SECTION 1. ROMANTIC VS VICTORIAN
19th century is a period of huge transformation (like in housing and transport).
Someone defined it the “Long 19th century” because it keeps the focus on all 19th.
There are 2 ages during the 19th: Romantic age and Victorian age.
R OMANTIC AGE (1798-1832)
• The word “romantic” evoke romantic poetry
• Is an artistic movement very long in England (the movements accrued in different times in Europe: first
Germany, then England, for last Italy)
• The Romantic age began:
o For some people in 1789 with the French Revolution
o In realty it begins in 1798 with the publication of the “Lyrical ballads” (a collection of poems) by William
Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Are important the collection but also the preface because
(especially Wordsworth who is the main author) argues that a new kind of poetry is necessary: he
wants to introduce a different kind of poetry compared to what was available before.
Before romantic age Romantic age
Difficult language (language of erudition) Use more plain language (language of
ordinary people)
Poet used a lot of classical images Completely different approach to poetry
• All scholars agree that the Romantic Age finish in 1832. This is an important date for 2 main reasons:
o Is the year when Walter Scott dies. He was an important and renown author (extremely influencer
figure so when he died was an important moment); we remember him for his historical romances.
o Year of the First Reform Act which increases the number of people who get access to voting right
V ICTORIAN AGE (1837-1901):
• Is a term that is, technically speaking, historical but today is used more generally to speak also about
literature, novels, culture, authors, innovations.
• Dates: coronation Queen Victoria-when she died. She became queen at 18 years old, and her reign is the
second longest in the history of Britain. This is also a convenient date because we have the beginning of the
20th century.
• Example of author from the Victorian Age: Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Stevenson, Robert
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Tennyson.
SECTION 2. WHAT HAPPENED DURING VICTORIAN PERIOD?
HUNGRY 1840S
The Crimean War of 1854 revealed the instability of European politics and the failure of old powers to
maintain control.
While in Europe were violent revolution, England managed to avoid similar upheaval, although fears of
insurrection loomed large during the economically strained 1840s, often referred to as the “Hungry
Forties.”
During these years, there was the Irish Famine in 1846, that caused many deaths in Ireland and for this
reason, thousands of people moved from Ireland to the big cities of Britain like London, Manchester,
Birmingham: this caused overpopulation, bad harvests (and because of that the cost of food increased
enormously, particularly the cost of bread) and others problems.
Also, Britain was already in the middle of the Industrial Revolution and was growing a lot as an industrial
country, but the working conditions were extremely bleak, with long hours, very unsafe working
conditions and people were protesting against this.
Despite these conditions and widespread unrest, no large-scale revolution erupted in England. This is
often attributed to:
1. The nation’s gradual progress through legislative reform and economic expansion (perception that
people and the government wanted to do something to improve the situation).
, Indeed, during the 40s we have some reforms that manage to shorten the working hours for children
and women, in sanitation, about the sanitation of cities, the sanitation of houses
2. The fact that Britain was enjoying more prosperity: thanks to industrial capitalism, the living
conditions and the standards of life in England were better compared to what was available in other
countries or as they were 20 years before.
The Condition of England
The unrest for hash working conditions had effect in literature: we see the emergence of a particular type
of fictional novel called “the Condition of England”. English writers and thinkers expressed concerns
about social inequality, industrial capitalism and the condition of the working classes. Example:
Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Nicholas Nickleby), Elizabeth Gaskell
(North and South). This type of novel emerges out for 2 reasons:
• They felt that it was their duty to make readers (that was from middle class) aware of what was
happening because often they knew very little of what was happening to the lower classes
(particularly the working-class people).
