THE VICTORIAN AGE (1837-1901) HISTORICAL HISTORI CAL BACKGROUND William IV was succeeded by his niece VICTORIA, who was only eighteen. She was to reign reign for for 64 year years s and and beco become me the the symb symbol ol of a whol whole e era, era, whic which h was was call called ed VICTORIAN AGE. When Victoria ascended the throne she found a country in difficult circumstances: there was was much much disco discont nten entt amon among g the the work working ing class classes es which which led to about about ten ten year years s of widespread misery (the “hungry forties”). a direct consequence of this crisis was the birth of the CHARTIST MOVEMENT (1837), so called because it asked for a Charter of social reforms. Trade Unions were legalized legalized in 1825-182 1825-1826, 6, and in 1875 the TRADE UNION ACT, passed by Disraeli’s government, finally gave legality and status to the Unions. Queen Victoria’s reign saw a succession of great Prime Ministers, some belonging to the Tories (or called Conservatives, like Peel and Disraeli) and some to the Whigs (or called Liberals, like Gladstone and Palmerstone). The two parties had different views of current problems and offered different solutions. When the SECOND REFORM BILL was passed in 1867, the town labourers obtained the right of vote, while the agricultural labourers and miners obtained the right of vote in 1884 when the THIRD REFORM BILL was passed. [Suffrage was extended to all male workers] In 1892 the INDIPENDENT INDIPENDENT LABOUR LABOUR PARTY was formed, and the working classes were able to compete for political power, and it paved the way for the MODERN BRITISH LABOUR PARTY, which was founded in 1900. IRELAND a great political problem of the time was IRELAND. Its population, mostly consisting of Catholics, was very poor. Ireland was an agricultural country and the the wors worstt probl problem ems s were were STARVATION and widespr widespread ead EMIGRATION. To stop emigra emigratio tion n to both England England and Ameri America, ca, Charle Charles s S. Parnell, a famous Nationalist HOME RU RULE LE (i.e leader, leader, demand demanded ed HOME (i.e.. Home Home Gove Govern rnme ment nt)) for for Irel Irelan and d in 1880 1880.. Unfortunately the IRISH HOME RULE BILL (introduced by the English Prime Minister) was twice rejected by the Conservatives. CORN LAWS The price of corn was another social question of the time. It was kept high (whi (while le it was was ke kept pt down down durin during g the Engli English sh Roman Romantic tic Perio Period) d) by the the Govern Governme ment nt throug through h PROTEC PROTECTIV TIVE E TARIFFS TARIFFS,, the CORN LAW LAWS S, which which rest restri rict cted ed the the importation of foreign corn. But an association was formed, the “Anti-Corn-Law League” which combined working and middle class interests and obtained the REPEAL of THE CORN LAWS, in 1846 (with the support of the Conservative Prime Minister Peel) SOCIAL REFORMS and ACHIEVEMENTS
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The FACTORY ACTS, which improved the conditions of workers in factories. The TEN HOURS’ ACT (1847), which limited working hours to ten a day. The MINES ACT (1862), which prohibited the working of women and children in mines. The PUBLIC HEALTH ACT (1875), which improved health conditions. 1 | P a g i na
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The EDUCATION ACTS (1870)(1876), which re-organized elementary education. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, through the introduction of the secret ballot. The EMANCIPATION OF ALL RELIGIOUS SECTS (1871), by which the Catholics were finally allowed to enter Oxford and Cambridge and work in government jobs; The ADOPTION OF THE FAMOUS ENGLISH WEEK (1850), by which Saturday afternoon was devoted to pleasure and entertainment.
