The Victorian Period
The Victorians - Brief Background
Victorian Age (1830-1901)
England Expands!
1. London becomes most influential city in Europe (population rose from 2 million in 1830 to 6.5 million by 1901) – England becomes an urban based economy
2. Inventions galore make England wealthy and culturally advanced!
a. Steam power
b. Fast railways
c. Iron ships, first motor cars
d. Improved printing presses, typewriters
e. Telegraph, intercontinental cable
f. Photography, phonographs
g. Universal compulsory education
3. Problems rose from “culture shock” as technology alienates people
a. Science fights with religion (Darwin, Freud vs. church)
b. People suffered from a sense of lost innocence
Early Victorian period (1830-1848)
1. The passing of a reform bill allows the middle and lower classes to vote.
2. By 1840, widespread unemployment and appalling work conditions, child labor, and overcrowding create a “Time of Troubles” and a severe depression. Twain begins publishing.
Middle Victorian period (1848-1870) Age of Improvement
1. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert become role models for the middle class. The middle class is driven by the following:
a. A driven sense of duty!
b. Pioneering spirit & a "can do" attitude!
c. Women become more involved in men’s lives and in society.
2. There is an increased pride in industrial accomplishments and technological progress
Late Victorian period (1870-1901) Rise and Fall of Victorian Values
1. England’s relationships with Ireland, Africa, India, and the rest of the world, including the Catholics versus the Protestants, started to falter
2. Germany and U.S began to catch up with England’s technology
3. Prime Minister Disraeli creates a Reform Bill so that working class (lower classes) can vote – helps usher in the socialist party by William Morris (Karl Marx’s theories spread to England and are popular throughout Europe.) The creation of the labor party in England gives workers a voice.
4. The Gay 90’s: Railroads built and technology brought to India and Africa, colonial wars hurt the Empire, etc. However, much panic occurs at the end of the century as England is seen to falter in its greatness and control over the Empire.
Victorian Literature:
• Close to the Romantic movement in theme and subject (love and nature)
• The wild energy left from the Romantics finds new form and structure (metrical verse in particular)
• Strict puritan code of ethics from Evangelical writers like Hopkins and Browning
• Women are portrayed as “innocent”, men “duty driven” and “respectable” – later this is satirized
• Preoccupation with the “fallen woman” and the “woman question” – “should women be educated like men?” “Should they have the right to vote and have property rights?” etc.
• The governess novel became popular in the works of Thackeray, James, and the Bronte sisters.
• Literature was instruction
• Focus on narrative poetry
• Themes include the human relationship with God
• Increase in light verse in such works as Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
Victorian Age (1830-1901)
England Expands!
1. London becomes most influential city in Europe (population rose from 2 million in 1830 to 6.5 million by 1901) – England becomes an urban based economy
2. Inventions galore make England wealthy and culturally advanced!
a. Steam power
b. Fast railways
c. Iron ships, first motor cars
d. Improved printing presses, typewriters
e. Telegraph, intercontinental cable
f. Photography, phonographs
g. Universal compulsory education
3. Problems rose from “culture shock” as technology alienates people
a. Science fights with religion (Darwin, Freud vs. church)
b. People suffered from a sense of lost innocence
Early Victorian period (1830-1848)
1. The passing of a reform bill allows the middle and lower classes to vote.
2. By 1840, widespread unemployment and appalling work conditions, child labor, and overcrowding create a “Time of Troubles” and a severe depression. Twain begins publishing.
Middle Victorian period (1848-1870) Age of Improvement
1. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert become role models for the middle class. The middle class is driven by the following:
a. A driven sense of duty!
b. Pioneering spirit & a "can do" attitude!
c. Women become more involved in men’s lives and in society.
2. There is an increased pride in industrial accomplishments and technological progress
Late Victorian period (1870-1901) Rise and Fall of Victorian Values
1. England’s relationships with Ireland, Africa, India, and the rest of the world, including the Catholics versus the Protestants, started to falter
2. Germany and U.S began to catch up with England’s technology
3. Prime Minister Disraeli creates a Reform Bill so that working class (lower classes) can vote – helps usher in the socialist party by William Morris (Karl Marx’s theories spread to England and are popular throughout Europe.) The creation of the labor party in England gives workers a voice.
4. The Gay 90’s: Railroads built and technology brought to India and Africa, colonial wars hurt the Empire, etc. However, much panic occurs at the end of the century as England is seen to falter in its greatness and control over the Empire.
Victorian Literature:
• Close to the Romantic movement in theme and subject (love and nature)
• The wild energy left from the Romantics finds new form and structure (metrical verse in particular)
• Strict puritan code of ethics from Evangelical writers like Hopkins and Browning
• Women are portrayed as “innocent”, men “duty driven” and “respectable” – later this is satirized
• Preoccupation with the “fallen woman” and the “woman question” – “should women be educated like men?” “Should they have the right to vote and have property rights?” etc.
• The governess novel became popular in the works of Thackeray, James, and the Bronte sisters.
• Literature was instruction
• Focus on narrative poetry
• Themes include the human relationship with God
• Increase in light verse in such works as Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
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