...society and was able to experience many of the benefits of the industrial revolution. Discuss. By the end of the nineteenth century, Britain experienced enormous industrial expansion, thereby creating an improvement in the lives of most of its people. The middle classes fare well by the opening of new opportunities in employment, residing, for the most part, in the new suburbs of the industrial cities and towns. They surrounded themselves with the clutter of possessions associated with a new consumer age. There were modest improvements in the working and living conditions of working class people, many of whom were drawn to the cities from rural areas in the hope of a better life. This essay will examine the conditions of life in late Victorian Britain in order to establish the extent of the benefits brought about by industrial transformation, insofar as they affected the lives of the different classes. In 1800, twenty five per cent of the population of England lived in the cities and towns. Within a period of eighty years this position was reversed. In 1850, the year of the Great Exhibition, which was a celebration of British industrial achievement, the ‘number of urban dwellers exceeded those who dwelt in the countryside’. The cities of Birmingham and Manchester more than doubled their populations between 1801 and 1831. The industrial revolution was synonymous with the cotton industry in the early part of the century. This was followed by the development of the coal...
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...In the late Victorian era when The Yellow Wallpaper was written, men essentially had complete power over their domestic space, even though women were in charge of running it. The Yellow Wallpaper clearly exemplifies the domesticity from the Victorian era and the roles women were placed in. However, the story shows a more extreme side through a treatment the narrator is placed under called “The Rest Cure”, which was a typical mental disorder-related treatment in the Victorian Era. In the short story, this is shown through the treatment of the narrator like a prisoner by her husband, John, in what is supposed to be her own domestic sphere, her being not allowed to perform even the domestic duties expected from women in that time period, making...
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...Victorian prisons and punishments The removal of a person’s freedom has been used since ancient history as a form of punishment. The Victorian period went through a lot of changes in how people were caught, arrested and charged. They were trying to find an efficient way to slow down the raising crime rates . The victorian era didn’t have any form of police. That is known today, it wasn’t until 1856 when they were finally introduced. Before then, most towns had an unpaid “policemen” known as parish to keep citizens in check. The first professional policeman, were set up in England was known as “Peelers” or “Bobbies” in 1829 by Robert Peel. “It was the start of a campaign to improve public law. Reform, however, it was slow because there was distrust of the police at all levels” (1). The first official police uniform had a long blue coat that came with a tall hard hat, that would protect them from blows to the head and could also be used as a step stool to look over walls . Their only weapon was a truncheon, and they would raise alarm or attention by shaking loud rattles. Even though the crime rate was rising faster than a skorn snake, most counties refused...
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...Britain, during the Victorian era, underwent many drastic and at times, rapid changes in the form of industrial revolution. By the later stages of the period Britain was in its last phases of acquiring one of the largest, wealthiest and influential empires in history and asserted itself as the world’s most powerful nation. However, while the country experienced large scale economic progress social complications such as poverty, inequality and exploitation soon followed. Historian Llewellyn Woodward, in The Age of Reform, (1815-1870) stated “England in 1871 was by no means an earthly paradise. The housing and conditions of life of the working class in town and country were still a disgrace to an age of plenty.” There was also a shift in ‘ideals’ as strict social codes were...
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...How are Victorian attitudes to marriage and respectability satirised in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’? Oscar Wilde uses the play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ to mock and ridicule the attitudes and popular conceptions towards marriage and respectability of the upper class in his own time which he believed to be purely superficial. Through the use of controversial satirical caricatures- in particular Lady Bracknell - Wilde often exaggerates behaviour and language when addressing the topic of marriage to instigate humour. The comedy which is thus generated by Wilde’s epigrams, stereotypes and heavy irony invites the audience to laugh at the ridiculousness of their own attitudes in order to teach them a moral lesson. Marriage has always been subject to the whims of fashion, but in Wilde’s era the problem as he saw it, was that marriage appeared to have lost any connection with love. The societal rules and rituals which had to be followed for the arrangement of a marriage were necessary to sustain or improve an individual’s social position; eligibility was determined by a thorough interrogation of an individual’s name, wealth, family background and rank. However it could be argued that far from pushing the boundaries in making the audience understand their shallow values in relation to marriage and respectability one of the huge structural ironies of the comedy is that all characters marry their social equals- whether this is because Wilde thinks that they deserve each other...
