Concetti Chiave
- Victorian society emphasized hard work and was dominated by the middle class, which valued morality, conformity, and good manners.
- The Victorian era is known for the "Victorian compromise," where the middle class aided the poor in exchange for support, preserving upper-class power.
- Victorian values were shaped by "Evangelicalism," focusing on charity and biblical importance, and "utilitarianism," prioritizing middle-class interests and rational problem-solving.
- Scientific advancements, like Darwin's theory of natural selection, influenced societal views, aligning economic competition with natural selection.
- Despite the harsh social Darwinism, movements inspired by Karl Marx emerged to advocate for the poor and oppressed.
Values of Victorian Society
Victorian society was based on the value of the work hard, in fact the class that represent these years is the middle one. The middle class was the expression of morality, severity and comformity to social standards. They had possession of good manners, money and servants. The middle class families had the husband as the dominant figure and his wife that had to obey him. The morality was also very important, in fact sexuality was generally repressed. These times are remembered as “the victorian compromise”. Middle class’s man was becoming richer and richer because of the progress,but the poor remained in their bad conditions. The compromise was based on the help that middle class had to give to poor people and the poor people in return had to support their decision, so the upper class could keep its power.
Religious and Philosophical Influences
The victorian values were influenced by the “Evangelicalism”, a christian movement based on charity and on the importance of Bible in life. The other movement that influenced Victoria code of values and that is in a complete constrast with the first one, was the “utilitarism”. The members of this movement put at the center middle class’s interests and thought that through reason every problem could be overcome.
Scientific and Social Evolution
With the scientific fast progress of these years,the world was in a situation of stability and man belief that they had in their hand all the possible consciousness. An important scientist of the Victorian age was Charles Darwin, who wrote his theories about human evolution through the natural selection (very far from the church). This conception was adopted in society too with the “social Darwinism”. The economic competition was the same as natural selection so the poor and the oppressed didn’t deserve compassion. But also born some movement in favour of poor thanks the ideas of Karl Marx
Domande da interrogazione
- What were the core values of Victorian society, and how did they manifest in the middle class?
Victorian society valued hard work, morality, and conformity to social standards, with the middle class embodying these ideals. Middle-class families were characterized by good manners, financial stability, and a strict family hierarchy, where the husband was dominant. Sexuality was repressed, and the era is known as "the Victorian compromise," where the middle class was expected to aid the poor, who in turn supported their decisions.
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