Group 3 Marriage Entry 1

The 1882 Married Women's Property Act gave women the same rights over their property as unmarried women; therefore allowing a married woman to preserve ownership of any kind of property she might have acquired through inheritance or by their own earnings. Before this law was passed, a woman's property would have automatically turned over to her husband's estate when they got married. The law was passed under the 1880 elect Prime Minister William Gladstone, who promised to introduce legislation that would reduce the legal inequalities between a man and a woman. This law actually replaced the Married Women's Property Act of 1870, which allowed women to keep their wages and investments liberated from their husbands. This act also allowed women to hold property, inherent small sums, and even predisposed both parents to their children. While this law was a step towards women's rights, it did not give married women full financial independence, as most of their finances and property were still legally dominated by their husbands. In addition, this law did not apply to pre existing marriages, so women who were already married did not gain anything from the passing of this law. Thankfully, this law did not satisfy women's rights activists, like Millicent Garrett Fawcett, whose continuous campaigning for women’s financial autonomy eventually resulted in the fabrication and installation of the 1882 Married Women's Property Act.

Although written before the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 was passed, George Eliot displayed the hardships and anxieties women had regarding property and marriage throughout her novel The Mill on the Floss. This is particularly seen through Mrs. Tulliver’s reaction to Mr. Tulliver losing the court feud with Mr. Wakem, forcing them to sell almost all of the family’s possessions to pay off their newly acquired debts. Mrs. Tulliver cries, as her possessions are included in what must be sold, and is completely agonized at the fact that she is parting with items she had since she was younger and unmarried. Eliot states, “and the poor woman was shaking her head and weeping, with a bitter tension of the mouth, over the mark, “Elizabeth Dodson,” on the corner of some tablecloths she held in her lap…’Oh, my boy, my boy!’ she said, clasping him round the neck. ‘To think as I should live to see this day! We’re ruined—everything’s going to be sold up—to think as your father should he’ married me to bring me to this! We’ve got nothing—we shall be beggars—we must go to the workhouse——’” (Eliot 213). Here, Mrs. Tulliver reveals two factors about a woman’s role in marriage that lead to the creation of laws such as the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882. Firstly, she had no control over what was sold, her husband sold any item he wanted to, including her tucked away keepsakes. These items not only meant so much to her, but were given solely to her, and not her husband. Yet, her husband was able to sell them even when facing opposition from his wife, as they were legally considered his property. Secondly, Mrs. Tulliver also shows her financial dependence on Mr. Tulliver. She explains how Mr. Tulliver has led her down this path where they will now be beggars and extremely impoverished. This alone shows how dependent she was on her husband, not only in terms of their financial well being, but on her personal well being as well, and how his financial decisions cared not for her feelings.

Bibliography

Eliot, George, and A. S. Byatt. Mill on the Floss. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Loudermelk, Shana. “Married Women's Property Act, 1870 and 1882.” Towards Emancipation?,  hist259.web.unc.edu/marriedwomenspropertyact/. 

Simkin, John. “1882 Married Women's Property Act.” Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, Jan. 2020, spartacus-educational.com/Wproperty.htm.

 Additional links: 

https://www.history.com/news/england-divorce-18th-century-wife-auction