• One of their most important goals was to prevent revolution from spreading and insurrection from
taking place because they were afraid that if the situation will not improve, there will be a global
insurrection, and they didn’t want that. So they try to convince middle class readers that it's better to
care for these people and help them: advocating for reforms and donating money to charity. This
term and condition of England (the definition) comes from Thomas Carlisle.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
By the time of the 1851 Great Exhibition held in Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace (built in Hyde Park),
England had entered a period of economic prosperity and industrial dominance. The Exhibition, had
been wanted by Prince Albert, was a symbol of national progress, showcasing technological innovation
and consumer goods from around the world. But in realty it was more a showcase of British
manufacturing and the celebration of the power of Britain as the leading country in technological
advancement. It projected an image of social harmony and imperial confidence, masking the social and
political tensions that had recently threatened national cohesion.
REFORMS.
First Reform Act (1832)
Before 1832, only really upper-class people could vote and sit in parliament, mainly from the aristocracy
and landowners (people who owned land, property).
With the act (still very imperfect) is significant because for the first time also people who are male
householder (people who have a house but not necessarily land or property) can get the right to vote:
now even middle-class people can get this right. After the 1832 Reform act, approximately 1 man in 5
gets the right to vote.
Second Reform Act (1867)
This extended the right to vote still farther down the class ladder to middle-class people, even some
working men (the condition was still about money) but also, for the first time, Irish men living and
working in England (developments in the relations Ireland-England).
After 1867, the man who could vote becomes 1 in 3.
This had a considerable impact on the structure of Victorian society: once you have more people entitled
to vote and be in Parliament, then it is easier to pass some acts that are important for the desires and
needs of the middle class (but maybe they are not important for the aristocracy).
,Education act (1870)
Establishes that education is mandatory (and free) for all children in Britain from the age of 5 to the age
of 12, boys and girls also.
In the beginning, there are some restrictions (in some cases there weren’t schools available in the
parish), but in a few years, more schools are built because many reformers are convinced that education
is important.
The fact that the education was also for girls had an impact on the later generation of women and even
women coming from very low social class could have some education and this would lead to have more
job opportunities. Before the education of the girls was left to the parents: if they wanted to educate
them, they could do that, but they had to pay for the education (for this reason, only a few families could
afford this) as Jane Austen (very open minded father happy that she write) and Mary Shelley.
This act was passed for 2 main reasons:
• Because of the extension in the electorate
• After the 1867 Reform Act, upper classes were a bit worried that the vote of so many people who
didn’t know anything about politics would be useless or dangerous for this reason they insisted that it
was duty of the state to educate children so they would vote more consciously.
CHARTISM AND THE PEOPLE'S CHURCH CHARTER.
Political movement that had tried to achieve the extension of the voting rights before but were
unsuccessful.
The name derives from what they were trying to be accepted and included in British politics.
They wanted:
• Abolition private property
• Male suffrage, not just subjected to wealth and land owning
• Same rights for all men
It was not successful because people were not ready for that: it was a kind of radical movement so
people were scared that if they had gained power, there would be a revolution or a total change in
structure.
WOMEN QUESTION.
“Angel in the house” and “domestic ideology”.
During the Victorian age we have many changes and transformations also related to the situation of
women.
The dominant “domestic ideology”, articulated by Stickney Ellis (1839), prescribed “separate spheres”:
men in the public world (work, politics) driven by self-interest; women in the home, spiritually pure,
selfless, and morally corrective. Men instead belong to: the outdoor world (business, competition,
aggression)
Duty of women: make sure that the home is a place of comfort and safety so that the energies of the man
can be restored, finding comfort before get out and fight other battle at work and in the life in general.
Coventry Patmore’s “The Angel in the House” idealized this vision. In this poem we find a strongly
patriarchal view about female morality.
In the poem it is taken for granted that women:
• Should have no aspirations in terms of education, but instead about take care of the home and
children
• Are all meek, beautiful, subservient and submissive
• Should be pure, have no sexual desires with the exception of reproduction
Instead, men should have more power and should exert power over women.
Girls’ education focused on domestic skills, limiting women’s ambitions.
“The angel in the house” is a phrase that is taken from the title of a long narrative poem by Coventry
Patmore (published the first time in 1854 and the second time in 1862).
