Victorian Era: Society, Culture, and Industrialization
Victorian Era (1837-1901)
A Time of Transition and Transformation
The Victorian Age, spanning from 1837 to 1901, was a period of significant transition for England. Thanks to advancements in industry and trade, England became a wealthy nation and an unchallenged military power. Britain dominated global trade and expanded its colonial empire to India, Australia, Africa, and Brazil.
The Industrial Revolution’s Impact
England was the first country to experience the Industrial Revolution. Factories were founded, and mass production became increasingly important and profitable. Railways, canals, and steamships provided efficient transportation between Britain and its colonies. However, this era also saw the rise of urbanization, poverty, and child labor.
Key Features of the Victorian Era
- Colonial Expansion: The expansion and consolidation of the British Empire through imperialism.
- Utilitarianism: The belief that if something is useful, it is good.
- Migration and Urbanization: A significant migration from rural areas to towns occurred. Towns struggled to absorb the high number of people, leading to widespread poverty.
- Difficult Working Conditions: Many factories were built, but working conditions were very harsh.
- Child Labor: Children had to work long hours under difficult conditions to help support their families, often as chimney sweepers or coal miners.
- Housing Crisis: Due to overcrowding, housing became scarce and expensive, forcing many people into slum housing.
- Destitution and Homelessness: Many cases of death caused by starvation and destitution were reported. Numerous homeless children lived on the streets of London, often resorting to theft and viewed as threats to society.
- Prostitution: Beginning in the 1840s, major news organizations, clergymen, and single women became increasingly concerned about prostitution, which came to be known as “The Great Social Evil.”
A Complex and Contradictory Society
The Victorian Age was complex, characterized by stability, progress, and social reform, but also by significant problems such as poverty, injustice, and social unrest. Victorians felt obliged to promote a rigid set of values that reflected the world as they wanted it to be, often leading to hypocrisy.
Social Structure
Victorian society was rigidly stratified, with a clear hierarchy:
- Monarch and Royal Family
- Aristocracy
- Upper Middle Class
- Middle Class
- Lower Middle Class
- Working Class
- Marginal Classes
Science, Technology, and Medicine
Significant developments occurred in science and technology, including photography, the telegraph, automobiles, sewage systems, water pipes, water supply, and gas networks. Medicine also progressed, with ether, chloroform, and nitrous oxide used as anesthesia. However, diseases like cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis were widespread. Herbal medicine remained a common cure for the poor.
Women in Victorian Culture
The first women’s college was established in 1848 in London. The changing conditions of women’s work, created by the Industrial Revolution, were often harsh. Underemployment drove thousands of women into prostitution. The prevailing societal attitude confined women to the household, but these attitudes also gave birth to feminism.
Major Authors and Their Works
- Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness
- Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland
- Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility
- Elizabeth Gaskell: Cranford
Characteristics of the Victorian Novel
- Effects of realism
- The main theme is often the individual’s place in society, the desire for love or social position
- An impulse to describe everyday life
- Focus on moral and theological absolutes
- Strict rules in society
- Chronological structure
- Detailed descriptions of main characters
- Closed form, with a final chapter explaining and justifying the events