First, we should say that the nineteenth century represents a very long time, and women's rights changed a lot during that period. Second, since your question does not say what country, if any, you are specifically referring to, I will address women's rights in the United States. In that country, women's rights underwent significant changes throughout the nineteenth century, though women never really received what could be called equal treatment. Early in the nineteenth century, women effectively surrendered their legal identity to their husbands when they married. They gave up their property, could not sue for divorce in most states, and were essentially regarded as "covered" legally by their husbands. Except for an early nineteenth century constitutional anomaly in New Jersey that was was closed after women sought to exploit it, women were not allowed to vote anywhere in the United States until a handful of new western states extended the franchise to women near the end of the century. Women also had fewer educational and vocational opportunities than men, worked for lower wages than men in places like textile mills (which in any case preferred to employ young girls rather than married women), and were generally expected (even if many could not afford to do so) to serve as housewives and helpmeets for their husbands. Throughout the century, however, women played a vital role in many reform movements. Acting through clubs and voluntary societies, they were leaders in the movements for the abolition of slavery, temperance and prison and asylum reform. Late in the century, women became leaders in the Progressive movement, especially urban reform initiatives like the settlement house movement. This political activism, in fact, became the seed for a broader women's suffrage movement.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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