In the era before the Industrial Revolution, the expectation was that women would

Women were expected to cook and clean the house. They had no voice or choice in what they wanted to do. Women were (and still are) seen as inferior to the male species.

Prior to the Industrial revolution, society was largely patriarchal - men had the leading role in society and were also the ones who were in charge on all leading places. After the industrial revolution, this was slowly changing. With that said, women weren't required to work at a factory or anything similar, they were to take care after the children and cook meals and be housewives in general.