La condizione delle donne durante l'era vittoriana, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica La condizione delle donne durante l'era vittoriana e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Victorian Age 13\09\2021  It is really hard to define Jane Austin as a Romantic, but she’s not. Her novels can hardly ever be defined as romantic. She carves beautiful cameos in literature, which is not typically romantic. (CAMEO: something small and detailed; her characters are described as cameos for this reason). Her main characters are women, but they can’t be considered romantic women.  Most of her characters belongs to gentry. Gentry is typically English: middle class people, living away from cities centre. Their income is not high, but they can afford a decent and dignified life.  At the beginning of 19th century, women didn’t have the same social rights as men: they could not inherit wealth, so they were born in families where the father was the breadwinner, the leader, the one who impose rules. They would live as spinster in case they couldn’t find a husband or they married and they became part of the household of the man they married. If you didn’t marry well, in a rich family, you were destined to sadness and poverty. Women had very little choices, but to get married to men with high social position. Once a husband died, a widow could not by law inherit any money from the husband. The money was passed from man to first born male in the family, women were left out. When a woman’s husband died, that woman, in case she was a mother, moved with the eldest daughter, because the house she lived in, would be inherit by her first son.  During the Victorian Age the condition of women changed a very little: women didn’t have rights. Most of them were educated at home and not in the same subjects as their brothers. They were rarely school educated. They were educated in the art of singing, in the art of dancing, in the art of painting and playing the piano. They were educated to become perfect maids.  They learnt to dance and sing in order to go to social events, especially dancing parties, because it was the only possibility to meet future husbands. Jane Austin’s stories take place in small villages, where it was difficult to find potentially future husbands.  Her characters usually married out of their sincere love; they are examples of modern women. Love wasn’t the reason why you got married. Getting married was because of financial reasons. The condition of women isn’t modern.  Socially speaking the Victorian Age was a passage between the Romantic and 20th century. Historically speaking it begins when Queen Victoria gets on the throne of England (1837- 1901). It is characterised by a series of laws issued by Parliament in order to move towards social justice and equality. Because of the Industrial Revolution the condition of workers in the Victorian Age was better. Parliament understands that, if workers are not considered for their human, social, economic needs and rights, economical wealth is bound to decay. During Queen’s Victoria age the English Empire was powerful because it was the one where the sun never set.  The literary period has contrasting characteristics. The Victorian Age was a multifaceted period, depending from the social class, depending on the fact if you were a man or a woman.  Economically and socially speaking the contribution of Queen Victoria and her politics gave England is huge. She trusted Parliament; she trusted the middle classes. The countries under the sovereignty of England were all over the world.  Socially speaking English people were split: on the one side middle classes, illuminated aristocracy realized that investing money would produce more money. They lived in the Golden Age. They had the possibility to flourish economically and politically.  For women the situation was different. In Victorian Age women were not segregated in their homes, but the situation hadn’t improved much. It was difficult for a woman to start her own career into any field. Women’s lives weren’t particularly fulfilled and satisfying. They lived under the protection of man figures such as the father and the brother. They could not inherit land and house, so they had to count on the generosity of their children in case they would remain widows. The situation was even worse for women who could not marry properly.  Charles Dickens was passionate about the society of his time. He’s the most successful and prolific author in England, because he had always had an eye for lower classes and factory workers. Factory workers are defined as the hands. They were not recognized as human being, the human side was not taken into consideration from their owners, they were considered for their work, not as a thinking mind. At the beginning of the Victorian Age the condition of workers began to improve: not considering worker’s basic rights, such as right of education, not recognizing their dignity, the country would risk collapse because it is the working force which support the economy of a country.  Series of reforms: in the first reform act (1832) the middle classes had the right to vote. The right to vote was not democratically spread. Workers didn’t have the right to vote.  Factory act (1833): example of act and laws issued to protect workers, in this case children could not work more than 48 hours for week. Under 18 could not work longer than 69 hours a week.  1870 thanks to the ten hours act all workers were limited to 10 working hours a day. This is an improvement of the conditions of workers.  Poor law Amendment Act (1834): workhouses were established: no family life, in return for basic support. Workhouses were built in England to accommodate workers. Entire families migrated from country villages to town looking for a job. These families had no place to go and no incomes, so workhouses were built, where every type of every poor worker could go, find a place to sleep, not necessary a bed (a lot of people slept on a floor), and they could receive one meal for day, in exchange of their work.  Liberals and conservatives were different parties constituting Parliament. The liberals were in power, being represented by William Gladstone.  In the Third reform act (1884) all men could vote, ballot became secret, so people’s vote could not be blackmailed.  Trade Union Act (1870/71): trade union became legal.  Suffragettes: women fighting for their rights. They managed to organize themselves into a political movement. One of their first requests was the right to vote. They used to wear white suits in order to be recognized. This movement spread in the USA.  Victorian life: sanitation system began to be introduced in the country.  The puritans had a strong sense of duty. Respectability and responsibility were the principles they lived by. They were hard workers.  People’s values were different. Many people had an immoral behavior.  HARD TIMES  This is a novel written by Charles Dickens in 1854. The novel shows tragic view over English society of the time. One of his major works is Oliver Twist. In his main works he focuses on one character coming from lower levels of society, victim of society, victim of injustices and he writes the story of this characters.  In Hard Times he gives an idea of different social levels. It is full of the typical biting irony of Charles Dickens. He tasted how bitter working conditions were in factories: he had