COVE

This picture meant so much to me as a woman who values her education. Queen Victoria did so much to help women receive the education they deserve. It made me very happy to see that she opened the Royal Holloway College for women. Being able to attend that school helped me in so many different ways. It helped prepare me for my future by preparing me to work after I graduate from school. I want to be able to break away from the traditions that women usually have during this time. I do not want to be expecting to be a home maker and stay at home the entire day cleaning and cooking meals. I want to be able to go out into society to earn a living for myself. I do not want to rely on another person’s income to provide for myself and my family. One of my dream careers would be to join the medical field. I know that will be incredibly difficult for me to accomplish but the opening of this college will help me achieve this dream. I have always wanted to make an impact in society and by joining the medical field to become a doctor, it will make a major impact on, and it will help people at the same time. This was such a large stepping stone for me and all of the other women out there who want to change the way that women are looked at and treated in our society. 

The opening of the Royal Holloway College for women was a major event for women during the reign of Queen Victoria. The college was founded in 1879, and was one of the first colleges in England that was specifically for women. Many larger universities in England did not allow female students until the twentieth century so the opening of the Royal Holloway College started the process of making many other colleges allow women as well. It led the path for women to receive a much better education. During this time in London, women were placed into two different categories by some. There was the New Woman who wanted to make a change in the roles of women. They did things the way that they wanted without a man or anyone else telling them what they should do. They wanted to have a better education so they could start their own business, or so they could be more qualified to be hired for a job. There was also the Old Woman. The Old Woman was someone who relied on men for many things. They were typically home makers that stayed home to care for the house and children. They usually had a much smaller education compared to men and did not work. During the Victorian Era, there were many writers, such as Sarah Grand and Amy Levy, that wrote about the differences between the New Woman and the Old woman. They also wrote about some of the difficulties that the New Woman faced during the Victorian Era. 

Picard, Liza. “Education in Victorian Britain.” The British Library, The British Library, 11 Apr. 2014, www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/education-in-victorian-britain.