, The angel in the House ideal divides women into two different categories:
1. Good women:
a. Chaste if not married, if the were married, they should be devoted to the family
b. With ideals like purity, virginity, motherhood, domestic chores
2. Evil or fallen women:
a. Sexual and seductress
b. Transgressive and dangerous
There was some space of admiration for women even if they weren’t conventionally pure and good.
It was a time when society was changing so fast that new opportunities were available, and many
women took those opportunities, including women writers.
Early literary responses included
• Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” – protested women’s limited education and dependence.
• Tennyson’s “The Princess” – through Princess Ida, argued that men and women rise or fall together
and called for reform.
Male allies also contributed:
• William Acton – published interviews with prostitutes to humanize them.
• George Drysdale – advocated for women’s sexual equality.
Married Women’s Property Act (1882)
Before this moment, if a woman had a property, a wealth and wasn’t married, the property would be
managed by the brother or the father (and when she got married, it passed to the husband).
The publishing of the Act:
• Made possible for women to inherit
• Changes the economic power of women giving more independence (a widow didn’t have to marry but
can manage what she has by herself)
New woman.
Starting from the 1880s, we have the emergence of a new figure, called “new woman”.
At first was a literary character that we could find in novels (doesn’t want to marry, focused on education
and wants to have a career), than can be found also in different types of texts (most typically in
newspaper articles, periodical articles), people start to discuss about “new women” and more and more
women in real life start to pursue different careers and explore different opportunities available to them
(even if they get married, still they want to receive more education or they want to work).
In British periodicals, some authors understand that this is something serious and interesting, but in
many cases, it becomes the target of satirical
attack.
In the last part of the 19th century, women achieve
more power through education and new job
opportunities:
• It is now easier and more common to have
women teachers
• Many professional woman writers: novelists,
journalists, reporters, social investigators
• More women get access to university education
• At the end of the 19th century, we have the very
earliest movements of suffragettes (activists
and militant that fight for achieve the right of
vote) and then they become particularly visible in the early 20th century. They became very famous
and represented the “new woman” (we have to wait until 1928 to have the right to vote for women in
Britain)
19th century is a period of huge transformation (like in housing and transport).
Someone defined it the “Long 19th century” because it keeps the focus on all 19th.
There are 2 ages during the 19th: Romantic age and Victorian age.
R OMANTIC AGE (1798-1832)
• The word “romantic” evoke romantic poetry
• Is an artistic movement very long in England (the movements accrued in different times in Europe: first
Germany, then England, for last Italy)
• The Romantic age began:
o For some people in 1789 with the French Revolution
o In realty it begins in 1798 with the publication of the “Lyrical ballads” (a collection of poems) by William
Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Are important the collection but also the preface because
(especially Wordsworth who is the main author) argues that a new kind of poetry is necessary: he
wants to introduce a different kind of poetry compared to what was available before.
Before romantic age Romantic age
Difficult language (language of erudition) Use more plain language (language of
ordinary people)
Poet used a lot of classical images Completely different approach to poetry
• All scholars agree that the Romantic Age finish in 1832. This is an important date for 2 main reasons:
o Is the year when Walter Scott dies. He was an important and renown author (extremely influencer
figure so when he died was an important moment); we remember him for his historical romances.
o Year of the First Reform Act which increases the number of people who get access to voting right
V ICTORIAN AGE (1837-1901):
• Is a term that is, technically speaking, historical but today is used more generally to speak also about
literature, novels, culture, authors, innovations.
• Dates: coronation Queen Victoria-when she died. She became queen at 18 years old, and her reign is the
second longest in the history of Britain. This is also a convenient date because we have the beginning of the
20th century.
• Example of author from the Victorian Age: Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Stevenson, Robert
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Tennyson.
SECTION 2. WHAT HAPPENED DURING VICTORIAN PERIOD?
HUNGRY 1840S
The Crimean War of 1854 revealed the instability of European politics and the failure of old powers to
maintain control.
While in Europe were violent revolution, England managed to avoid similar upheaval, although fears of
insurrection loomed large during the economically strained 1840s, often referred to as the “Hungry
Forties.”
