Transcript The Victorian Age

The Victorian Age
1833-1901
Britain becomes a world leader
Leads the world in manufacturing becomes wealthier
Cities grow in population, power, and
wealth
New classes develop:
Working Class
Middle Class
Reform
Prompted by poor working conditions
and disease in Industrial cities
Reformers worked to establish free
trade – end Corn Laws
Worked to help the poor and
strengthen democracy
Second Reform Bill of 1867
Gives voting rights to more people –
tenant farmers and well-paid workers
Complete male suffrage occurred in
1885.
Women are allowed to attend
universities
Working days for women and children
are reduced.
British Imperialism
The Empire grew due to the belief that
Western Civilization (i.e. White, Christian)
was superior to all other cultures
Britain acquired Hong Kong, India, and
parts of Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria,
Zimbabwe, and later South Africa)
Crimean War – prevent Russian expansion
Florence Nightingale introduces hospital reform
after this.
Victorian Empire
Victorian Philosophies
Believed in Humanities’ ability to
better itself
Theory of Evolution develops
because of the publication of Origin of
Species by Charles Darwin (1857)
Literature of the Victorian Age
Romanticism is still influential
Realism becomes popular – focuses
on ordinary people with day-to-day
problems (not happy endings)
Naturalism – scientific observations
on life
Promotes social reforms
Sees nature as cruel and indifferent
Victorian Poetry
Most popular Victorian Poet:
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Robert and Elizabeth
Browning popularized the
dramatic monologue and love poems
Victorian Fiction
Literature of this period is very diverse
Novels are popular among the middle
class.
Popular novels: Jane Eyre, Wuthering
Heights by Charlotte and Emily Bronte.
Charles Dickens is the most popular
novelist.
Detective Fiction becomes popular – Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes
Victorian Non-Fiction
Matthew Arnold – Culture and
Anarchy
John Henry Newman – Idea of a
University Defined
John Stuart Mill – On Liberty
Other things Victorian…