Museum

On the legal level married women's rights were the same as a minor child. They did not have the right to vote, to complain. Women's bodies were the purest thing which could exist in the world according to their husbands. Women could not make up and destroy the purity which they represented. They had to become mothers and ladies of the house. The women of the 19th century could not work and could not possess a bank account. In summary if the woman had to be a saint, she was devoid of all legal capacity . However, various reforms during the century triggered an improvement of the feminine condition.