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...Representation of Victorian Values in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a well-renown novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1808. Stevenson was always fascinated with the idea of a split personality, so he includes this concept into the heart of his story. But despite the novel focusing on the de facto detective case of Mr. Hyde’s whereabouts and his connection with his polar opposite, Mr. Jekyll, the context presented in the plot and characters of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde criticizes the morality and respectability of Victorian values in the late nineteenth century. The book approaches this through its recurring themes of the upholding of one’s reputation, regression of thoughts and ideas beyond logic, and conflicting nature of duality. In the novel, both the main and supporting characters prioritize more in defending the reputation of themselves and their peers than taking the right course of action. This act confines with the principles of Victorian respectability in which preserving order, etiquette, and appearance was vital. An appropriate example of this sort of mentality is with Dr. Jekyll, one of the prominent characters of the book. The doctor holds a prestigious reputation and is well-respected by his friends and colleagues. When Jekyll throws a dinner party at random, background characters who live in the dark, fictitious setting of London attend in large numbers. However, when his reputation is put on...
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...accomplished many great things for the field of nursing. Her descriptions of nursing, health, environment, and humankind are remarkable and still true to this day. Nightingale reformed nursing and changed the way nursing was viewed. Some of the issues during Nightingale's time, the 1800's, we still face today. Nightingale not only impacted nursing in the 1800's, but also still has an effect on nursing today. We do not need a new role model and icon for nursing because Nightingale changed the nursing profession for the better and that should never be forgotten. Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy; thereby being named after the city where she was born. Her family was from England, and lived during the Victorian era. While touring Europe on their two-year long honeymoon, Nightingale was born. Her parents William Edward Nightingale and Frances Smith Nightingale were a very wealthy couple. Nightingale had a sister named Parthenope who was about a year older (Davis, 1999). William Nightingale was well educated, at Cambridge University in England and he taught his daughters at home. William Nightingale taught his daughters to speak Italian, Latin, and, Greek. He also taught them history, philosophy, and math; math was one of Florence's favorite subjects to study (Audian, 1999). Florence's father gave her the education equivalent to an upper class boy during her era. Parthenope rejected her education and joined her mother in domestic activities, whereas...
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...REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction We are facing the revolutionary era of shifting health concept and promoting health behavior through multi-influencing factors includes technological advancement and media. More people are aware of the benefits of physical fitness, good nutrition, stress management, and avoidance of health hazards such as smoking and are striving for the optimal health while this world becomes more inter-connected and inevitably each individual is influenced by health-environments of all individuals worldwide (Edelman, 2010). Definition of Health Promotion Americans are acutely aware of the importance of health promotion achieved by positive health behavior and attempt to improve the health status traditionally focused on reducing disease such as communicable disease. The change is affecting all levels; individuals, groups, community, institutions and government. Our challenge lies to improve access to the care and reduce cost of health services and to improve the quality of life to maintain optimum state of healthy life style for everyone which signifies for the new definition of health promotion. Purpose of Health Promotion The purpose of health promotion is to positively influence the health behavior of individuals and communities to increase the span of healthy life for Americans, reduce health disparities among Americans, achieve access to preventive services for all Americans Health promotion improves quality life of all people and reduces premature...
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...The play, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is a comedy of manners because it mocks and ridicules the wealthy Victorian society of the mid 1800’s. Wilde uses witty dialouge and twists to create the ridiculous and outlandish plot. Although the play may be light hearted and often funny there is some depth and social commentary about marriage, education, and society. Act I begins in modern day London (1895) the play opens with the lighthearted and well-to-do bachelor Algernon Moncrieff awaiting the arrival of his aunt, Lady Bracknell and cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax for a meal at his flat. Unexpectedly, his good friend, Ernest Worthing drops by to visit. Ernest announces to Algernon that he is going to ask for Gwendolen’s hand in marriage but before Algernon gives him his approval he mentions a mysterious inscription on Ernest’s cigarette case that says “From little Cecily with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack”(1601). Algernon demands to know who “Jack” and “Cecily” are. Ernest admits his real name is Jack and Ernest is the name of his fictional troublesome brother who he uses as an excuse to visit the city and Cecily is Jack’s ward that lives with him in the country. Algernon then confesses he is also a “Bunburyist”, (a name he has given to someone that leads a double life) and he often uses his invalid friend Bunbury as an excuse to leave his social obligations in the city. After a brief conversation between Jack and Algernon Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen arrive...
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...“How do you see the role of the Registered nurse change over the next ten years?” The nursing profession has a long history of being undervalued and has faced many challenges in regards to professional status, wages and working conditions. These challenges have been fairly constant and all the while, nurses have been fighting to enhance nursing skills and roles, while also maintaining the core nursing values. This research aims to identify the future of the registered nurse and how this may be expected to change over the next ten years; in order to do this it will explore the past history of nursing, their working conditions, challenges and achievements. Following this brief historical overview , a detailed view of modern day nursing will be the key focus of the paper, with particular relation to the latest professional battle of the 2012 Enterprise bargaining agreement and the Australian government’s planned policies for Australian nurses and what this means for their future. Nursing began in the homes of families as an intuitive and untaught way of caring for sick family members, with the role being given to women based on their care experience and observation. Throughout the dark and middle ages (500 AD to 1400 AD) this ‘care’ later developed a religious aspect, and nursing became an expression of Christianity and seen as ‘acts of mercy’ (D’antonio 2007). This ‘care’ aspect of practice still exists strongly in modern nursing today. However, the nursing reputation took...
