THE VICTORIAN AGE
Queen Victoria reigned the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901. During her
reign, she embodied the values of her time: respectability, honor, morality, paternalism and
preservation of traditions.
That age was a time of profound cultural,scientific and technological changes.
-Innovations and inventions like photography, electricity and telephone modified society and people lives
-Huge masses of people were moving, populating towns and cities and pressing the ruling classes for new
rights.
-There was the influence of new ideas and philosophy: such as Darwin's theory of evolution
- In the Victorian literature there were serialized novels (published in monthly or weekly installments, a
process which made them more entertaining)
QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN
★ Victoria ascended the throne in 1837. The period in which she reigned was associated with her
name “Victorian Age” (like Elizabeth 1 reign) and it lasted almost 64 years.
INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
(growth of cities)
★ During the 19th century, London became the world's largest city, with a population which
increased from 2 to 6 million inhabitants.
★ A similar transformation on a smaller scale occurred in other British cities, such as Manchester,
Liverpool and Birmingham. The main reasons were the rapid industrial growth and a parallel
impoverishment of the masses in the countryside that led people to move looking for work.
★ The urban landscape was transformed with the construction of factories and vast surrounding
areas where the majority of the workers lived in conditions of extreme poverty, disease and
degradation.
★ In the central area there was the wealth accumulated by the entrepreneurial middle classes:
banks, grand buildings, gardens, efficient services and utmost respectability.
(machines and transportation)
★ Machines were the symbol of industry and economic development. They changed working
practices in the factories and on the land, raising productivity. They influenced the spread of
knowledge with improvements in printing and an increase of printed works.
★ Means of transport brought people closer and shortened the times and costs of traveling. Ships
were also significant for Britain: because they were the symbol of the domination of the seas both
commercially and militarily - there was no other comparable fleet in the world
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
★ The Great Universal Exhibition of 1851, was organized in London, it was located in an
enormous building of iron and glass erected in Hyde Park: known as the Crystal Palace. The
Exhibition represented the global triumph of British science, technology and industry. It was visited
by 6 million people and, for the first time, many ordinary people reached the capital by train. In
1836, London's first railway line was opened connecting London Bridge and Greenwich. Indeed
the Victorian station was built in order to transport the visitors.
, SOCIAL CONFLICTS
★ This was a period of intense social conflicts. There was a strong economic growth of the upper
middle classes but on the other hand a harsh poverty of the working masses.
★ This was a period of contradictions: the pros were all the technological advances, development of
transportations, lighting) but the cons were that the working classes were paying a very high price
due to all this.
★ The Victorians were hypocritical because they pretended to ignore the working classes'
problems. They convinced themselves this situation could be temporary
★ There was a new philosophical movement: the UTILITARIANISM whose father was Jeremy
Bentham.
This movement became a new mindset and it stands for what is useful, it is a materialist
ideology that judges every single aspect of life.
USEFUL→ GOOD
NOT USEFUL→ NOT GOOD
★ This method was used in schools and teaching methods were inspired by it.
MATH/SCIENCE→ they privilege these subjects, because numbers are useful in daily life. So they
wanted pupils to acquire these notions.
LITERATURE/ARTS→ were not teach, because they didn’t have a practical use
The relationship between teachers and students wasn’t that good because they were treated as
numbers.
WOMEN IN SOCIETY
★ The society was hypocritical too.
★ The family was the most important social institution
FATHER→ it was the man who hold the power
WOMAN→ according to the social class have different conditions
WOMEN IN THE WORKING CLASSES- ‘’THE FALL WOMEN’’
→ they used to work in factories and despite working as much as the man or even more they were
underpaid.
Some of them, in order to get money and to survive they aimed to sell themselves (body).
→ also some them could get pregnant oustide the marriage for rape and for thìs they were considered and
labeled as prostitutes .
WORKING CLASSES CONDITIONS
★ Work shifts were extremely long and hard, with the working day lasting up to 14 or 16 hours.
★ Despite laws limiting child labour, children were exploited on a regular basis.
★ Working-class housing was unhealthy with no running water or sewers. Diseases such as typhoid
and cholera spread easily, thanks also to an extremely poor diet.
★ Crime and prostitution were also common. In the face of such conditions, the British ruling class
offered paternalistic philanthropy in the belief that it was necessary to intervene in order to improve
the lives of the less fortunate, however the social structure was unchangeable.
WOMEN IN THE UPPER CLASSES- ‘’ANGEL IN THE HOUSES’’
★ This women come from a respectable society, their only goal was: get married, taking care of
the house and have many children (Victoria had 9 children)
★ They have to respect a very strict rules, because they need to be fragile and pure (in order that
mens can protect them)
THE INDUSTRIAL MIDDLE CLASS
★ The industrial middle class in 1846, won a significant victory with the abolition of the Corn Laws, a
legislation which imposed heavy taxation on imported goods, favoring the great landowners.
★ Since the industrial middle class required large amounts of funds, the British banks came to play
a decisive role. From a symbolic point of view, the colonies were a representation of Britain's
global power.
