...home all day to oversee the domestic duties in the reign of Queen Victoria. A woman's place was in the home, as domesticity and motherhood were considered by society at large to be a sufficient emotional and economic fulfillment for females. These constructs kept women far away from the public sphere in most ways, but during the 19th century charitable missions did begin to extend the female role of service, and Victorian feminism emerged as a potent political force. The transformation of Britain into an industrial nation due to the industrialization had profoundly influenced the ways in which women were to be believed ideally in Victoria times. Newly emerged urban jobs formed an urban living style that no one had lived before, it prompted a change in the ways in which appropriate male and female roles were perceived. In particular, the notion of separate spheres, which woman was in the private sphere of the home and hearth, man was in the public sphere of business, politics and sociability - came to influence the choices and experiences of all women. The Victorian era from 1837 to 1901 is characterized as the domestic age, idealized by Queen Victoria, who came to represent a sort of femininity that was centered on the family, motherhood, and respectability. Accompanied by Albert, Prince Consort, her beloved husband, and by her many children in Balmoral Castle, Victoria became an icon of late 19th-century middle-class femininity and domesticity. In fact, Queen Victoria came to...
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...People living in the Victorian era had many dangers to their health due to so many diseases and lack of knowledge of medicines. Death rates were high and children never lived long because of all the horrible conditions people lived in. Because of these horrible illnesses, diseases, and lack of medicinal knowledge, many people suffered. Consequently, Victorian age health was horrible with nutrition, general health, and diseases affecting their daily life. Back then, general health was greatly affected by simple things such as a window being closed. Due to this, life expectancy was very low and women's health was highly affected. Life expectancy was so low that even at the of the Victorian period, infant mortality was about ten times as high as it is today (Mitchel 192). Rural people lived longer than the city dwellers due to the fact that they weren't packed together spreading diseases, rural people had lots of space between each others so that getting sick or dying was not as common. Women were also extremely affected to the uncontrolled illness and sickness being passed around. Because of women's working class, many of them got sick off of the patients they worked with....
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...Discuss the 'Fallen Woman' as a Familiar Feature of Victorian Writing Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton may be characterised as a 'social problem' novel. Basch (1974: 263) states, 'Mrs Gaskell's impure women came from ... the work and exploitation which she knew, relatively speaking, better than other novelists.' Gaskell was the wife of a Unitarian clergyman in Manchester. She devoted her time to setting up homes for fallen women, and after Mary Barton women became her central characters, her novels primarily seen through women's eyes. Thomas Hardy, since his career began, has been notably associated with his portrayal of female characters. Erving Howe even writes about 'Hardy's gift for creeping intuitively into the emotional life of women.' (Boumelha 1982: 3) From this point of view, I intend this essay to establish a comparison between Gaskell's 'fallen woman' in Mary Barton and the way in which Thomas Hardy frames his central female character in Tess of the D'Urbervilles.In the context of the nineteenth century, there emerged an increasingly ideological 'rethinking' of sexuality, particularly of the female. Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man later in 1871 argued that men and women were somehow mentally different. Darwinian sociology led to sexual stereotypes such as Clement Scott's 'men are born "animals" and women "angels" so it is in effect only natural for men to indulge their sexual appetites and, hence, perverse, "unnatural" for women to act in the...
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...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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...many social, political, economic and technological changes that were occurring at that time. Aware of the many inequalities in society, some women began to challenge the existing conditions and questioned the definition of a “proper woman”. In “The Cult of True Womanhood”, Barbara Welter explains that the virtues by which a woman judged herself and was judged by society were piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. These were the standards of True Womanhood in Victorian Canada.1 Fortunately, social reformers eventually challenged the alleged status quo of Canadian women. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Church, the medical profession and the arts all tried desperately to maintain women’s sexual passivity in Canadian society. During the Victorian era, sexual passivity was seen as both natural and necessary for women. In fact, the Canadian society was based on the ideology that it was natural that a woman plays a passive role as a docile, submissive wife and homemaker. A proper Victorian woman was expected to be “gentle, meek, patient, self-denying, tactful, devoted, tender, sympathetic and enduring…with passive virtues”.2 Clearly, a woman’s role and sexual passivity developed quite naturally over the years. According to Wendy Mitchinson, nature determined woman’s...
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... | Discuss any two fictional texts studied in the light of fin de siècle theories of degeneration. The era of the Victorian fin de siècle ‘…from the 1880s to the end of the century…generated an enormous amount of scientific and cultural debate concerning the future civilisation and the human race itself.’[1] It was an era of technical progress, Imperial gain, and a nation at the pinnacle of progress. ‘…bolstered by Darwin’s theory of evolution, Victorians regarded themselves and their society as the acme of human development.’[2] However, it was an era that balanced on the age of a new century that seemed to accentuate and highlight numerous anxieties. Ledger and Luckhurst (2000) further state that this was an ambivalent period; with major progress in science and technology but also a time of real decline, in which Britain’s global economic power was rivalled by Germany and America. This ambivalence at the turn of the century created fears and anxieties concerning the decline of the British race. A crucial influence on British anxieties of decline was underpinned by scientific and medical knowledge known as Theories of Degeneration. Ledger and Luckhurst (2000) state, at this time, that ‘…degeneration was one defining structure which can be traced across many disciplines…’[3] These theories of degeneration impacted over many discourses within Victorian culture including race, class, sexuality and morality, and envisaged ‘…a “primitive” lost world or degenerate “after...