FOREIGN POLICY INDIAN MUTINY (1857) During the Victorian Age the Great British Colonial Empire took its final form. After the INDIAN MUTINY of 1857, the East India Company was abolished and India passed under the control of the British Government . [In 1876 Queen Victoria became Empress of India] The British Empire involved even Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Cyprus, Malta, and so on. THE BOER WAR (1899-1902) After 1875 England penetrated into Africa extending British rule over Uganda, Kenya and Niger territories. From 1899 and 1902 England was at war with SOUTH AFRICAN PROVINCES (Orange and the Transvaal) where gold and diamonds had been discovered. These regions were ruled by Dutch colonists called BOERS. The war lasted about 3 years, it ended in 1902 giving England SUPREMACY over the TWO DUTCH COLONIES. THE CRIMEAN WAR (1854-1856) The Crimean War originated in a dispute between Turkey and Russia. France and England DECLARED WAR on Russia , taking the side of TURKEY. (because they feared the growing power of Russia in the Balkans). Russia was defeated, but the expeditions exposed the disorganization of the English supreme command. Public opinion was horrified at the news of the terrible conditions in which sick soldiers were kept.
In 1901 QUEEN VICTORIA died, and an age died with here. In her long life she had represented all the civil and domestic virtues that England believed in: DUTY, MORALITY and LOVE FOR THE FAMILY. EDWARD VII Victoria was succeeded by her son, EDWARD VII, who tried to promote friendly relations with neighbouring countries. In fact relations between France and England improved greatly, but his efforts for peace were not successful in Germany. The short reign of Edward VII was a period of reforms, such as the COMPENSATION ACT (1906), which ensured some compensation for workers in case of accidents, and the OLD AGE PENSION LAW (1909). The government was obliged to introduce heavy taxes on rich landowners. - The HOUSE OF LORDS (formed of landowners) opposed this law but a PARLIAMENT ACT was passed in 1911, depriving the House of Lords of the power to veto any financial Act passed by the House of Commons. [COMMONS became the real LEGISLATORS of the country]. Edward died in 1910 and was succeeded by his son GEORGE V.
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THE VICTORIAN AGE (1837-1901) SOCIAL BACKGROUND The Victorian Age was a complex age, marked by political, social and religious unrest. The class that benefited most from the changes of the time was the middle class. Made up of manufacturers, merchants and bankers, it increased in power and it was also favoured by progress in industrial and technological fields. OPTIMISM Colonial expansion was fostered, scientific research was encouraged and transportation spread and improved; These technical progress led to an optimistic view. SOCIAL PROBLEMS The Victorians were proud of their welfare, and of their middleclass values, and tended to ignore the problems which still afflicted England. There was, in fact, a part of society, where misery were still widespread. Families were crowded into single rooms, the number of slums where growing and this caused a lot of health problems, and occasionally led to cholera. Poverty was virtually regarded as a crime and penalized as such. Debtors, for example, were still kept in jail. Education, too, had its problems. Teachers were often incompetent and corporal punishment was still regularly applied to maintain discipline. THE VICTORIAN COMPROMISE This particular situation, which saw prosperity and progress on the one hand, and poverty , ugliness and injustice on the other, is usually referred to as the “Victorian Compromise”. Theorist and reformers, for social and humanitarian reason, tried to improve living conditions at all levels, including hospitals, schools and prisons; and thanks mainly to the “CRUSADES” of these groups, Parliament passed so many Acts regulating work, sanitation, the conditions of children in general, etc. RESPECTABILITY : Under the influence of Queen Victoria herself, the age turned PURITANICAL.
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Sex became a taboo subject, and all the words with vaguely sexual connotations were driven out of everyday language, or replaced by euphemisms. MANNERS AND SPEECH WERE TO BE RESTRAINED AND SOBER. PHILOSOPHICAL CURRENTS Victorianism contained many contradictions produced by the new philosophical currents of Materialism and Positivism, and by the works of such British and foreign philosophers as: CHARLES DARWIN: whose theory of evolution claimed that man was descended from apes and that the world was ruled by the law of natural selection. KARL MARX: who advocated a new social organization and a new distribution of wealth. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER: the pessimistic philosopher who maintained that God, free will and the immortality of the soul are human illusions AUGUST COMTE: the founder of Positivism, which excluded revealed religion and metaphysics and replaced them with sociological ethics.
