The Victorian Period

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The Victorian Period

• 1830-1901

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What kind of a world is this?
When a woman entered a room, it was considered
rude for a man to offer his seat to her because
the cushion might still be warm. People thought
food digested better in the dark, so a dining
room located in the basement was considered the
best spot in which to eat. A glance into a
bedroom was considered improper if viewed by a
visitor, so bedrooms were located on the second
floor. People were shy about having water
closets, so they disguised fixtures as dressers
and cabinets. Tubs were enclosed in wooden boxes
that resembled large chests. People went to great
lengths to hide toilets from view. In some
homes, they were behind a curtain or screen, or
even in a room of their own. Children rarely saw
their parents. A special trip was made to the
nursery each evening, and the visit lasted about
an hour. Women made pictures, wreaths, and
bouquets from their own hair or the hair of a
family member to be framed and displayed in the
parlour. Some rocking chairs were designed to
disguise a chamber pot. People had to be careful
not to rock too quickly! A lot of men used
macassar oil to slick back their hair.
Crocheted doilies, called antimacassars, were put
over the backs of chairs to keep this grease from
staining the furniture. For a lady to show her
ankles was considered very risqué!
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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.

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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

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The Early Victorian Period1830-1848

• Railways became incredibly important,
  transforming Englands landscape.
• Voting reforms
• Rampant poverty and unemployment
• Poor working conditions for women and children
• Rioting

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The Mid-Victorian Period1848-1870

• A time of prosperity
• A time of improvement
• A time of stability
• A time of optimism

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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

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The British Empire

• 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.
• The sun never sets on the British empire

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The Late Victorian Period1870-1901

• Decay of Victorian values
• British imperialism
• Boer War
• Irish question
• Germany and U.S. become major world powers
• Economic depression led to mass immigration

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Women in Victorian Society

• Women were the heart of the home
• Women joined the work force
• Low-class/middle class women had very few job
  prospects
• 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
• First womens college established1848

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The Role of Science

• Science became a challenge to the religious norms
• Thomas Huxley believed science the key to
  happiness
• Charles Darwin Origin of the Species

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The Role of Sex

• Victorian society refused to acknowledge
  sexuality in any way
• Prostitution was rampant
• Syphilis was rampant
• Doctors used sexual treatments to cure women of
  hysteria

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The Victorian Novel

• The novel was the dominant form in Victorian
  literature.
• Victorian novels are realistic.
• The protagonists search for fulfillment is
  emblematic of the human condition.
• The Victorian novel was a principal form of
  entertainment.

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Victorian Novelists

• Victor Hugo Les Miserables
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• introduced detective stories
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• Lewis Carroll
• heavy drug addict, collected pictures of
  young girls
• Alice in Wonderland meant as a political
  satire
• Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace
• Rudyard Kipling The Jungle Book, Kim
• Charles Dickens
• paid by the word
• Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities,
  Oliver Twist

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Victorian Poetry

• Poets sought new ways of telling stories in verse
• Dramatic monologue the idea of creating a lyric
  poem in the voice of a speaker ironically
  distinct from the poet is the great achievement
  of Victorian poetry.

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Victorian Poets

• Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• Lady of Shalott
• Matthew Arnold
• Dover Beach
• Robert Browning
• My Last Duchess
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Songs of the Portugeuse

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Victorian Drama

• The theater was a flourishing and popular
  institution during the Victorian period.
• Primarily comic

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Victorian Playwrights

• Oscar Wilde
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• put on trial for homosexuality
• George Bernard Shaw
• Man and Superman
• Pygmalion
• had a 50 year love affair with a woman he never
  met