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...VICTORIAN POETS by Viktoria Andujar Its very tough to pick two Victorian novelists to write about because they’re all so beautiful. Alas I must though and I picked Elizabeth Browning and Charles Dickens because they were the most impactful Victorian era male and female poets. I will be talking about their lives and their literature. I hope this essay will be much informative of the two. Now Charles Dickens took life in his story way beyond more than just imagining it. He talks about the sounds, smells of what he wrote about. Charles Dickens is one of the most famous poets of this time period. He wrote famous novels called Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield. Dickens full name is Charles John Huffam Dickens and born on...
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...science Amongst all the glorious achievements of Queen Victoria's reign, the wonderful discoveries in science must ever claim a foremost place. Thrilling indeed are the stories of this scientific age, breathless the rapidity with which one after another burst upon the public mind, changing old-world customs, transforming time-worn ideas, and revolutionizing the thought of centuries. The name of Herschel calls up the vision of a man who, during the nineteenth century, devoted his life to the study of the heavens. The very year of the Queen's accession, Sir John Herschel, with his great telescope at the Cape, was sweeping the heavens for stars and planets; and his Handbook, published in 1838, told the grand story of a solar system travelling through endless space. Among his other achievements he had named some 250 minor planets, and classified 5,000 clusters of little stars. SIR JOHN HERSCHEL. | While developments were taking place in the telescope and spectroscope, the discovery of photography brought these observations into the realm of fact. By means of this new art the heavens could be photographed, and true pictures of the relative sizes of sun, moon, and stars were presented to the world at large. The discoveries of Professor Tyndall on the subject of radiant heat became known in 1863, when one of the foremost men of science, Sir William Thomson (afterwards Lord Kelvin), was using his experiments in electricity for practical ends. PROFESSOR TYNDALL. | One...
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...The rise of the Victorian novel in nineteenth century England is often associated with social changes and reform. The narrowing gap between the aristocratic and middle classes and the deplorable conditions of the working class provided ample material for Victorian novelists to develop plots exploring social concerns and often providing useful commentary. Following the French Revolution, England showed a remarkable social plasticity predicated by the Magna Carta and the Bloodless Revolution. While France’s working class built up a storm of vengeful justice toward the aristocracy unleashed on Bastille Day, England’s aristocracy incrementally relinquished political power to the people, thereby avoiding much of the calamity seen during the 1780s...
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...promote, or control sexuality. Sexuality is a part of our humanity in which defines sex, gender identities, gender roles, sexual orientation, pleasure, intimacy, and instigates procreation. Though, sexuality is experienced and expressed through thoughts, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, roles, behaviours, and relationships; it is greatly influenced by societies, cultures, historical perspectives, religious perspectives, biological forces, psychological theories, ethics, morals, and legal factors. In the United States, known as the “melting pot” because of the mass amounts of cultural influences brought in by immigrants worldwide that now reside on its land; one of the biggest concerns in regards to sexuality are the social and public health challenges that influence sexual behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs. Sexual behavior in not just a personal matter between two people, but rather a theme that can affect society in terms of social expectations for sexual behaviors, gender identity, roles, stereotypes, and bias. Social Expectations on Sexual Behaviors “Sexuality is an important part of our lives” (King, 2012, p.1), currently and amongst the generations before us. Throughout history, sexual behaviours have been largely influenced by culture, religion, and historical perspectives which in turn created social expectations or social norms. Social expectations vary from culture to culture as well as within subcultures. “These cultural practices, values, norms, and traditions...
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...fictional and they are both from different time periods. The Woman in White is an earlier example of the detective genre as it uses Victorian characters whereas The Lady in the Lake comes from the 1940’s of America which is a hardboiled detective style. The context is established through mood, setting and atmosphere by Collins and introduces the novel by using this technique. The mood at the time is pointed out on the first line and it gives us a view of women and men in that era. We see this when it says ‘what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what a man’s resolution can achieve’. The word ‘endure’ when describing women shows that they had to go through tough times and lived a passive lifestyle. The word ‘achieve’ when describing men shows that they had success and had an active lifestyle which sums up the time period as men were the dominant gender. The context is shown again which again sums up the era when it says ‘pre-engaged servant of the long purse’ which I said when describing the law and the court which shows the richer you were the more likely you’d get away with committing a crime as they were helped and if you were poor you were looked down on and treated like a criminal for just being poor. Towards the end of the first page the context is summed up very quickly in a small section which gives the feel of a heavy atmosphere. ‘Out of health’ ‘out of spirits’ ‘out of money’ – these are all said in one line create a depressing mood which gives the feeling of relation to...
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