The Victorian Period

1830-1901

A Time of Change
London becomes most important city in Europe
Population of London expands from two million
to six million
Shift from ownership of land to modern urban
economy
Impact of industrialism
Increase in wealth
Worlds foremost imperial power
Victorian people suffered from anxiety, a sense
of being displaced persons in an age of
technological advances.

Queen Victoria and the Victorian

Temper
Ruled England from
1837-1901
Exemplifies Victorian
qualities: earnestness,
moral responsibility,
domestic propriety
The Victorian Period was
an age of transition
An age characterized by
energy and high moral
purpose

 1838: crowned Queen when

eighteen years old
succeeded William IV
but until birth of first
daughter in 1840
Ernest August I of Hannover
was king

 married prince Albert of SaxeCoburg and Gotha when 20 years

old

 gave birth to nine children

arranged the marriages of children
and grandchildren the
grandmother of Europe

 mourned very long

for husband
pro-republic
movement
gained
popularity
golden and
diamond jubilees

 lived frugal and prud

- compensate for her
lifestyle
- raised following the
Kensington system

Victorian
= like Victoria did

The Early Victorian Period

1830-1848
In 1830, the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway opened,
the first public railway line in
the world.
By 1850, railway lines
connected Englands major
cities
By 1900 , England had 15,195
lines of railroad and an
underground rail system
beneath London.
The train transformed
Englands landscape,
supported the growth of
commerce, and shrank the
distance between cities.

The Reform Bill of 1832

Transformed English
class structure
Extended the right to
vote to all males
owning property
Second Reform Bill
passed in 1867
Extended right to vote
to working class

The Time of Troubles

1830s and 1840s
Unemployment
Poverty
Rioting
Slums in large cities
Working conditions
for women and
children were terrible

The Mid-Victorian Period

1848-1870
A time of prosperity
A time of improvement
A time of stability
A time of optimism

The Crystal Palace

Erected to display the
exhibits of modern
industry and science at
the 1851 Great Exhibition
One of the first buildings
constructed according to
modern architectural
principles
The building symbolized
the triumphs of Victorian
industry

The British Empire

Many Between 1853 and
1880, large scale
immigration to British
colonies
In 1857, Parliament took
over the government of
India and Queen Victoria
became empress of India.
Many British people saw
the expansion of empire
as a moral responsibility.
Missionaries spread
Christianity in India, Asia,
and Africa.

Challenges to Religious Belief

Science

Huxley
Darwin- the Origin of Species and The Descent of
Man

Higher Criticism

Examination of the Bible as a mere text of history

Source studies
Geology
Astronomy

The Late Victorian Period

1870-1901
Decay of Victorian values
British imperialism
Boer War
Irish question
Bismarck's Germany became a rival power
United States became a rival power
Economic depression led to mass immigration
Socialism

The Role of Women

The Woman Question
Changing conditions of womens
work created by the Industrial
Revolution
The Factory Acts (1802-78)
regulations of the conditions of
labor in mines and factories
The Custody Act (1839) gave a
mother the right to petition the
court for access to her minor
children and custody of children
under seven and later sixteen.
The Divorce and Matrimonial
Causes Act established a civil
divorce court
Married Womens Property Acts

Educational Opportunities for

Women
First womens college
established in 1848 in
London.
By the end of
Victorias reign,
women could take
degrees at twelve
university colleges.

Working Conditions for Women

Bad working
conditions and
underemployment
drove thousands of
women into
prostitution.
The only occupation at
which an unmarried
middle-class woman
could earn a living and
maintain some claim
to gentility was that of
a governess.

Victorian Women and the Home

Victorian society was
preoccupied with the very
nature of women.
Protected and enshrined
within the home, her role
was to create a place of
peace where man could
take refuge from the
difficulties of modern life.

Literacy, Publication, and Reading

By the end of the century,
literacy was almost universal.
Compulsory national education
required to the age of ten.
Due to technological advances,
an explosion of things to read,
including newspapers,
periodicals, and books.
Growth of the periodical
Novels and short fiction were
published iin serial form.
The reading public expected
literature to illuminate social
problems.

The Victorian Novel

The novel was the dominant form
in Victorian literature.
Victorian novels seek to represent
a large and comprehensive social
world, with a variety of classes.
Victorian novels are realistic.
Major theme is the place of the
individual in society, the aspiration
of the hero or heroine for love or
social position.
The protagonists search for
fulfillment is emblematic of the
human condition.
For the first time, women were
major writers: the Brontes.
Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot.
The Victorian novel was a
principal form of entertainment.

Negative aspects of the

Victorian Age:
Pollution in the towns due to factory activity: in
fact life in the countryside was much healthier.
Hygienic conditions (cities were too densely
populated, most people lived in miserable
conditions; most houses shared water supplies)
Epidemics (cholera,thyphoid), with a consistant
increase of death in the cities.

In 1851 half of Britains population lived in

towns, which offered a better chance of
work and higher wages than the
countryside

But life expectation in the towns

was of only 26 years:

Large towns were

unhealthy. New
epidemics were stalking
the cities.
Such a high mortality,
hadnt been seen since
the Black

Death

The Great Stink

This expression is used to describe the
terrible smell in London, coming from the
Thames.
The Miasmas, exhalations from decaying
matter, poisoned the air.

The houses
Poor families, with 45 children, lived in
houses with 2-3
rooms and without a
lavatory.

The houses of the

rich had water in the
kitchen, gas lighting,
flushing toilets and
were decorated.

THE VICTORIAN ERA

values and social

class system

Victorian values

not talking about sex

punishing crime severely
living by strict social rules
only for one group of society

 beach
- special
cubicles to
change and
put on
bathing suit
- separate
beach for
men and
women

 very rude to show arms and legs

Queen Victoria collected male
nudes

 emotions and sexual

feelings: in the
language of
flowers
explicit erotica in
personal letters and
even newspapers

 sex before
marriage = taboo
- many pregnant
brides
- limited
physical contact
with fianc
prostitution
flourished

supposed to keep the whole household

running
unmarried women: socializing in spare
time
worst thing: death of father or husband
poor women: factory work,

supposed to be raised very strictly

had to work long shifts and do dirty
jobs
Oliver Twist

Social class system

wealthy families at
court
no need to work:
inherited fortune
best education
Royal Class

largest class
benefitted the most from Industrial
Revolution
Upper Middle Class
and Lower Middle Class

Upper Working Class = skilled

labour
Lower Working Class =
unskilled labour
hostile to other classes
affected the worst by
immigration

the sunken people

homeless, unskilled and ill

We are not
amused

Images of the Victorian Period