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...city which protects the crimes of antagonists and villains. The creation of evil and is association with the city is also influenced by the early Victorian perception of the city and the crimes that occurred in the city. Irene Adler the primary antagonist and villain, in the Arthur Conon Doyle’s “Scandal in Bohemia” (1891), outwits Sherlock Holmes – One of the greatest detectives and brilliant minds in literature to date. The nature in which if she operates, is helped by the nature of the city which encourages, promotes and even hide the criminality and violence....
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...Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton may be characterised as a 'social problem' novel. Basch (1974: 263) states, 'Mrs Gaskell's impure women came from ... the work and exploitation which she knew, relatively speaking, better than other novelists.' Gaskell was the wife of a Unitarian clergyman in Manchester. She devoted her time to setting up homes for fallen women, and after Mary Barton women became her central characters, her novels primarily seen through women's eyes. Thomas Hardy, since his career began, has been notably associated with his portrayal of female characters. Erving Howe even writes about 'Hardy's gift for creeping intuitively into the emotional life of women.' (Boumelha 1982: 3) From this point of view, I intend this essay to establish a comparison between Gaskell's 'fallen woman' in Mary Barton and the way in which Thomas Hardy frames his central female character in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. !Note the same structure for the next paragraph: a broad display of reference and knowledge, with a strong final sentence. In the context of the nineteenth century, there emerged an increasingly ideological 'rethinking' of sexuality, particularly of the female. Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man later in 1871 argued that men and women were somehow mentally different. Darwinian sociology led to sexual stereotypes such as Clement Scott's 'men are born "animals" and women "angels" so it is in effect only natural for men to indulge their sexual appetites...
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... II Abstract The purpose of my study is to show the conflict between idealism and society in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. In this novel, Hardy portrays the strife of the two individuals Jude and Sue to make their own ways in society by seeking to realise their ideals. He also reveals the difficulties met by the two idealists in front of society’s attempts to thwart their ideals and to force them to surrender to its norms. This study allows the reader to have a deep understanding of the origin of the conflict, the climax of the confrontation between the two opposing sides and the result of the conflict. In this respect, the present study helps the reader to acquire a thorough knowledge of Hardy’s thought and the values of the Victorian society to which he belongs. III Résumé L’objectif de cette étude est de montrer le conflit entre l’idéalisme et la société décrit dans le roman de Thomas Hardy Jude the Obscure. Dans ce roman, Hardy dépeint la lutte des...
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...The Victorian period, the years between 1837 and 1901 and named after the great Queen Victoria, was a time of great change. The population of England represented various classes, occupations, and ways of life. The transportation of the period served as the forerunner of much of the transportation used today and the advances in medicine were also instrumental in changing the face of medicine forever. One of the most important things to know in Victorian society was good etiquette. Both men and women had their own set of rules of etiquette. There was a rule of etiquette for almost everything you did in a day. For women, there were rules about what kind of jewelry one should wear as well as when and where. Who to walk with, who to dance with, how and when to speak to a stranger, were all very critical knowledge. For men, there were rules about bowing, hat tipping, chaperonage, where to sit and next to whom, even about the circumstances in which it was correct or not to smoke or drink in front of ladies. There was also a correct title for almost every type of profession, social standing and rank. One of the major events in upper class society was the dance. Dances were usually scheduled to correspond with the full moon. Even most great houses did not have very large ballrooms. As a consequence, most balls were held outdoors. Most dances started around eight o'clock or so and the light of the full moon allowed less lighting to have to be put up. The practice was often to have the...
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...During the Victorian Era, Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837 but the main point was that women would get married and all her belongings belonged to their husbands due to how they had no rights to even inherit money from their families. They could not divorce their husbands but only the men had the rights to divorce their wives if they (the wives) committed adultery and they would get custody of their children and the women were not allowed to keep them. In Henrick Ibsen’s play “A Doll House”, Ibsen portrays his characters as how the Victorian people were especially when it came to money. He conveys that money has enhanced Nora’s character. Nora is constantly accused of wasting money when in reality she keeps barely anything for herself all in an effort to pay back the loan that saved her husband’s life. This is significant Nora’s enhancement of money because she doesn’t use money for corruption but to support and keep her husband alive. In “Return of the Native” by Thomas Hardy, he portrays that people marry for the money but not for love but is also basically that humans suffered just to get what they want and be happy just like in the novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, she portrays that being wealthy was very important to every individual and women had to depend in men in order to get what they want and not loose their priorities as long as they are always wealthy. In the Middle of the Ages, there was war over land and power. Slaves were tortured, bought...
