The Victorian Age lasted from 1832 to 1902 in Britain. It can be divided into three periods: the early period under Queen Victoria from 1830-1848, a time of dramatic change; the mid-Victorian period from 1848-1870, a time of prosperity and colonization; and the later period from 1870-1901, when old traditions began to break down. The key characteristics of the Victorian Age included a belief in social progress through industrialization, urbanization, and free trade, as well as Britain's dominance as a colonial power. However, these changes also led to conflicts between religion and science, a widening gap between the rich and poor, and a loss of personal faith.
The Victorian Age lasted from 1832 to 1902 in Britain. It can be divided into three periods: the early period under Queen Victoria from 1830-1848, a time of dramatic change; the mid-Victorian period from 1848-1870, a time of prosperity and colonization; and the later period from 1870-1901, when old traditions began to break down. The key characteristics of the Victorian Age included a belief in social progress through industrialization, urbanization, and free trade, as well as Britain's dominance as a colonial power. However, these changes also led to conflicts between religion and science, a widening gap between the rich and poor, and a loss of personal faith.
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The Victorian Age lasted from 1832 to 1902 in Britain. It can be divided into three periods: the early period under Queen Victoria from 1830-1848, a time of dramatic change; the mid-Victorian period from 1848-1870, a time of prosperity and colonization; and the later period from 1870-1901, when old traditions began to break down. The key characteristics of the Victorian Age included a belief in social progress through industrialization, urbanization, and free trade, as well as Britain's dominance as a colonial power. However, these changes also led to conflicts between religion and science, a widening gap between the rich and poor, and a loss of personal faith.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Queen Victoria the early period (1830 48) - a time of dramatic change the mid-Victorian period (184870) a time of prosperity and colonization the later period (1870 1901) the breakdown of the old verities
The Profile of the Age:
PROGRESS a belief in the evolution of society industrialization/urbanization: the doctrine of laissez-faire - free trade and the private capitalistic enterprise ; technological advances Lifestyles changed more dramatically than ever before in English history COLONIALISM: the supreme world power, the empire on which the sun never set;
The Profile of the Age
RESULT: the growth of national and cultural self-consciousness the reverse of the industrial coin two nations in Britain: the rich and the poor (in 1842 1. 5 million paupers) a highly structured class-society - the middle-class - the heroic protagonist of progress and the moral heart of society gentleman (manners and mode of life) upper social mobility / a cultural ambition
The Profile of the Age
the participation of the masses to the phenomenon of culture; mass literacy; the modern public school system; quality journalism (periodicals) - the prose of the period: speaking prose, didactic, communicative, ideological utilitarian view of culture - a useful culture
The Profile of the Age
middle-class ethics of progress: social success and public recognition are virtues orthodox puritanism (hard work, asceticism discipline sobriety and respectability ) utilitarianism (useful, utility): the greatest happiness of the greatest numbers hypocrisy- the praise of pragmatism and virtues
The Profile of the Age
the central conflict of Victorian society: religion vs. science (materialism vs. spiritualism, feeling & fact, mysticism & rationalism) science and progress made religion seem anachronistic - loss of personal faith The Machine Age - the dehumanization of work and the worker
Cultural Criticism- The Victorian Essay
General tendencies of Victorian criticism: the view of society as a mechanical entity / the social theory / materialism/pragmatism a campaign for idealism: secular spirituality the human spirit should be developed in history NOTE: not concerned with social equality
Thomas Carlyle (17951881)
the prophet of the Victorian age to educate the middle class audience; a critic of 19th century materialism - the vanity fair where all is bought and sold - a constructive thinker who tries to offer a solution Sartor Resartus - the tailor reclothed the metaphor of clothing: 1. matter vs. spirit (the material world or human institutions as the clothes of the spirit) the loss of spiritual value
Thomas Carlyle (17951881)
the cures for the social ills and the dehumanization of life 1. the doctrine of activism: man should perfect himself by means of work 2. a change of direction from the material to the spiritual values - he finds these values in in the cult of discipline, morality and order of the monastic culture medievalism the paradox of Carlyles criticism: he criticized materialism and supported the part of the official doctrine of the age: the high moralism of the dominant puritanical spirituality
Matthew Arnold (18221888)
an eminent poet, a lifelong educator, a pioneer in the field of literary criticism, and an influential public figure culture is a spiritual entity - the best that has been thought and said in the world a cultural critic is a social benefactor
Matthew Arnold (18221888
THE SOCIAL/MORAL ROLE OF POETRY poetry is the universal tool for culture POETRY IS THE CRITICISM OF LIFE - a healthy interpretation of life /to question all authority and to make judgments in a disinterested way poetry = emotions, the model of what life ideally should be life, poetic truth and poetic beauty propose the right conduct of public and personal life
Matthew Arnold (18221888
cultural and critical values seem to be synonymous / literary criticism is also social criticism the touchstone method - passages taken from works of great masters of poetry should be applied as touchstones to other poetry THE ENGLISH CANON - Great Literature" - to define, in absolute (transhistorical) terms, "great literature"
Matthew Arnold (18221888
an ethical cure for the culture of utilitarian materialism: a return to classical values Hellenism vs. Hebraism (the free play of mind vs. religious faith, strictness of conscience) he claimed as universal the particular interests of the ruling classes (the middle classes