Queen Victoria reigned the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901. During her
reign, she embodied the values of her time: respectability, honor, morality, paternalism and
preservation of traditions.
That age was a time of profound cultural,scientific and technological changes.
-Innovations and inventions like photography, electricity and telephone modified society and people lives
-Huge masses of people were moving, populating towns and cities and pressing the ruling classes for new
rights.
-There was the influence of new ideas and philosophy: such as Darwin's theory of evolution
- In the Victorian literature there were serialized novels (published in monthly or weekly installments, a
process which made them more entertaining)
QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN
★ Victoria ascended the throne in 1837. The period in which she reigned was associated with her
name “Victorian Age” (like Elizabeth 1 reign) and it lasted almost 64 years.
INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
(growth of cities)
★ During the 19th century, London became the world's largest city, with a population which
increased from 2 to 6 million inhabitants.
★ A similar transformation on a smaller scale occurred in other British cities, such as Manchester,
Liverpool and Birmingham. The main reasons were the rapid industrial growth and a parallel
impoverishment of the masses in the countryside that led people to move looking for work.
★ The urban landscape was transformed with the construction of factories and vast surrounding
areas where the majority of the workers lived in conditions of extreme poverty, disease and
degradation.
★ In the central area there was the wealth accumulated by the entrepreneurial middle classes:
banks, grand buildings, gardens, efficient services and utmost respectability.
(machines and transportation)
★ Machines were the symbol of industry and economic development. They changed working
practices in the factories and on the land, raising productivity. They influenced the spread of
knowledge with improvements in printing and an increase of printed works.
★ Means of transport brought people closer and shortened the times and costs of traveling. Ships
were also significant for Britain: because they were the symbol of the domination of the seas both
commercially and militarily - there was no other comparable fleet in the world
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
★ The Great Universal Exhibition of 1851, was organized in London, it was located in an
enormous building of iron and glass erected in Hyde Park: known as the Crystal Palace. The
Exhibition represented the global triumph of British science, technology and industry. It was visited
by 6 million people and, for the first time, many ordinary people reached the capital by train. In
1836, London's first railway line was opened connecting London Bridge and Greenwich. Indeed
the Victorian station was built in order to transport the visitors.
, SOCIAL CONFLICTS
★ This was a period of intense social conflicts. There was a strong economic growth of the upper
middle classes but on the other hand a harsh poverty of the working masses.
★ This was a period of contradictions: the pros were all the technological advances, development of
transportations, lighting) but the cons were that the working classes were paying a very high price
due to all this.
★ The Victorians were hypocritical because they pretended to ignore the working classes'
problems. They convinced themselves this situation could be temporary
★ There was a new philosophical movement: the UTILITARIANISM whose father was Jeremy
Bentham.
This movement became a new mindset and it stands for what is useful, it is a materialist
ideology that judges every single aspect of life.
USEFUL→ GOOD
NOT USEFUL→ NOT GOOD
★ This method was used in schools and teaching methods were inspired by it.
MATH/SCIENCE→ they privilege these subjects, because numbers are useful in daily life. So they
wanted pupils to acquire these notions.
LITERATURE/ARTS→ were not teach, because they didn’t have a practical use
The relationship between teachers and students wasn’t that good because they were treated as
numbers.
WOMEN IN SOCIETY
★ The society was hypocritical too.
★ The family was the most important social institution
FATHER→ it was the man who hold the power
WOMAN→ according to the social class have different conditions
WOMEN IN THE WORKING CLASSES- ‘’THE FALL WOMEN’’
→ they used to work in factories and despite working as much as the man or even more they were
underpaid.
Some of them, in order to get money and to survive they aimed to sell themselves (body).
→ also some them could get pregnant oustide the marriage for rape and for thìs they were considered and
labeled as prostitutes .
WORKING CLASSES CONDITIONS
★ Work shifts were extremely long and hard, with the working day lasting up to 14 or 16 hours.
★ Despite laws limiting child labour, children were exploited on a regular basis.
★ Working-class housing was unhealthy with no running water or sewers. Diseases such as typhoid
and cholera spread easily, thanks also to an extremely poor diet.
★ Crime and prostitution were also common. In the face of such conditions, the British ruling class
offered paternalistic philanthropy in the belief that it was necessary to intervene in order to improve
the lives of the less fortunate, however the social structure was unchangeable.
WOMEN IN THE UPPER CLASSES- ‘’ANGEL IN THE HOUSES’’
★ This women come from a respectable society, their only goal was: get married, taking care of
the house and have many children (Victoria had 9 children)
★ They have to respect a very strict rules, because they need to be fragile and pure (in order that
mens can protect them)
THE INDUSTRIAL MIDDLE CLASS
★ The industrial middle class in 1846, won a significant victory with the abolition of the Corn Laws, a
legislation which imposed heavy taxation on imported goods, favoring the great landowners.
★ Since the industrial middle class required large amounts of funds, the British banks came to play
a decisive role. From a symbolic point of view, the colonies were a representation of Britain's
global power.
