Two sides of the same
coin:
it was the age of:
-Great social reforms -Poverty
-Progress
-Injustice
-Stability
-Social Unrest
-Ruling Class
-Working class
The Victorian
Compromise:
To prevent the gap between the working class and the
prefered threat of war, which hindered the social and
industrial development, the British ruling classes carried
out what is called the "Victorian compromise."
So, on the one hand, they ensured a policy of demolition
on trade barriers (liberal policy); on the
other, the adoption of reforms to improve the
conditions of life and work of the proletariat. The
increased prosperity, scientific and medical progress, the
spread of literacy were all signs of progress.
Respectability could not by itself eliminate social ills such
as poverty, cruelty to children, child prostitution or the
exploitation of workers. The "sins" were simply hidden
under a veil of hypocrisy.
The name “Victoria”:
Political and social progress:
Victoria was the daughter of Edward, the Duke of Kent
and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg. She was born in
Kensington Palace in London on May 24th, 1819.Edward
died when Victoria was eight months. In 1837 Queen
Victoria took the throne and ruled until 1901. On Feb
10th, 1840,Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert.
Together they bore nine children.
Prince Albert was the dominant male influence in
Victoria's life.Albert assisted in her royal duties. On Dec.
14th 1861 Albert died from typhoid fever at Windsor
Castle. Victoria remained in self-imposed seclusion for
ten years. Victoria's long reign witnessed an evolution in
English politics and the expansion of the British Empire,
as well as political and social reforms on the continent.
1832: The First Reform Bill: forced on Parliament by
popular pressure, extended the right of voting to men
of the 'middle class‘.
( The "Reform Bill" is generally considered the
dividing line between the Romantic and Victorian era,
a time of great contradictions.)
1867,1884: The Second and The Third Reform Bill:
granted that all male members of working-classes
could vote.
1833: The Factory Act: prevented children from being
employed more than forty-eight hours a week.
1846: The Corn Laws: which artificially froze the price
of corn at high level to protect the landed
interest,were repealed.
1862: The Mines Act: prohibited the working of
woman and children in mines.
1870: The Elementary Education Act: recognised the
need for general primary schooling.
1875: The Public Health Act:granted the clearance of
slums and improved public health.
-The growth of trade-unions.
-Socialism, taking shape as a definite movement in the
middle of the century, became one to be reckoned.
-Humanitarian consciousness, however, gained
greatly during the period.
The British Empire:
Great Britain was the center of a global empire that
fostered British contact with a wide variety of other
cultures. By the end of the nineteenth century, nearly
one-quarter of the earth's land surface was part of the
British Empire. It was a truly heterogenous entity,
governed with heterogenous practices. It included
Crown Colonies like Jamaica, and Ireland was a sort of
internal colony. Victoria was crowned Empress of India
in 1877.
Christianity, Commerce and
Civilisation :
Religion represented not merely a spiritual difference
between the Catholic and Protestant churches but was
part of a far larger cultural and political competition
between deadly rivals. Portugal, Spain and France
were the Catholic nations which developed successful
commercial empires. Religion gave an excuse for this
commercial rivalry to turn into military and political
competition. The Protestant work ethics meant that
Christian and commercial ideals could be reconciled
fairly easily and in fact they wanted to manifest it in
the improvement and development of British
civilisation in general. Christianity, commerce and
civilisation was a neat way to justify the uniqueness of
the British Empire.
Technological and Industrial
superiority:
The British had no monopoly on technological
innovation. Gunpowder, the printing press,
navigational equipments were all developed and
improved on the continent. Rifles, machine guns,
train locomotives, steam ships would provide the
relatively small and outstretched British armed
forces with unparalleled advantages. Combination of
industrial might and maritime power meant that it
had a peculiar advantage and one that would not be
challenged until the development of guerilla warfare
and tactics in the twentieth century.
Many destitute children lived by stealing and many
people thought that education was the answer. The
Victorian age can also be thought of as one of intense
philanthropy. Many of our modern day charitable
institutions, such as The Children's Society, have their
roots at this time.
There were private teachers for rich children,
orphanages (with strong discipline), for poor children
and compulsory education (gender separation).
The search for employment also involved the children
that were expected to help the family budget.
Education and Childcare:
The other side of the coin:
The nineteenth century saw a huge growth in the
population of Great Britain. The growth of the cities
was due to the effects of the industrial revolution:
people were flocking into the towns in search of
employment.
Child Labor:They often worked long hours in
dangerous jobs and in difficult situations for a very
little wage. there were the climbing boys employed by
the chimney sweeps, boys and girls working down the
coal mines, crawling through tunnels too narrow and
low to take an adult.
Slums:People needed to live near to where they work
but the available housing became scarce and
therefore expensive, resulting in
extremely overcrowded conditions.
Squalor and desease:The roads were crossed by ditch,
into which drains and sewers emptied. Poor living
conditions led death caused by starvation, destitution
and cholera.
Victorian Literature:
Ideological influences:
Puritanism:
A religious moviment
who want reform the
Church of England,
according to Calvinism’s
principles.
Transcendentalism:
All reality is a single
unity,over same is the
spiritual principle,
nature is the best
means to reach the
truth.
The most popular genres:
Victorian Sexuality:
Puritanism and his principles:
-hard work
-prayer
-chastity
Rigid division beetween the sexes:
Men: active and full of energy; every gentleman is
this age had a devoted wife and two prostitutes.
Women: had a passive role in relationship and
regarded as devoid of sexual desire.
The image of woman:
In the family the husband represented the authority
and the role of woman regarded:
-education of children
-duties of a wife
-Alot of women suffered from hysteria.
-Poetry: Emily Dickinson.
-managing the house
-Novel: romantic novel, adventure,
realistic,sensation, historical and novel of manners.
Authors and Production:
The most important novelist are:
Great wealth and extreme poverty lived side by side
because the tenements, slums, rookeries were only a
stone thrown from the large elegant houses of the rich
that didn't care about worker but they created places
of entertainment like public houses and music halls.
-Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist and David
Girl’s education was repressive against natural
instincts and woman were not free to live their
sexuality publicly.
Copperfield.
-Bronte sisters;Emily with:Wuthering Hights and
Charlotte with: Jane Eyre.
-Nathanie Hawthorne: The scarlet letter.
-Herman Melville: Moby Dick.
-Oscar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray.
The nude in Victorian Art:
Starting from 1830s. The nude became the most
debated topic in the art in England.
Nudes are presented not only in painting and
sculpture but also popular illustation and photografy.