Mansfield's Presentation Of The Vulnerability Of Single Women In Edwardian England In 1920 when the book 'Bliss And Other Stories' was published, it was the end of World War 1,

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Mansfield’s Presentation Of The Vulnerability Of Single Women In Edwardian England

      In 1920 when the book ‘Bliss And Other Stories’ was published, it was the end of World War 1, which for a number of reasons was a very vulnerable time for a single woman. There were many more un-married women around at this time than men, because most young men were out fighting in the war, which basically meant that there were not enough husbands to go round. The whole concept of an unmarried woman, made them very vulnerable to being miss-read by the outside world. The world for women was currently revolutionising as women no longer had to stay at home and look after the house hold, but had to go out and get jobs, which were usually men’s posts, but as these single women didn’t have the financial support of a husband, they had no choice but to work. Though finding work was not always as easy for women, because they could not do any physical jobs, as it was still considered in proper, and had not had the privilege of going to university. In some cases like the case of ‘Miss Ada Moss’ in ‘Pictures’ by Katherine Mansfield, women sometimes had no choice but to turn to prostitution, to allow them to pay there rent; (‘if people wont’ look after themselves in times like these, nobody else will’). In 1920, when this story was written, there was no social service available to deal with this prostitution, and the general downward spiral of woman’s finances, so the women had to ‘look after themselves’. Also this prostitution made women especially vulnerable, as there was no contraception, and if you became pregnant without being married first, there was no way back, and you were thrown to the bottom of society. At this time women were in the process of being enfranchised, or trying to get political equality for both men and women, and for the women’s vote. This made some women even more vulnerable, because of the abuse from men related to this subject.

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     First of all in the first paragraph of ‘Pictures’ by Katherine Mansfield, you find out that threw main character of the story is a ‘Miss’, and therefore a single woman. This therefore opens views, which are proved correct through the rest of the story; that ‘Miss Ada Moss’ who is a single woman in Edwardian England, does not have the emotional, financial, or physical protection that a husband creates. The story ‘Pictures goes on to shoe that Miss Moss seems to be living in a single room at the back of the house, which is where the servants ...

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