What was it like to be a wife in the Victorian era?

Very limited to say the least, the role of a wife and husband were very defined.

Explanation:

Women were generally expected to marry and perform household and motherly duties rather than seek formal education. Even women who were not successful in finding husbands were generally expected to remain uneducated, and to take a position in childcare. The women didn't control their own finances and were expected to tell their husband's what they spent and so forth.

During the era symbolized by the reign of British monarch Queen Victoria, women did not have the right to vote, sue, or own property ... Feminist ideas spread among the educated middle classes, discriminatory laws were repealed, and the women's suffrage movement gained momentum in the last years of the Victorian era.