The Victorian Period: a brief account of the period and its main authors

By Carla Aira and Paolo Calloni

The book is about the Victorian period. After a brief historical introduction, the study guide  offers a quick account of the main literary trends in every genre and supplies information about the most important and popular authors of the period quoting their works (plot and commentaries)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carla Aira
• Release date: Aug 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9788828376705

Book preview

carla aira

The Victorian Period

a brief account of the period and its main authors

Cover design by Paolo Calloni

UUID: 9f6f1ae8-a374-11e8-bf15-17532927e555

This ebook was created with StreetLib Write

http://write.streetlib.com

Study Guide ... The Victorian Period

Ford Madox Brown, Work (1852–63)

The Victorian period

1837-1901

In 1837 Queen Victoria (1837-1901) ascended the throne; during her reign England was administered by a series of great Prime Ministers: among the Tories (called Conservatives from now on) Robert Peel and Benjamin Disraeli, and among the Whigs (called Liberals from now on) H.J. Palmerston and W. E. Gladstone .

The first period of Queen Victoria’s reign was marked by economic depression which led the Prime Minister, R. Peele, to repeal the Corn Laws (1846), a set of laws of 1815 which put heavy duties on imported corn. Peele was however obliged to gather money from other sources and he introduced an income tax, a tax on the net income of an individual, which is still in force nowadays. To control increasing crimes Peele also created a regular police force for London in 1829, blue-uniformed and unarmed men with top hats, familiarly known as bobbies; other towns did the same in the next thirty years.

The age of the mass-produced steam engine machines began in the 1830s. Most of these machines were used in the cotton and wool fields, but also many other industries (coal mining, metals, paper, chemical, breweries, railways) were affected by the new technical changes. The machines increased production and brought more wealth for the growing population (the population reached the number of 26 million by 1871). People moved from the countryside to industrial towns, which expanded incredibly throughout the second half of the century. Political parties began to be well organized and to represent definite and social interests. It was an age of reforms and parliament passed bills which brought improvements in housing, sanitation, education and social security.

But the conditions of the workers in the new factories, however, were very hard. Many factory-owners exploited their workers making them work long hours (over twelve hours a day, six days a week) in terrible situations. There were many accidents or illnesses caused by the fast moving-machinery or the unhealthy places where people had to work. Women and children were employed especially in the mining and textile industries because they were smaller than men and were more agile.

The housing conditions of the labouring masses were bad: many workers who had come from the country lived in underground cellars, overcrowded, without light and proper ventilation. The very poor lived in workhouses, public institutions under parish control established for their maintenance.

The Victorian middle class saw cleanliness as a moral virtue, and the workhouse was supposed to rescue the poor from the immoral condition of filth and degradation that surrounded them.

For its industrial success and free constitutional government England became a powerful nation and its policy was to preserve peace, as far as possible, both in Europe and overseas. The country was however involved in the Crimean War (1854-56) with the Ottoman Empire against Russia, to stop Russian expansion into Asiatic Turkey in the area of the Black Sea. England wanted to preserve its trade with India, both by sea and land.

Especially from 1850 onwards the British Empire expanded and consequently its economic progress advanced. Large areas of the world were controlled by Britain and the concept of British prosperity permeated all the strata of society and in particular the new middle class which was born with the industrialization. In 1851, with The Great London International Exhibition, England celebrated the triumph of its industrial prosperity. Not all the Victorians accepted the optimistic interpretation of the new industrial civilization. The problem of the distribution of wealth was not solved and it increased social injustice.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand obtained