Scarica Riassunto dell'età vittoriana (in inglese) e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Victorian Age The dawn of the Victorian Age Queen Victoria Queen Victoria came to the throne at eighteen in 1837. A long reign till 1901, so dramatic progress in science and economics and important social reforms. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their example of devoted family life, with nine children, was a model of respectability. Albert became Prince Consort and Victoria’s mane advisor. An age of reform In 1832 the First or Great Reform Act widen the right to vote to the middle classes and the Factory Act in 1833 limited the working hours of children. The Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 created workhouses, where the poor could live for free in return for work, but them were hated for their cruel conditions. Workhouses and religion The government, in fear of encouraging laziness, made sure that people feared the workhouses and would do anything to keep out of it. Family, in the workhouses, were split up, they could meet each other in the chapel or during meals but they couldn’t talk. The workhouses were run by the Church, so Religion was a strong force. Chartism A Second Reform Act in 1867 widen the right to vote further, influenced in part by the Chartist movement. In 1838 a group of radicals had written a People’s Charter demanding universal male suffrage, equal elector districts and secret ballots. The movement failed but they influenced the whitening of the enfranchised and the secret ballot became law in 1872. The Irish Potato Famine A tragic potato famine in Ireland in 1845 was caused by the increase of the population the destruction of the potato crops due to the bad weather and a plant disease. This brought many deaths and a mass emigration to America. It also persuaded the British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, to abolish the Corn Laws in 1846. Technological progress In 1851 a Great Exhibition, organized by Prince Albert, showed the world Britain industrial and economic progress. It was held in the Crystal Palace, a huge structure of glass and steel in Hyde Park which hosted more than 15,000 exhibitors from all over the world. The money made was used to set up several museums in London, like the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Construction work on the London Underground began in 1860 and railways transformed the landscape and people’s lives. Foreign policy To protect the Opium trade Britain was involved in two Opium Wars against China from 1839 to 1860. The result was that Britain gained access to five Chinese ports and the control of Hong Kong. In India British troops put down a rebellion in 1857, the Indian mutiny, and took more direct control. Britain held Italy gain independence from the Austrians and supported Turkey against Russia. This led to the Crimean War, the first with direct journalistic coverage, it is also famous for Florence Nightingale nursing organization of the wounded. The Victorian compromise A complex age The Victorian age was a period of huge progress but also of moral hypocrisy. Great poverty existed alongside great wealth, generous philanthropy next to openly indulgent device. This “Victorian compromise” meant that although religion and respectability were praised, them sometimes covered the injustice and hardship just below the surface. Respectability Women were subject to male authority, in fact they were expected to marry and make home a ‘refuge’ for their husbands. Single women with a child were marginalized as ‘fallen’ women. Respectability was a mixture of morality and hypocrisy. The unpleasant aspects of society were hidden under outward respectability. Early Victorian thinkers Evangelicalism The rapid social changes gave rise to new philosophies and religious movements. Evangelicalism emphasized moral conduct with a strict code of behaviour and the dedication to humanitarian causes and social reform. Bentham’s Utilitarianism Bentham’s Utilitarianism was based on practical usefulness and the happiness of the majority it neglected human and cultural virtues and there was a centrality of reason, that overcome any problem.
