Scarica L'Età Vittoriana: Progresso, Ipotcrisia e Riforme Sociali e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! VICTORIAN AGE The Victorian age is that period of English history that goes from 1832 to 1901. Until now, with the reign of queen Elisabeth II, the reign of queen Victoria was the longest of british history; she ruled for 64 years and gave her name to an age of economic and scientific progress and social reform. She was the ideal head of a constitutional monarchy. It was a period of progress, especially the second industrial revolution. It was a period of welfare for the middle class, ruled by hypocrisy. They were puritans and had a moral code based on optimism. During this period it emphasized education and healthcare. Self-restraint, good manners were all linked with respectability, concepts shared by the middle class and working class. Respectability was a mixture of morality and hypocrisy since the unpleasant aspects of society were hidden under respectability. Also was emphasized the duty of men, as a protector of women, weaker but morally superior. Women controlled the family budget and brought up the children. Attitudes to sex were crucial aspects of respectability, with concern for female chastity. Sexuality was repressed and nudity was slowly denounced. The Victorian age was a period of scientific and technological progress, in 1851 there was the first great exhibition at the crystal palace. It showed the world the Britain industrial power; a lot of exhibitors from all over the world displayed their goods. People became fond of exhibitions, and money was invested in museums. In this period also started the building of an underground london. It was the period of Victorian compromise in which we can see a sort of symmetry between the fact that the progress brought welfare to the middle class and exploited the lower class. It was an age in which progress coexists with poverty and injustice. Modernity was praised, there was a revival of Gothic. Religion has an important role in people’s lives. Evangelicalism encouraged public and political action and created a lot of charities. Victorians believed in God and also in progress and science. Freedom was also linked to religion with optimism and national identity. The compromise was between sections of English society; the condition of lower classes were ignored and workers, women and children were exploited; they had to work for 12 hours a day. This period brought new social reforms, such as: - long hours act or Factory act: reduce the hours of work a day, from 12 to 10 and after to 9. Also children from 9 to 13 can’t be employed more than 48 hours a week and from 13 to 18 can’t work more than 72 hours a week. - Great reform act: the right to vote was extended to workers, miners and agricultures - mines act: women and children could not work underground - trade unions were legalized - religious act: no discrimination for religious belief - Poor laws amendment act: creation of workhouses where the poor receive board and lodging in return for work. - economic progress: free trade Life in the workhouses was based on a system of regimentation; they had to follow a diet, and families were splitted. All of this was due to an optimistic faith in progress and to the puritan virtues of hard work. They thought that with this they could inspire the poor to improve their condition. In 1838 a group of the working class called People’s Charter demanded equal districts, male suffrage, secret ballot, paid MPs… but no one was ready for that democracy. Their influence was felt in the second reform act that enfranchised part of the male working class in england. In Ireland the bad weather destroyed potato crops that brought a terrible famine and a lot of people died. The Irish crisis forced the prime minister to abolish the corn laws that imposed tariffs on imported corn. For foreign politics she focused on aggressive and imperialist politics. England declared war on China, the opium war, and forced China to accept the illegal trade of opium; they fought two wars, the first between England and China and the second was Anglo-French. England declared war on Russia, the Crimean war; at first between Russia and Ottoman Turks, but then England and French joined. England fought against the Dutch in South Africa, the Boer war, and supported Italian independence from Australia. Also Indian rebellion was repressed, and it was called the devil wind. VICTORIAN NOVEL readers and writers There was a communion of interest between writers and readers. One reason is the growth of the middle classes, the other one was the fact that literacy had penetrated in a heterogeneous way; last but not least writers themselves belonged to the middle class. the publishing world A great deal of Victorian literature was the fact that Essays, verse or novels are published in a serial form, in the pages of periodicals. The writers felt always in contact with the readers and he was obliged to maintain the interest because one boring page would cause the public not to buy the periodical. Reviewers had a strong influence on the shaping of public opinion. the victorians’ interest in prose The Victorians showed a lot of interest in prose and in the novel, which became the most popular form of literature. The spread of scientific knowledge made the novel realistic and democracy made it spiritual and humanitarian. the novelist’s aim During the 18th century novels dealt with the adventures of an outcast or a virtuous hero. The idea of a thematic unity was brought in by Jane Austen, with the theme of a girl’s choice of a husband. In the 1840s novelists felt they had a moral and social responsibility to fulfill. They want to reflect the social changes that have been in progress. The novelist described the society as he saw it; and they were aware of the social problems but their criticism was less radical than the European, as Balzac. Didacticism was one of the main features of Victorian novels because novelists conceived literature as a vehicle to correct the vices of the age. the narrative technique The voice of the omniscient narrator provided a comment on the plot and erected a barrier between right and wrong.
