Concetti Chiave
- Victorian values emphasized personal duty, hard work, decorum, respectability, chastity, and charity, reflecting a society obsessed with moralizing.
- The term 'Victorian' became synonymous with prudishness and extreme repression, influencing even the design of furniture to avoid suggestiveness.
- The middle-class was particularly focused on gentility and decorum, with societal debates and discussions being widespread.
- In Victorian society, gender roles were strict, with women expected to marry and create a home that served as a refuge for their husbands.
- Influential thinkers like John Stuart Mill promoted education, trade union organization, and women's emancipation, while Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism focused on reason and practicality.
What are Victorian Values and Morality?
• The Victorians were great moralizers
they supported: personal duty, hard work, decorum, respectability, chastity, charity.
• ‘Victorian’, synonymous with prude, stood for extreme repression; even furniture legs had to be concealed under heavy cloth not to be ‘suggestive’.
• New ideas were discussed and debated by a large part of society.
• The powerful middle-class was obsessed with gentility, decorum.
a.
Gender Roles and Authority
Victorian private lives were dominated by an authoritarian father.
b. Women were subject to male authority; they were expected to marry and make home a ‘refuge’ for their husbands.
Currents of thoughts.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), philosopher.
Empiricism
• legislation should try to help men develop their natural talents
• progress came from mental energy
• supported popular education, trade union organisation, extension of representation to all citizens, and the emancipation of women
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), theorist.
Utilitarianism
• neglected human and cultural values
• any problem could be overcome by reason
• usefulness, happiness, avoidance of pain
John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism.
Evangelicalism
• strict code of behaviour
• dedication to humanitarian causes and social reforms
• base of Victorian emphasis upon moral conduct
Domande da interrogazione
- What were the core values upheld by the Victorians?
- What were some of the key philosophical and social ideas during the Victorian era?
The Victorians were known for their strong moral values, emphasizing personal duty, hard work, decorum, respectability, chastity, and charity. These values were so stringent that even furniture legs were covered to avoid being suggestive.
Key ideas included John Stuart Mill's support for education, trade unions, and women's emancipation, Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism focusing on reason and happiness, and John Wesley's evangelicalism promoting a strict moral code and social reforms.
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