During these years, there was the Irish Famine in 1846, that caused many deaths in Ireland and for this
reason, thousands of people moved from Ireland to the big cities of Britain like London, Manchester,
Birmingham: this caused overpopulation, bad harvests (and because of that the cost of food increased
enormously, particularly the cost of bread) and others problems.
Also, Britain was already in the middle of the Industrial Revolution and was growing a lot as an industrial
country, but the working conditions were extremely bleak, with long hours, very unsafe working
conditions and people were protesting against this.
Despite these conditions and widespread unrest, no large-scale revolution erupted in England. This is
often attributed to:
1. The nation’s gradual progress through legislative reform and economic expansion (perception that
people and the government wanted to do something to improve the situation).
, Indeed, during the 40s we have some reforms that manage to shorten the working hours for children
and women, in sanitation, about the sanitation of cities, the sanitation of houses
2. The fact that Britain was enjoying more prosperity: thanks to industrial capitalism, the living
conditions and the standards of life in England were better compared to what was available in other
countries or as they were 20 years before.
The Condition of England
The unrest for hash working conditions had effect in literature: we see the emergence of a particular type
of fictional novel called “the Condition of England”. English writers and thinkers expressed concerns
about social inequality, industrial capitalism and the condition of the working classes. Example:
Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Nicholas Nickleby), Elizabeth Gaskell
(North and South). This type of novel emerges out for 2 reasons:
• They felt that it was their duty to make readers (that was from middle class) aware of what was
happening because often they knew very little of what was happening to the lower classes
(particularly the working-class people).
• One of their most important goals was to prevent revolution from spreading and insurrection from
taking place because they were afraid that if the situation will not improve, there will be a global
insurrection, and they didn’t want that. So they try to convince middle class readers that it's better to
care for these people and help them: advocating for reforms and donating money to charity. This
term and condition of England (the definition) comes from Thomas Carlisle.
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
By the time of the 1851 Great Exhibition held in Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace (built in Hyde Park),
England had entered a period of economic prosperity and industrial dominance. The Exhibition, had
been wanted by Prince Albert, was a symbol of national progress, showcasing technological innovation
and consumer goods from around the world. But in realty it was more a showcase of British
manufacturing and the celebration of the power of Britain as the leading country in technological
advancement. It projected an image of social harmony and imperial confidence, masking the social and
political tensions that had recently threatened national cohesion.
REFORMS.
First Reform Act (1832)
Before 1832, only really upper-class people could vote and sit in parliament, mainly from the aristocracy
and landowners (people who owned land, property).
With the act (still very imperfect) is significant because for the first time also people who are male
householder (people who have a house but not necessarily land or property) can get the right to vote:
now even middle-class people can get this right. After the 1832 Reform act, approximately 1 man in 5
gets the right to vote.
Second Reform Act (1867)
This extended the right to vote still farther down the class ladder to middle-class people, even some
working men (the condition was still about money) but also, for the first time, Irish men living and
working in England (developments in the relations Ireland-England).
After 1867, the man who could vote becomes 1 in 3.
This had a considerable impact on the structure of Victorian society: once you have more people entitled
to vote and be in Parliament, then it is easier to pass some acts that are important for the desires and
needs of the middle class (but maybe they are not important for the aristocracy).
,Education act (1870)
Establishes that education is mandatory (and free) for all children in Britain from the age of 5 to the age
of 12, boys and girls also.
In the beginning, there are some restrictions (in some cases there weren’t schools available in the
parish), but in a few years, more schools are built because many reformers are convinced that education
is important.
The fact that the education was also for girls had an impact on the later generation of women and even
women coming from very low social class could have some education and this would lead to have more
job opportunities. Before the education of the girls was left to the parents: if they wanted to educate
them, they could do that, but they had to pay for the education (for this reason, only a few families could
afford this) as Jane Austen (very open minded father happy that she write) and Mary Shelley.
