The Victorian Era

1837

1842

1847

1848

1850

Victorian Timeline

Victoria inherited the throne from William IV

The Mines Act stopped children under 10 from working in mines

Factory Act limited the working day of children aged 13-18 to 1'0 hours

Marx and Engles issued "Communist Manifesto"

Workhouses hopened to help people who had no money: they were given food and a bed in exchange of their work

1851

The Great Exhibition opened at The Crystal Palace

Crimean War: Britain and France against Russia

1854-6

Indian Ribellion (The Government of India Act)

1858

1859

Darwin, "On the Origin of Species"

1876

Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India

The Education Act

1891

Free Education for every child aged 5-13

Queen Victoria died and her son, Edward VII became king

1880

1901

"

The sun never sets on England

"

The Victorian Era

• The period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901, overlapping the first part of the Belle Époque.

• Characterised by:

a. peace among the Great Powers, thanks to the supremacy of the English Royal Navy. b. increased economic activity; England dominated the Global Trade. c. refined sensibilities. d. national self confidence for Great Britain. e. Romantic view of religion, social values, and arts. f. Liberal political agenda with two great parties: Liberals and Conservatives. g. Industrial and political reforms. h. Population growth in England, Wales, and Scotland, while the population of Ireland decreased due to the Great Famine and emigration.

The Industrial Revolution (1760 - 1820/1840)

• Began in Great Britain, thanks to its developed trade and its rise in business.

• Transition to new manufacturing processes, from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, with the increasing use of steam power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system.

• Important developments in transportation and communication began to appear.

• Textiles were the dominant industry, and the first to use modern production methods, such as the spinning Jenny.

• Almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way (like average income, population growth, but it also caused a lot of poverty and the increase of child labour)

Life In The Victorian Era

• The Victorian Era saw a quick growth in the number of people living in the city, everyone, including children, in desperate need for work: this justified low wages and horrible working and living conditions, with overcrowded situations and slum housing.

• Many people died because of starvation and destitution, leaving a lot of children homeless and living on the streets, and causing them to turn to stealing.

• Many desperate women turned to prostitution, which became known as "The Great Social Evil".

• Because of all the social unrest, poverty, and injustice, the Victorians felt obliged to create a strict code of values which reflected the world as they wanted it to be.

The Social Class

• The Victorian society was divided into nobility Upper Class, Middle Class, and the Working Class.

• The Upper Class was in a powerful position giving them authority, better living conditions, better education, and other facilities; it was by inheritance a Royal Class: they lead a luxurious life without the need to work, although many managed large industries.

• The Middle Class was the next in social ranking: the Victorian period was very prosperous for the middle class, that began to own and manage vast business empire. Although at the beginning the population of the middle class was limited to a few, the Industrial Revolution opened the doors for more job opportunities and ways to earn a decent living.

• The Working Class was the lowest among the social hierarchy. This class remained aloof to the political progress of the country and was hostile to the other two classes. This working class was further categorised as the skilled workers and the unskilled workers: while in the revolution, the industrial workers got jobs and improved their living conditions, the unskilled workers were placed below the skilled ones and remained unemployed and to exploitation.

Developments In Science And Technology

• Photography .

• Telegraph, telephone, cars, aircraft .

• Sewage system and water pipes in London .

• Water supply and gas network for heating and lighting .

• Study of natural history (On the Origins of Species, Darwin) .

• Steam ships, and steam trains on railway lines.

Health And Medicine

• LIFE EXPECTANCY The middle class men in this era could live, on average, to 45, while the workmen had the half of that time, and the children were lucky to survive their fifth birthdays.

• THE MIASMA THEORY People believed that the bad smells caused diseases, because in the poor districts, the air was bad, and people died almost every day. In the rich suburbs, there were no bad smells, therefore there was no disease. The Parliament started to worry about this after the ‘Great Stink’ in 1858, when the Thames flowed with undiluted sewage.

• KILLER DISEASES There were terrible epidemics of cholera between 1832 and 1853, probably caused by the water of the Thames. Also, there were tuberculosis outbreaks, that killed every person it touched.

• BIRTH RATE There was no extensive use of condoms, and the Coitus interruptus were the main method of limitation. Also, childbirth was risky and painful, at least until Dr. John Snow proposed the chloroform.

Entertainment

• People (mostly men) used to play poker, whatever their income was. This made the family make an extra effort to preserve what they had. They also played outdoor games like shooting, cricket, tennis, rugby or fishing.

• There were activities like cricket, singing or dancing, that men and women could do together.

• Rich people entartained themselves in visiting circuses full of animals, and people with deformations and rare medical conditions, or simply a rare appearance, outcasted from society

Religion

• A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY Although in the Victorian Ages England was a Christian country, there was a great amount of Jews in Britain, due to their persecution in Europe.

• EXPANDING THE CHURCH At the beginning of the century, there was a lack of parishes, that meant that the Church was poorly represented in England’s new manufacturing cities. The government voted to spend £1 million in churches, producing an enthusiasm for building or restoring the churches.

The Victorian Novel

• Victorian literature was long and complicated, with lots of descriptions and expositions, with lots of central characters. The novels had a chronological structure, and the character’s analysis was extenze.

• The major authors of this era were:
• Jane Austen, with Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.
• The three Brönte sisters, Charlotte with her Jane Eyre; Emily with Wuthering Heights; and Anne, with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, less known than her sister’s novels.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holme’s adventures.
• Charles Dickens, with his novel Oliver Twist.

Women In Victorian Culture

• Depending of which their social status was, women’s roles varied.

• The women who belonged to the nobility class enjoyed a life of luxuries. These women spent most of the time attending tea parties and balls, riding horses, or knitting and they had several attendants that looked after them. They were supposed to be highly educated.

• Women who were in the middle class weren’t as rich as the nobles, but they tried uniting with them. They were expected to be educated, help in the family business, and try to get married with a noble man. Mostly of these women were employed as nurses, or ended up writing.

• Finally, the women in the lower class, who came from extreme poverty, couldn’t expect more than becoming prostitutes or laborers.

• The only duty expected from women in this era was to stay home, keep their husband happy, and to raise the children in the way they were raised in their childhood. But their rights were the same than the children they were raising. They hadn’t virtually any rights: they couldn’t vote, sue, or even own any property.

Literacy And Publication

• Literacy High prices of paper and ink caused the fall of the number of people who could read and write.

• Literacy ended up raising due to the heavier emphasis put on education.

• Publication In the 1830s and 1840s a new form of printed text emerged: a lengthy prose fiction serialised in weekly parts. These were usually stories involving adventure or Gothic-like elements. Many had no planned, pre-written end; they just continued until the public were no longer interested in the story. Increased production of this sort could only be supported by an increasingly literate population.

1837

1842

1847

1848

1850

Victorian Timeline

Victoria inherited the throne from William IV

The Mines Act stopped children under 10 from working in mines

Factory Act limited the working day of children aged 13-18 to 1'0 hours

Marx and Engles issued "Communist Manifesto"

Workhouses hopened to help people who had no money: they were given food and a bed in exchange of their work

1851

The Great Exhibition opened at The Crystal Palace

Crimean War: Britain and France against Russia

1854-6

Indian Ribellion (The Government of India Act)

1858

1859

Darwin, "On the Origin of Species"

1876

Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India

The Education Act

1891

Free Education for every child aged 5-13

Queen Victoria died and her son, Edward VII became king

1880

1901