PESSIMISM: Everything is decided by a sequence of previous causes. Men’s actions don’t depend on his free will, but are the result of conditions and force beyond his control. By the end of the century, a reaction started against the Victorians’ traditional ideals, against their superficial optimism and against the concept of respectability. New trends began to appear, which led to a deeply pessimist view of life.
THE VICTORIAN AGE (1837-1901) LITERARY PRODUCTION - PROSE Prose is the branch of Victorian literature which best mirrors the spirit of the age. In fact, prose writers reflected the profound changes that characterized the period. They exalted but also attacked their own times. They talks about hopes and fears of a society aware of its own power they became the spokesmen of their time. FICTION The Victorian age was the greatest age of English Fiction . This was due to many reason: 1) Urbanization and better means of communication, making it easier to distribute reading material. 2) The invention of new printing machinery, which made this material cheaper and opened to many more people, thus increasing the number of readers. 3) The fact that prose fiction became the best vehicle to communicate and support ideas of the age and, later, to confute them. The fictional works of the time were so many and so different that it is impossible to generalize about their features and group them all under the definition of the “Victorian Novel”. This is why, for convenience, Victorian Novelists are usually divided into “EARLY VICTORIANS” and “LATER VICTORIANS”; but most of best-known Victorian novelists (with the exception of Hardy and Eliot) may be included in the first of these categories. EARLY VICTORIANS
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The diffusion of Early Victorian Novel was favoured also by the PUBLICATION IN SERIAL INSTALMENTS, which started soon after 1820. Before this date, novels were usually published in three volumes at a high price and only wealthy people could buy them. After 1820, the experiment was tried of printing books in separate instalments, at a very low price of one shilling. This method proved very successful and tended to modify the actual structure of the novel , since: - It increased the number of readers among the lower classes - It imposed an episodic structure on the plot - It led to the excessive length of certain books - It created the “popular” appeal of some works (defined as mass literature) - Because of the new method of publication the writers were compelled to speed up the rhythm and find stratagems to catch the reader’s attention TYPES OF NOVELS
SENSATION NOVELS: Some writers recourse to the “sensational” in order
to create suspense and expectation, according to the formula suggested by Collins “make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em wait”. The sensation novel was thus born, a mixture of melodrama, mystery, complicated plot and coincidence, immediate and dramatic. The best known writers were Collins and Dickens, who thought that sensationalism would also help to focus the reader on the social issues of his novels.
Sensation and adventure were also the ingredients of Stevenson’s novels, in some of which, the author made an allegorical study of moral dichotomies ( Adventure Novels); and sensational events, were also present in such Imaginative romantic novels as those of the Bronte Sisters. The “sensational” however, was just one of the ingredients of Early Victorian Fiction. The average Victorian reader, in fact, generally belonging to the middle class, devoted more to commerce than literature; but when he decided to read novels, he expected to find a “realistic” book which, at the same time, could also provide escape from routine life; he wanted a work that could be read by the whole family, not too complex. The Early Victorian novelists found no difficulty in meeting these expectations. Avoiding exoticism, they drew inspiration from everyday life and set their works in contemporary England. HISTORICAL NOVELS and ROMANCES: Some historical novels and romances were also published by authors such “name” as Dickens, Thackeray and Reade. FANTASTIC NOVELS were written by Carroll, famous for his Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
But the two prevailing types of fiction were:
HUMANITARIAN NOVEL
(also called SOCIAL or PROBLEM NOVEL): is particularly linked with the names of Dickens and Mrs Gaskell, focused on social problems and denounced the evils and abuses caused by industrialization.
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DOMESTIC NOVEL
(also called the NOVEL OF MANNERS): was richer in psychological analysis and it had an accurate structure. His best representative were Thackeray and Trollope. They chose as its targets the hypocrisy and anti-heroic features of the materialistic Victorian Age.
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