This act was passed for 2 main reasons:
• Because of the extension in the electorate
• After the 1867 Reform Act, upper classes were a bit worried that the vote of so many people who
didn’t know anything about politics would be useless or dangerous for this reason they insisted that it
was duty of the state to educate children so they would vote more consciously.
CHARTISM AND THE PEOPLE'S CHURCH CHARTER.
Political movement that had tried to achieve the extension of the voting rights before but were
unsuccessful.
The name derives from what they were trying to be accepted and included in British politics.
They wanted:
• Abolition private property
• Male suffrage, not just subjected to wealth and land owning
• Same rights for all men
It was not successful because people were not ready for that: it was a kind of radical movement so
people were scared that if they had gained power, there would be a revolution or a total change in
structure.
WOMEN QUESTION.
“Angel in the house” and “domestic ideology”.
During the Victorian age we have many changes and transformations also related to the situation of
women.
The dominant “domestic ideology”, articulated by Stickney Ellis (1839), prescribed “separate spheres”:
men in the public world (work, politics) driven by self-interest; women in the home, spiritually pure,
selfless, and morally corrective. Men instead belong to: the outdoor world (business, competition,
aggression)
Duty of women: make sure that the home is a place of comfort and safety so that the energies of the man
can be restored, finding comfort before get out and fight other battle at work and in the life in general.
Coventry Patmore’s “The Angel in the House” idealized this vision. In this poem we find a strongly
patriarchal view about female morality.
In the poem it is taken for granted that women:
• Should have no aspirations in terms of education, but instead about take care of the home and
children
• Are all meek, beautiful, subservient and submissive
• Should be pure, have no sexual desires with the exception of reproduction
Instead, men should have more power and should exert power over women.
Girls’ education focused on domestic skills, limiting women’s ambitions.
“The angel in the house” is a phrase that is taken from the title of a long narrative poem by Coventry
Patmore (published the first time in 1854 and the second time in 1862).
, The angel in the House ideal divides women into two different categories:
1. Good women:
a. Chaste if not married, if the were married, they should be devoted to the family
b. With ideals like purity, virginity, motherhood, domestic chores
2. Evil or fallen women:
a. Sexual and seductress
b. Transgressive and dangerous
There was some space of admiration for women even if they weren’t conventionally pure and good.
It was a time when society was changing so fast that new opportunities were available, and many
women took those opportunities, including women writers.
Early literary responses included
• Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” – protested women’s limited education and dependence.
• Tennyson’s “The Princess” – through Princess Ida, argued that men and women rise or fall together
and called for reform.
Male allies also contributed:
• William Acton – published interviews with prostitutes to humanize them.
• George Drysdale – advocated for women’s sexual equality.
Married Women’s Property Act (1882)
Before this moment, if a woman had a property, a wealth and wasn’t married, the property would be
managed by the brother or the father (and when she got married, it passed to the husband).
The publishing of the Act:
• Made possible for women to inherit
• Changes the economic power of women giving more independence (a widow didn’t have to marry but
can manage what she has by herself)
New woman.
Starting from the 1880s, we have the emergence of a new figure, called “new woman”.
At first was a literary character that we could find in novels (doesn’t want to marry, focused on education
and wants to have a career), than can be found also in different types of texts (most typically in
newspaper articles, periodical articles), people start to discuss about “new women” and more and more
women in real life start to pursue different careers and explore different opportunities available to them
(even if they get married, still they want to receive more education or they want to work).
In British periodicals, some authors understand that this is something serious and interesting, but in
many cases, it becomes the target of satirical
attack.
In the last part of the 19th century, women achieve
more power through education and new job
opportunities:
• It is now easier and more common to have
women teachers
• Many professional woman writers: novelists,
journalists, reporters, social investigators
• More women get access to university education
• At the end of the 19th century, we have the very
earliest movements of suffragettes (activists
and militant that fight for achieve the right of
vote) and then they become particularly visible in the early 20th century. They became very famous
and represented the “new woman” (we have to wait until 1928 to have the right to vote for women in
Britain)
