The Married Women's Property Act 1882, which followed the earlier Married Women's Property Act 1870, was implemented into British law in 1883. The law greatly expanded the rights of married women to be able to maintain their financial independence, which extended into areas such as income or inheritance. In addition, women could now keep their property upon marriage, which made the prospect of marriage less devastating for women who had more to lose from the potential of a relationship souring at some point in the future. While the act did not resolve many of the inequalities between men and women both legally and societally, it was a massive victory for women's rights activists who had been left unsatisfied by the 1870 iteration of the act. 

In the United Kingdom, the Married Women's Property Act 1882 would begin opening many new opportunities for women, and the rights granted within the act would be the basis for future arguments about women having right independent of their spouses. Certain aspects of the law actually gave more responsibility to women, such as being held liable for financial support of their children. This reflected how legislators began to have a gradually shifting view on women and their role in society. Importantly, this shift in status included a decision once and for all that women could not legally be treated just as the property of a spouse. 

Amy Levy's The Romance of a Shop, which was published in 1888, would have been written after this act was passed into law. As a result, the Lorimer sisters would be able to maintain ownership of their studio and business when they married their respective husbands.