Victorian Age

The Victorian Age

1837-1901

Queen Victoria

(1819-1901)

Great Britain was a very important and rich nation in the middle of the nineteenth century. London was the biggest and most influential city in Europe.

Merchants and professionals became rich in London. These people became part of the new high society. They were well educated and lived in beautiful houses with servants. They were always very elegant and often went to the theatre, parties and dinners. During the Industrial Revolution thousands of people came to London from all over the country. They found work in the factories. Young children worked in the factories too.

Adults and children worked very long hours in terrible conditions. Children often did the most dangerous work because they were small: chimney sweeps, for example! There were many accidents at work and some were fatal.

Workers made very little money and lived in small, dark houses. Some people had no work and no home. These men, women and children often became beggars or criminals. Others lived in a workhouse. The poor laws of 1598–1601, changed in 1834, obligated the local priest to take care of the poor in his area. This was the beginning of the workhouses.

They were often sad, squalid places.

Main features

• The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade
• Social Conflicts
• Social Reforms
• Victorian values: Family, Respectability, Morality
• Religion
• The Condition of Women: the Double Standard
• Colonial expansion

Positive aspects of the Victorian Age

• Industrial revolution
• Technological advances
• Economic progress

But there are lots of negative aspects...

Negative aspects of the Victorian Age

• Pollution in the towns provoked by the factories
• Hygienic conditions
• Epidemics

Women in the Victorian Era

The status of women in the Victorian Era is often seen as an illustration of the striking discrepancy between England's national power and wealth and what many, then and now, consider its appalling social conditions. During the era symbolized by the reign of British monarch Queen Victoria, difficulties escalated for women because of the vision of the “ideal woman” shared by most in the society.

The legal rights of married women were similar to those of children; they could not vote or sue or even own property. Also, they were seen as pure and clean. Because of this view, their bodies were seen as temples which should not be adorned with jewelry nor used for physical exertion or pleasurable sex. The role of women was to have children and tend to the house.