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...Jane in Jane Eyre. Charlotte grew up without a mother (her mother passed away when she was five), and Jane grew up an orphan. At a young age, they were both sent off to boarding school where the environment and staff members were highly unpleasant. Jane and Charlotte both found love in unconventional places; Jane fell in love with Mr. Rochester, an abrupt,older man and Charlotte fell in love with Constantin Heger, the master of her school. On the other hand, the life of Charlotte is dissimilar to the life of Jane Eyre. In Jane Eyre, Jane lost her best friend Helen Burns to typhus, while in real life, Charlotte lost her two sisters to disease relating to the harsh conditions at school. The Victorian era lasted from 1837 to 1901, and was a period of extensive period of peace, prosperity, and great national self-possession for England. The Victorian social hierarchy was divided into 4 main groups: the nobility, upper working class, middle, and lower working class. Women each had their own specific standards and roles of their class. They were expected to abide by these standards alone, and could not adopt those of another because it was seen as highly offensive. Once a man or woman was born into a class, he or she usually stayed in it for the rest of their life because it was very hard for one to move up to a higher class, especially a woman. Women had very few legal rights during this time period, and were not seen as or treated equal as...
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...Finally identified, the real Oliver Twist workhouse reveals stories more brutal than even Dickens dared tell By Dr Ruth Richardson UPDATED:11:49 GMT, 25 March 2011 Please sir: Oliver Twist brought home the harsh realities of life in the workhouse The young woman at the workhouse gate was desperate. Clutching her belly, she begged to be allowed inside. She had nowhere else to go. The workhouse — for all the stories of cruelty that went on within its walls — was her only hope. She desperately needed shelter, for she was about to give birth. But the gatekeeper was inexorable: he had his orders. Babies were expensive. They required feeding, clothing and supervising and it would be at least six years before they could earn their keep, either in the workhouse or in factories, mills or up chimneys. The workhouse authorities had a duty to care for mothers in such a desperate plight. They were paid by the parish to house and clothe the wretched men, women and children who came to their doors as a last resort. For few would reside in the workhouse by choice. The conditions made prison seem comfortable in comparison. But the Beadle — the supervisor of the workhouse — cared less for the law than for his own pockets. He could make a small profit from able-bodied adults and children by setting them to work outside the workhouse, while he siphoned off some of the money that was supposed to feed them. Babies, on the other hand, were not profitable. The workhouse gate clanged shut...
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...1 THE VICTORIAN AGE The Victorian Compromise The Victorian Age takes its name from Queen Victoria who ruled from 1837 to 1901; it was a complex era characterised by stability, progress and social reforms, and, in the mean time, by great problems such as poverty, injustice and social unrest; that’s why the Victorians felt obliged to promote and invent a rigid code of values that reflected the world as they wanted it to be, based on: * duty and hard work; * respectability: a mixture of both morality and hypocrisy, severity and conformity to social standards (possessions of good manners, ownership of a comfortable house, regular attendance at church and charitable activity); it distiguished the middle from the lower classes; * charity and philanthropy: an activity that involved many people, expecially women. The family was strictly patriarchal: the husband represented the authority and respectability, cosequently a single woman with a child was emarginated because of a wide-spread sense of female chastity. Sexuality was generaly repressed and that led to extreme manifestations of prudery. Colonialism was an important phenomenon and it led to a patriotism deeply influenced by ideas of racial superiority: British people thought that they were obeying to God by the imposition of their superior way of life. The concept of “the white man’s burden” was exalted in the works of colonial writers (such as Rudyard Kipling). This code of values, known as “Victorian Compromise”...
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...Sketches by Boz “The Streets - Morning” The Victorian London streets is a familiar setting of Dicken's works with “Oliver Twist” and “A Christmas Carol” being some his most memorable works. In this passage Dickens offers the reader an alternative London, one without the energetic crowds but instead a much more disquieting place where the streets are dull and lifeless. We are met with a silent neighbourhood before the sun has risen and through the use of characters, setting and comparisons the reader receives a rich picture of the sunless streets. The passage begins with the introduction of the Victorian London scene on a summer morning. The reader is taken by surprise by the opening sentence where “The streets of London on a summer's morning” are described to be “most striking”. Dickens' interesting choice of words places the pre-dawn London scene in the summer, a time of warmth and sun, however we are offered a nineteenth century London that is typically portrayed with a bleak, grey backdrop. Few people roam this neighbourhood apart from those “whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pursuits of business, cause them to be well acquainted with the scene.” This leads to the belief that each summer's morning starts off like this, colourless and melancholy; the people who happen to be awake at this dreary hour are the rogues who remain. Each just as depressed as the other, and both's search for something more than the blind acceptance of a morose...
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