Few who will read these pages have any conception of what these pestilential human rookeries are, where tens of thousands are crowded together amidst horrors which call to mind what we have heard of the middle passage of the slave ship. Chaucer’s Age witnessed three kings-Edward III, Richard II and Henry IV; It was the midsummer of English chivalry, which is portrayed in Chaucer’s ‘Knightes Tales’ dealing with … The crinoline thrived, and expanded during the 50’s and 60’s, and into the 70’s, until, at last, it gave way to the bustle. However, these changes were not always positive. Key political and social themes. They built their houses quickly and cheaply, often without facilities such as bathrooms and toilets. This often meant that one family had to make do without an easily accessible supply of drinking water. Sep. Share. Answer: The Victorian era is generally agreed to stretch through the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Salient features of the Victorian age… The industrial revolution, the railway age, steam engines were being used in mines, factories and ships. This idea (and its development later in Mill's book Utilitarianism, 1863) was a relatively new way of deciding what was right politically. They also examined solutions to the problems. Social, Political, Literary and Religious condition during Chaucer’s Age. Victoria’s reign (1827-1901) was an age of important reforms in the political and social fields. More on utilitarian ‘happiness': ‘Happiness' was difficult to define in this context: It did not mean a temporary personal emotion but people's well-being or advantage, It was argued that obeying laws brought happiness, and therefore to obey laws welcomed by a large number of people was to multiply happiness, The utilitarian principle still underlies all democratic law to some extent, insofar as laws reflect the will of Parliament, which represents the people and therefore can claim to enact laws that promote the greatest happiness of the greatest possible number. Things gradually improved, but conditions remained bad well into the 20th century. The social classes of England were newly reforming, and fomenting. Families relying on an income from casual work could only afford basic accommodation. Analyze Shakespeare’s treatment of comedy and tragic-comedy. Contrasting to that was the horrible reality of child labor which persisted throughout the period. Even a cursory glance at the history of the early Victorian … Their routine work was fulfilled by the lower class people. The “prudishness” and “repressiveness” that we associate with this era is, I believe, a somewhat erroneous association. The Dress of the early Victorian era was similar to the Georgian age. To get into them you have to penetrate courts reeking with poisonous and malodorous gases arising from accumulations of sewage and refuse scattered in all directions and often flowing beneath your feet; courts, many of them which the sun never penetrates, which are never visited by a breath of fresh air, and which rarely know the virtues of a drop of cleansing water. Her first published poems, which appeared in journals in 1821–24, were written about the ongoing Greek War of Independence (1821–32) and particularly celebrated Byron’s part in the … The social changes during the Victorian era were wide-ranging and fundamental, leaving their mark not only upon the United Kingdom but upon much of the world which was under Britain's influence during the 19th century. 0 Ratings 0 Want to read The clean shaven look of the Regency was out, and mustaches, mutton-chop sideburns, Piccadilly Weepers, full beards, and Van Dykes (worn by Napoleon III) were the order of the day. It has a continuous history from earliest Christianity. He argued that the rightness of laws should be tested by the extent to which they promoted the greatest happiness of the greatest possible number. The bustle held its own until the 1890’s, and became much smaller, going out altogether by the dawning of the twentieth century. The social classes of this era included the Upper class, Middle class, and lower class. The Victorian Era in Britain was dominated by the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This class further got sub divided in three parts as below – 1. It was, indeed, the precursor of the modern era. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. Throughout the century, it was stylish for men to wear facial hair of all sizes and descriptions. Those who were fortunate enough to be in the Upper class did not usually p… Period: Jul 6, ... William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. The world of Victorian writers 1837 - 1901, The world of Shakespeare and the Metaphysical poets 1540-1660, Romantic poets, selected poems: context links, Thomas Hardy, selected poems: context links, Text specific further reading and resources, Social, political and economic characteristics of Victorian Britain, The need for schooling and the care of orphans and other deprived children, Cruelty to children and the corruption of children by criminals, The problems created by emphasis on social class and newly acquired wealth. There was a churning upheaval of the old hierarchical order, and the middle classes were steadily growing. There continued to be a large and generally disgruntled working class, wanting and slowly getting reform and change. Conditions of the working class were still bad, though, through the century, three reform bills gradually gave the vote to most males over the age of twenty-one. Without a doubt, it was an extraordinarily complex age that has sometimes been called the Second English Renaissance. For men, following Beau Brummell’s example, stove-pipe pants were the fashion at the beginning of the century. 