Everything about Victorian Times totally explained
The
Victorian era of the
United Kingdom refers to
Queen Victoria's rule which began in 1837 and concluded in 1901. Under the rule of Queen Victoria, the British people enjoyed a long period of prosperity. Profits gained from the overseas
British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements at home, allowed a large, educated middle class to develop. Some scholars would extend the beginning of the period—as defined by a variety of sensibilities and political concerns that have come to be associated with the Victorians—back five years to the passage of
Reform Act 1832.
The era was preceded by the
Regency era and succeeded by the
Edwardian period. The latter half of the Victorian era roughly coincided with the first portion of the
Belle Époque era of
continental Europe and other non-English speaking countries.
Introduction
Queen Victoria had the
longest reign in British history, and the
cultural, political, economic, industrial and scientific changes that occurred during her reign were remarkable. When Victoria ascended to the throne, Britain was primarily
agrarian and
rural (though it was even then the most industrialised country in the world); upon her death, the country was highly
industrialised and connected by an expansive
railway network. The first decades of Victoria's reign witnessed a series of epidemics (
typhus and
cholera, most notably),
crop failures and
economic collapses. There were riots over
enfranchisement and the repeal of the
Corn Laws, which had been established to protect British agriculture during the
Napoleonic Wars in the early part of the 19th century.
Discoveries by
Charles Lyell and
Charles Darwin began to examine centuries of the assumptions about humanity and the world, about science and history, and, finally, about religion and philosophy. As the country grew increasingly connected by an expansive network of railway lines, small, previously isolated communities were exposed and entire economies shifted as cities became more and more accessible.
The mid-Victorian period also witnessed significant
social changes: an
evangelical revival occurred alongside a series of
legal changes in
women's rights. While women were not
enfranchised during the Victorian period, they did gain the legal right to their property upon marriage through the
Married Women's Property Act, the right to divorce, and the right to fight for custody of their children upon separation.
The period is often characterized as a long period of peace, known as
Pax Britannica, and economic,
colonial, and industrial consolidation, temporarily disrupted by the
Crimean War, although Britain was at war every year during this period. Towards the end of the century, the policies of
New Imperialism led to increasing colonial conflicts and eventually the
Anglo-Zanzibar War and the
Boer War. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of gradual political reform and the widening of the franchise.
In the early part of the era the
House of Commons was dominated by the two parties, the
Whigs and the
Tories. From the late 1850s onwards the Whigs became the
Liberals even as the Tories became known as the
Conservatives. Many prominent statesmen led one or other of the parties, including
Lord Melbourne, Sir
Robert Peel,
Lord Derby,
Lord Palmerston,
William Gladstone,
Benjamin Disraeli and
Lord Salisbury. The unsolved problems relating to
Irish Home Rule played a great part in politics in the later Victorian era, particularly in view of Gladstone's determination to achieve a political settlement.
Culture
This inescapable sense of newness resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities.
Gothic Revival architecture became increasingly significant in the period, leading to the
Battle of the Styles between Gothic and
Classical ideals.
Charles Barry's architecture for the new
Palace of Westminster, which had been badly damaged in an 1834 fire, built on the medieval style of
Westminster Hall, the surviving part of the building. It constructed a narrative of cultural continuity, set in opposition to the violent disjunctions of
Revolutionary France, a comparison common to the period, as expressed in
Thomas Carlyle's and
Charles Dickens'
A Tale of Two Cities. Gothic was also supported by the critic
John Ruskin, who argued that it epitomised communal and inclusive social values, as opposed to Classicism, which he considered to epitomise mechanical standardisation.
The middle of the century saw
The Great Exhibition of 1851, the first
World's Fair and showcased the greatest innovations of the century. At its centre was
the Crystal Palace, an enormous, modular glass and iron structure - the first of its kind. It was condemned by Ruskin as the very model of mechanical dehumanisation in design, but later came to be presented as the prototype of
Modern architecture. The
emergence of photography, which was showcased at the Great Exhibition, resulted in significant changes in Victorian art.
John Everett Millais was influenced by photography (notably in his portrait of Ruskin) as were other
Pre-Raphaelite artists. It later became associated with the
Impressionistic and
Social Realist techniques that would dominate the later years of the period in the work of artists such as
Walter Sickert and
Frank Holl.
