Gentry Class Essay

The highest class around 200 years ago was the Aristocratic class and just below that was the Gentry class, who inherited their land, titles, and wealth. However, the women of the Gentry class lived just as extravagant lives as Aristocratic women and had the same faculties as them. The women of this class were seen by outsiders to do very little work at all and mainly left their children at home with their nannies while they went out to parties. However, their work was very important and sometimes very hard, as they were expected to manage the home and the household while the men of the house went out to work. This lifestyle left barely any time for leisure or free time for the women of the Gentry class. Social parties and balls were often held where women of the Gentry class enjoyed dancing and mingling with other women similar to themselves. Dancing was a favourite pastime among most upper-class women which they could express at the often held balls. However, once a woman was married her role was considered manager of the household, and she had much less time than before to walk and talk with former friends.

Unmarried women spent a lot of time with other unmarried women. They would usually walk and talk with each other around the town but did very little together other than that. They would usually have the most fun together at balls and parties where they would dance and have a good time with each other.

Some women of the Gentry class would learn how to play a musical instrument for fun or in their spare time, majority of these being unmarried women. They would learn to play, what at the time would be seen as elegant instruments, such as the piano, violin and/or even the harp. Women of the Gentry class would also read books and some even wrote novels as one of their leisure activities, as they were educated and higher class women, therefore were able to read and write, they were more likely to show off their skills by showing their other friends or members of their family a novel they have written by themselves.