4 5. he Victorian Age History and Culture Queen Victoria When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837,shewasjust18yearsold.Shewastorule for almost 64 years and gave her name to an age of economic and scientiic progress and social reforms. Their ties, known then as cravats, and the various ways they might be tied could change, the styles of shirts, jackets, and hats also, but trousers have remained. As stated in the beginning, the Victorian Age was an extremely diverse and complex period. Answer: The Victorian era is generally agreed to stretch through the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Victorian Britain is often described as an age of dawning democracy and as an exemplar of the modern Liberal state; yet a hereditary monarchy, a hereditary House of Lords, and an established Anglican Church survived as influential aspects of national public life with traditional elites assuming redefined roles.After … It can even be argued that these changes eclipsed the massive shifts in society during the 20th century; … • Liberalism was the political philosophy which inspired both the Tory and the Whigs parties during the Victorian Age. Many people believed that Britain was leading the world into a new and better age: The benefits of wealth created through industrial development. The Second Reform Act, passed in 1867, widened the electorate to include any man who either owned a house or paid rent of more than £10 a year, and also gave the vote to rural men owning very small parcels of land. The people under this class did not work manually. In the political area, it was abundantly evident that women continued to rank as second class citizens. VICTORIAN VALUES The Victorians were great moralisers. Traditionally, the Victorian people simply accepted the social class that they were … That line gets at the heart of 19th-century British soci… They promoted a code of values based on personal duty, hard work, respectability and charity. The daily needs and problems of ordinary people included: poverty, poor housing, ill health, a horrifying level of child mortality, hunger, long hours of grinding labour. THE VICTORIAN AGE. You have to ascend rotten staircases, which threaten to give waybeneath every step….You have to grope your way along dark and filthy passages swarming with vermin. The desire for change was reflected by the activity of Parliament in the second quarter of the 19th Century: The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 removed most of the legal disadvantages suffered by Roman Catholics, The 1832 Reform Act enabled more men to vote but electors still had to possess a minimum amount of property before they could exercise this right, There were several Factory Acts that - among other things - limited the hours children were allowed to work, In 1834, the new Poor Law set up the notorious workhouses, where the poor were sent to work for their board and lodging. Victorian era, in British history, the period between approximately 1820 and 1914, corresponding roughly but not exactly to the period of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837–1901) and characterized by a class-based society, a growing number of people able to vote, a growing state and economy, and Britain’s status as the most … But the public sought more sexual, religious and political freedom. In History. The Time 1830s and 1840s in the Victorian era was marked by unemployment, poverty, rioting, slums in large cities and the working conditions for women and children were terrible. Historical background. The social focus of many Victorian novels posed key moral and social questions about issues such as: Strong moral and religious reasons were put forward in favour of legal changes to improve society: Perhaps the most important moral argument came in Jeremy Bentham's writing on the principle of utilitarianism. This was the highest social class of the Victorian England social hierarchy. During the Victorian era, Britain could claim to be the world's superpower, despite social inequality at home and burgeoning industrial rivals overseas. After the repeal of the Corn Laws (1846) there was a period, not ending until the election of 1868, when politics tended to consist of a series of temporary alliances between splinter groups and no single group could guarantee its extended control over the House of Commons : the golden age of the private member, a condition rendering active political … British manufacturing became dominant in the world and trade and the financial sectoralso grew significantly 2. It was a time of prosperity, broad imperial expansion, and great political … Like millions of working … The rapid changes of the time benefited some people long before others. These revealed the full extent of the plight of thepoor. How did it happen? Added to that, the upper classes’ composition was changing from simply hereditary aristocracy to a combination of nobility and an emerging wealthy commercial class. The latest biographies of Queen Victoria describe her and her husband, Albert, of enjoying erotic art, and certainly we know enough about the Queen from the segment on her issue, to know that she did not in any way shy away from the marriage bed. All of these changes brought to the fore what Victorians called The Women Question, which concerned issues of sexual inequality in politics, economic life, education, and social intercourse. It is, however, also the beginning of Modern Times. Victorian … It was a tremendously exciting period when many artistic styles, literary schools, as well as, social, political and religious movements flourished. There were sharp distinctions between men's and women's rights during this era; men were allotted more stability, financial status, and power over their homes and women. Following the materialist conception of history, class struggle and conflict persist as to improve the prevailing and fragmented condition of the society. 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