The Victorian Period

1832-1901

(Lit Book pg. 783)

Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

• Became queen at age 18 after the death of her uncle William IV

• Reigned from 1837-1901 (longest reigning British monarch)

• Married first cousin Albert, had 9 children, 42 grandchildren (“the Grandmother of Europe”)

• Had few actual powers (Britain was now a constitutional monarchy)

• A national icon, identified with strict standards of personal morality.

1838

1882

The British Empire at its Peak

I. Relative Peace and Economic Growth• The Industrial Revolution caused the middle class

to grow – increases in production, towns, wealth, jobs, goods;

and expansion in middle class’ social and political influence.

II. The Idea of Progress• Thomas Macaulay and the Victorian middle class

defined progress as material improvement (counted and measured)– paved/lit streets, clean city, sober police force,

numbered houses, literate citizens.

III. The “Hungry Forties”• Queen Victoria's first decade of rule called the “Hungry Forties”

because it was a period of economic depression (1.5 million unemployed!).

• The working conditions for children in the 1840s were terrible: 12 hour days, 6 day weeks, dangerous/mangling machines, coal mines.

• London was an unpleasant city during the 1840s. There was mass amounts of growth/overpopulation: unpaved streets, pollution, the Thames full of industrial waste, sewage, run-off from graveyards (ewww).

• Ireland in the 1840s was suffering from the potato famine: a million deaths, two million immigrations (to England, U.S., others).

IV. The Movement for Reform• Some negative effects of Industrialization including

rallies/riots, high prices (controlled by government), pollution, overpopulation of cities, etc.

• Some positive results of industrialization meant better material condition of social classes: 1. drop in food prices 2. improved diet3. factories and railroads = cheap postage, newspapers,

furniture, clothing, travel• All men were allowed to vote in 1867.• All women (over 30) were allowed to vote 1918.• Everyone over 21 in 1928.• Children's lives were also improved by reforms: work day

limited to 10 (!) hours (with a half day on Saturday); education improved (made mandatory, then free).

V. Decorum and Authority• The Victorian middle class's focus concerning behavior

and morals:o some ideas (sex, death, birth) glossed over, not spoken about o powerful ideas about authority o obsession with gentility and decorum

• The realities of the lives of middle class women were still pretty bad: o subject to male authority o expected to marry/run the homeo unmarried working-class women could become servants,

middle class unmarried women could be governesses or teachers

o many left unmarried when men delayed marriage for financial success

VI. Intellectual Progress• Advances were made in the sciences,

including beginning to understand the earth/its living creatures: o Geology : rocks and fossils o Biology: theory of evolution (Darwin)

• Industrial England depended on and supported science and technology (such as chemistry and engineering).

VII. Questions and Doubts• Victorian writers expressed doubts:

o Does material comfort fully satisfy human needs and wishes?

o Are we rightly perceiving the universe? o They also questioned the idea of exploiting

the earth and mocked codes of decorum/authority• Charles Dickens portrayed the lives of decent people

with happy endings, things usually working out. However, decent people often neglected, abused, and/or exploited.

• Dickens attacked the hollowness, glitter, superficiality, and excesses of the Victorians' lives.

XII. Victorian Drama• Oscar Wilde and George Bernhard Shaw were influenced by a

world-turned-on-its-head view of life, irreverent ridicule.• Drama was moving towards realism during this time.• Changes were occurring in the theater:

o smaller, more modern theaterso apron removed o gaslight (then electricity)

• These changes allowed for smaller, more realistic dramas (audience views action through “fourth wall,” illusion of reality).