Events
1832 : Passage of the first Reform Act.
;1837 : Ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne.
1842 : A law is passed to ban women and children from working in coal, iron, lead and tin mining.
;1848 : Around 2,000 people a week die in a cholera epidemic.
1850 : Restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Britain.
;1851 : The Great Exhibition (the first World's Fair) is held in the Crystal Palace, with great success and international attention.
1857 : The Indian Mutiny, a widespread revolt in India against the rule of the British East India Company, was sparked by sepoys (native Indian soldiers) in the Company's army. The rebellion, involving not just sepoys but many sectors of the Indian population as well, was largely quashed within a year. In response to the mutiny, the East India Company was abolished in August 1858 and India came under the direct rule of the British crown, beginning the period of the British Raj.
;1858 : The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, responded to the Orsini plot against French emperor Napoleon III, the bombs for which were purchased in Birmingham, by attempting to make such acts a felony, but the resulting uproar forced him to resign.
1859 : Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, which leads to various reactions.
;1861 : Prince Albert dies; Queen Victoria refuses to go out in public for many years, and when she does she wears a widow's bonnet instead of the crown.
1866 : An angry crowd in London, protesting John Russell's resignation as Prime Minister, was barred from Hyde Park by the police; they tore down iron railings and trampled on flower beds. Disturbances like this convinced Derby and Disraeli of the need for further parliamentary reform.
;1875 : Britain purchased Egypt's shares in the Suez Canal as the African nation was forced to raise money to pay off its debts.
1882 : British troops begin the occupation of Egypt, by taking the Suez Canal, in order to secure the vital trade route, and the passage to India, and the country becomes a protectorate.
;1884 : The Fabian Society was founded in London by a group of middle class intellectuals, including Quaker Edward R. Pease, Havelock Ellis, and E. Nesbit, to promote socialism. George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells would be among many famous names to later join this society.
1887 : Tens of thousands of people, many of them socialists or unemployed, gathered in Trafalgar Square to demonstrate against British coercion in Ireland. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren ordered armed soldiers and 2,000 police constables to respond. Rioting broke out, hundreds were injured and two people died. This event was referred to as Bloody Sunday.
;1888 : The serial killer known as Jack the Ripper murders and mutilates five (and possibly more) prostitutes on the streets of London.
1870 - 1891 : Under the Elementary Education Act 1870 basic State Education becomes free for every child under age 13.
Entertainment
Popular forms of entertainment vary by
socio-economic class. Victorian England, like the periods before it, was interested in
theatre and
the arts.
Music,
drama, and
opera were widely attended. There were, however, other forms of entertainment.
Gambling at cards in establishments popularly called
casinos was wildly popular during the period—so much so that evangelical and reform movements specifically targeted such establishments in their efforts to stop gambling,
drinking, and
prostitution.
Brass bands and 'The
bandstand' became popular in the Victorian era typically associated with the British brass band. The band stand is a simple construction which not only creates an ornamental focal point, it also serves acoustic requirements whilst providing shelter from the changeable
British weather. It was common to hear the sound of a brass band whilst strolling through
parklands. At this time musical recording was still very much a novelty.
Another form of entertainment involved 'spectacles' where paranormal events, such as
hypnotism, communication with the dead (by way of
mediumship or channelling),
ghost conjuring and the like, were carried out to the delight of crowds and participants. Such activities were very popular during this time compared to others in recent Western history.
Technology and engineering
The impetus of the
Industrial Revolution had already occurred, but it was during this period that the full effects of industrialization made themselves felt, leading to the
mass consumer society of the 20th century. The revolution led to the rise of railways across the country and great leaps forward in
engineering, most famously by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Another great engineering feat in the Victorian Era was the
sewage system in London. It was designed by
Joseph Bazalgette in 1858. He proposed to build of sewerage linked with over of street
sewers. Many problems were found but the sewers were completed. After this, Bazalgette designed the
Thames Embankment which housed sewers,
water pipes and the
London Underground. During the same period London's
water supply network was expanded and improved, and
gas reticulation for
lighting and
heating was introduced in the 1880s.
