Concetti Chiave
- Victorian society emphasized personal duty, hard work, and respectability, often linked to strict moral codes.
- The term 'Victorian' became synonymous with repression, extending even to concealing furniture legs to avoid suggestiveness.
- There was a strong middle-class focus on gentility and decorum, with private lives dominated by authoritarian family structures.
- John Stuart Mill advocated for legislation that supported personal development and social reforms, including women's emancipation.
- Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism prioritized reason and happiness while downplaying human and cultural values.
Valori e moralità vittoriani
• 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.
Ruoli di genere e autorità
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, and how did these influence societal behavior?
The Victorians were known for their strong moralizing tendencies, emphasizing personal duty, hard work, decorum, respectability, chastity, and charity. These values led to a society that was highly concerned with propriety and gentility, often to the point of extreme repression, as evidenced by practices like covering furniture legs to avoid suggestiveness.
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