Final answer:
During the Victorian era, women in England navigated a social landscape defined by the Cult of Domesticity and limited legal rights. Middle-class women found ways to exert influence through charitable work, while the First Wave Feminism movement began to challenge gender norms and legal restrictions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Victorian era in England was marked by strict social norms and gender roles. Women were seen as the guardians of virtue, primarily occupying the domestic sphere and being barred from political rights such as voting. The ideal of the Cult of Domesticity or Cult of True Womanhood emphasized a woman's role in upholding piety, purity, and submissiveness. In the public sphere, however, some middle-class women leveraged their role as moral guardians into activism through charitable and reform organizations, contributing to early feminist movements.
On the religious front, despite the prevalence of male-dominated Christianity in the form of the Church of England, there were instances where women played a more visible role in various cults and rites. Poor women often found employment outside the home in areas deemed improper by upper classes.
First Wave Feminism emerged as women began to challenge these restrictive norms, leading to a focus on securing voting rights and reformulating gender-based legal restrictions. Furthermore, Victorianism tied ethical character to social and economic status, portraying wealth as evidence of moral superiority. This era also saw the critique of institutions like marriage, which were once seen as sanctuaries from the capitalist world, but came to be understood as part of the systemic oppression of women.