During the Victorian era,
science grew into the discipline it's today. In addition to the increasing professionalism of university science, many Victorian gentlemen devoted their time to the study of
natural history.
Photography was realized in 1829 by
Louis Daguerre in France and
William Fox Talbot in England. By 1900, hand-held cameras were available.
Although initially developed in the early years of the 19th century, gas lighting became widespread during the Victorian era in industry, homes, public buildings and the
streets. The invention of the
incandescent gas
mantle in the 1890s greatly improved light output and ensured its survival as late as the 1960s. Hundreds of
gasworks were constructed in cities and towns across the country. In 1882, incandescent
electric lights were introduced to London streets, although it took many years before they were installed everywhere.
Child labour
The Victorian era became notorious for
employing young children in factories, mines and as chimney sweeps. Several
Factory Acts were passed to prevent the exploitation of children in the work place.
Hygiene
Surgeries were very hazardous during this era.
Illnesses were very common and disastrous.
Surgeons didn't wash or clean their hands prior to performing surgery and this caused many infections.
Prostitution
Beginning in the late 1840s, major news organisations, clergymen and single women became increasingly interested in prostitution, which came to be known as "The Great Social Evil." Although estimates of the number of prostitutes in London by the 1850s vary widely (in his landmark study,
Prostitution,
William Acton reported that the police estimated there were 8,600 in 1857 London alone), it's enough to say that the number of women working the streets became increasingly difficult to ignore.
When the
United Kingdom Census 1851 publicly revealed a 4% demographic imbalance in favour of women (for example 4% more women than men), the problem of prostitution began to shift from a moral/religious cause to a
socio-economic one. The 1851 census showed that the population of Great Britain was roughly 18 million; this meant that roughly 750,000 women would remain unmarried simply because there were not enough men. These women came to be referred to as "superfluous women" or "redundant women," and many essays were published discussing what, precisely, ought to be done with them.
While the
Magdalene Asylums had been "reforming" prostitutes since the mid-18th century, the years between 1848 and 1870 saw a veritable explosion in the number of institutions working to "reclaim" these "fallen women" from the streets and retrain them for entry into respectable society—usually for work as
domestic servants. The theme of prostitution and the "fallen woman" (an umbrella term used to describe any women who had
sexual intercourse out of
wedlock) became a staple feature of mid-Victorian literature and politics. In the writings of
Henry Mayhew,
Charles Booth and others, prostitution began to be seen as a
social problem.
When
Parliament passed the first of the
Contagious Diseases Acts in 1864 (which allowed the local constabulary to force any woman suspected of
venereal disease to submit to its inspection),
Josephine Butler's crusade to repeal the CD Acts yoked the anti-prostitution cause with the emergent
feminist movement. Butler attacked the long-established
double standard of
sexual morality.
Prostitutes were often presented as victims in
sentimental literature such
Thomas Hood's poem
The Bridge of Sighs,
Elizabeth Gaskell's novel
Mary Barton and Dickens' novel
Oliver Twist. The emphasis on the purity of women found in such works as
Coventry Patmore's
The Angel in the House led to the portrayal of the prostitute and fallen woman as soiled, corrupted, and in need of cleansing.
This emphasis on female purity was allied to the stress on the
homemaking role of women, who helped to create a space free from the pollution and corruption of the city. In this respect the prostitute came to have symbolic significance as the embodiment of the violation of that divide. The double standard remained in force.
Divorce legislation introduced in 1857 allowed for a man to divorce his wife for
adultery, but a woman could only divorce if adultery was accompanied by cruelty. The anonymity of the city led to a large increase in prostitution and unsanctioned sexual relationships. Dickens and other writers associated prostitution with the mechanisation and industrialisation of modern life, portraying prostitutes as human
commodities consumed and thrown away like refuse when they were used up. Moral reform movements attempted to close down
brothels, something that has sometimes been argued to have been a factor in the concentration of street-prostitution in
Whitechapel, in the
East End of London, by the 1880s.
By the time the CD Acts were repealed in 1886, Victorian England had been completely transformed. This era, which at its outset looked no different from the century before it, would end resembling much more the era that would follow.
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