The plight of so-called "fallen women" and the extreme vulnerability of women in society are major concerns in Dickens' novel. The powerlessness of David's mother in the face of Murdstone's extreme psychological cruelty and controlling behavior is illustrative of the economic and social vulnerability of young widows in Victorian society. His remarriage to another young widow after Clara's death suggests that the situation is endemic and allows predators such as Murdstone to flourish at the expense of vulnerable young women.

The narratives of Little Em'ly and Martha Endell illustrate the unfair, incoherent attitudes of Victorian society towards female sexuality. Both of these women are branded "fallen" and cut off from society after being exploited by upper-class men, who suffer no consequences as a result of their actions. 

The characterization of Steerforth's unmarried cousin, Rosa Dartle, is illustrative of the conflicted, hypocritical attitudes towards gender roles and the attribution of blame in the world of the novel. Dartle has been scarred for life since Steerforth threw a hammer at her face in a fit of rage, yet she continues to idolize and adore him. By contrast, her condemnation of Em'ly is brutal and uncompromising:

I would have her branded on the face, dressed in rags and cast out on the streets to starve. If I had the power to sit in judgment on her, I would see it done. See it done? I would do it! I detest her.

The novel offers no practical resolutions to the plight of women in society. Dickens' troubled female characters find relief through the kindness of others, through migration and death. David's first wife, Dora, remains suspended in a kind of unworldly, eternal childhood and cannot interact with or survive in modern society. Like David's mother, she finds peace and resolution only in death. 

The novel's two "fallen women," Em'ly and Martha, find new hope only in abandoning England altogether and beginning a new life in Australia. Agnes and David end the novel happily married with children, with Agnes being saved from Uriah's predatory intentions by Mr. Micawber's intervention. However, Agnes is so saintly a character that she seems to be scarcely of this world, as note the Christian associations of her name ("agnes dei" – lamb of God).