Scarica L'Età Vittoriana in Inghilterra e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Victorian age Queen Victoria Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, at 18 years old. She ruled for 64 years and gave her name to an age of economic and scientific progress and social reforms. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and gave him the title of Prince Consort in 1857. An age of reform The 1830s are the years called ‘’age of reform'’: ● 1832, First Reform Act or Great Reform Act - the voting privileges were transferred from the small boroughs to the large industrial towns; ● 1833, Factory Act - children between 9 and 13 couldn’t work more than 48 hours a week and people between 13 and 18 couldn’t work more than 72 hours a week; ● 1834, Poor Law Amendment Act - workhouses were places where poor people could get board and lodging in return for work. Workhouses and religion Life in the workhouses was regulated by hard work and a monotonous diet; the poor had to wear uniforms and their families were split. The idea behind the workhouses was that awareness of such a hard life would inspire the poor to improve their condition. Workhouses were run by the Church. Chartism In 1838 a group of working-class radicals drew up a People’s Charter demanding equal electoral districts, universal male suffrage and a secret ballot. No one in power was ready for such democracy so the Chartist movement failed. Their influence was felt in 1872 when the secret ballot was introduced thanks to the Ballot Act. Technological progress During the 19th century, England experienced a new wave of industrialisation which brought economic and cultural changes: ● In 1848 England did not experienced a revolution like the rest of Europe did; ● In 1851 Prince Albert organized a Great Exhibition to show Britain’s power; the exhibition took place at the Crystal Palace, built in Hyde Park by Sir Joseph Paxton and was visited by a lot of people. For this occasion were built museums like the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum And the Victoria and Albert Museum; ● In 1860 started the building of the London Underground which made transport of materials and people's lives easier. Foreign policy England was involved in the two Opium wars: the First Opium War (1839-42) was fought between Britain and China while the Second Opium War (1856-60) was fought between Britain and France against China. In 1857, in India widespread Indian Mutility, a rebellion against British rule. Britain supported the Italian independence from the Austrians; between 1853-56 the Crimean War was fought. It started between Russia and the Ottoman Turks, but soon France and Britain got involved since they wanted to limit Russia’s power in the area. The Victorian compromise A complex age The Victorian age was a time of great changes but also of great contradictions: progress, reforms and stability coexisted with poverty and injustice, modernity was praised but there was a revival of Gothic and Classicism in art, people believed in God but also in progress and science. Respectability During the 19th century, respectability was a concept shared by the middle and working classes; it was based on education, hygiene, good manners and self-restraint. Virtues like good social status and appearance were celebrated and men felt the duty to protect and respect women, seen physically weaker but morally stronger than men. They controlled the family budget and raised the children. Sexuality was a repressed concept: there was a concern for female chastity, nudity in art was banned and genitals were veiled. Also, word with a sexual connotation were rejected from everyday vocabulary. Early Victorians thinkers Evangelicalism and Bentham’s Utilitarianism Evangelicalism influenced Victorian emphasis upon moral conduct as the test of the good Christian. Inspired by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the Evangelicans believed in
