Concetti Chiave
- Queen Victoria's reign marked an era of significant reforms, including the First Reform Act and the Factory Act, which improved voting rights and working conditions for the middle class.
- The Great Exhibition of 1851 showcased England's industrial and technological advancements, boosting the middle class's influence and highlighting economic progress.
- The Victorian era was characterized by a strong moral compass, emphasizing hard work, respectability, and a distinct social hierarchy favoring the middle class over lower classes.
- Philosophical movements like Utilitarianism and Darwinism challenged traditional beliefs, promoting ideas such as the greatest good for the greatest number and natural selection.
- Despite societal optimism and philanthropy, the Victorian era masked issues like poverty, class distinctions, racial discrimination, and the repression of sexuality under a veneer of respectability.
Queen Victoria became Queen at the age of 18. She married prince Albert and they had together 9 children, so they became a symbol of family.
It was an age of reforms. They made the First Reform Act giving middle-class men the vote; they made the Factory Act and Ten Hours Act changing working hours’ conditions.
They established workhouses thanks to the Poor Law Amendment Act. Workhouses were unpleasant so that people could improve their situation on their own.
Through the Chartist movement people wanted the vote for all adult males and secret ballot, but the movement failed.
Through the Second Reform Act all skilled working men had the right to vote.
In 1851 the “Great Exhibition” took place in the Crystal Palace, where England showed all its latest technologies. This event increased the power of the middle class, it showed the expansion of the industry and the technological development.
When Russia became too powerful, Crimean War began. The real hero of the war was Florence Nightingale who led the nursing team during the war.
Queen Victoria made the Third Reform Act giving the vote to all male householders.
Trade Unions were legalized with the Trade Union Act.
Victorian cities had gas lighting, many buildings like museums, railway stations, schools and hospitals. Women had more rights, but they still lived a domestic life.
The Victorian Compromise
The Victorians were great moralizers, they believed in hard work and had a strong sense of duty.
The lower classes were less respected than the middle class.
Respectability consisted in the possession of good manners, a house with servants and a carriage, charity and a regular attendance at church.
The figure of husband was predominant in the family.
There was also a deep concern for female chastity. A fallen woman, that is a single woman with a child, was discriminated by the society.
Optimism sprang from the economic progress, and optimism was so strong that British considered their role as supreme. Despite of the scientific progress, many diseases could not be cured.
Sexuality was repressed in public and private forms. It led to the denunciation of nudity in art.
Victorians hide under a mask of optimism, philanthropy and respectability the real evils of society that were poverty, class distinctions, the secondary role of women, hypocrisy, racial discrimination and a sinful private life.
The Victorian frame of mind
In this period there were a lot of philosophical movements that influenced the values of Victorian Age. For example, Evangelicalism by John Wesley that gave importance to humanitarian causes, morality and Bible reading.
Another important movement was Utilitarianism, founded by Jeremy Bentham.
It stated that only what is useful is good and that all moral and political actions should be directed towards achieving the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism seeks the greatest good for the greatest number of people. James Mill instead humanized utilitarianism saying that the good is the greatest happiness for everyone.
Hippolyte Taine believed instead that man is the product of three factors: race, environment and the pressure of the past on the present. He stresses the influence of heredity on men’s behavior.
Another important movement was Darwinism by Charles Darwin, according to which man descends from apes and the world is ruled by the law of natural selection, so that only the strong survive while the weak perish (Theory of Evolution). He challenges the religious theory of creation.
Another important philosopher was Schopenhauer. He affirms that God free will and the immortality of the soul are man’s illusions. He denies the existence of God.
All these movements are didactic, they wanted to show the problems of society.
Domande da interrogazione
- ¿A qué edad se convirtió la Reina Victoria en reina y cuántos hijos tuvo con el príncipe Alberto?
- ¿Qué reformas importantes se llevaron a cabo durante la era victoriana?
- ¿Qué evento importante tuvo lugar en 1851 y qué impacto tuvo?
- ¿Qué papel desempeñó Florence Nightingale durante la Guerra de Crimea?
- ¿Cuáles fueron algunas de las filosofías influyentes durante la era victoriana?
La Reina Victoria se convirtió en reina a los 18 años y tuvo 9 hijos con el príncipe Alberto, convirtiéndose en un símbolo de la familia.
Durante la era victoriana se llevaron a cabo reformas como el Primer Acta de Reforma, el Acta de Fábricas, el Acta de Diez Horas, y el Acta de Enmienda de la Ley de Pobres, que estableció casas de trabajo.
En 1851 tuvo lugar la "Gran Exposición" en el Crystal Palace, mostrando las últimas tecnologías de Inglaterra, lo que aumentó el poder de la clase media y mostró la expansión industrial y el desarrollo tecnológico.
Florence Nightingale fue la heroína de la Guerra de Crimea, liderando el equipo de enfermería durante el conflicto.
Algunas filosofías influyentes fueron el Evangelicalismo, el Utilitarismo, el Darwinismo y las ideas de Schopenhauer, que abordaron temas como la moralidad, la utilidad, la evolución y la existencia de Dios.
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