1. Victorianism (1832-1900)

2. The Period in Time (1832-1900) 1836: The Alamo 1837: Morse invents telegraph 1843: Typewriter invented 1845: Beginning of Potato Famine 1848: Communist Manifesto published 1854: Matthew Perry forces “opening” of Japan, Big Ben built 1859: Darwin publishes The Origin of the Species 1861: U.S. Civil War begins 1861: First paper money used in U.S. 1870: Surgeon discovers that sterilizing instruments before surgery helps prevent disease 1875: Light bulb invented 1876: Telephone invented 1882: Married Woman’s Property act 1888: Murders by Jack the Ripper, Kodak camera invented 1890: Vincent Van Gogh commits suicide 1893: New Zealand is first country to give national woman’s suffrage 1895: X-Ray invented in Germany

3. Industrialization Factories change British lifestyle tremendously – Urbanization: movement to cities Victoria’s reign (1837-1901): London population grows from 2 million  6.5 million First industrialized country  painful transformation! – Children as young as five working 16 hour days – Cholera, vermin – Bleak House’s Jo – Debtor’s Prison, Workhouses

4. Middle Class Victorians Queen Victoria and Albert offered an example of prudent middleclass values During period of uncertainty and change—and startlingly growing communities—manners and presentation became important – Strict social customs to give appearance/illusion of propriety, safety – Victorians are concerned with self-fashioning, particularly through their consumerism Parlor as performance Concerned with distinguishing self from poor while kindly condescending to help them.

5. Victorian Women In the wake of urbanization and perceived corruption, the home—“women’s sphere”— was seen as a sanctuary. The ideal woman was an “angel in the house” – Angel: morally upright, attractive, passive, selfless – House: domestic – Think: Biddy or Lucie Manette

6. The British Empire The British Empire reached its height during Victoria’s reign – By 1890: ¼ people in world were “subjects” of Great Britain, ¼ of land was in empire Ethnocentricity: English people as “the greatest and most highly civilized people the world ever saw.” – “Take up the White Man’s burden… To wait in heavy harness, / On fluttered folk and wild--… Half devil and half child.”

7. Victorianism: An Age of Contradictions Industrialization – Lower classes suffer horribly – New, powerful Middle class emerges “Victorians”: Code of manners and morals, materialism “Progress” – Technology moving forward, making better Causes problems: urbanization, “fog” – Bringing “progress” to other cultures through imperialism is implicitly racist, ethnocentric, oppressive “Age of Improvement” – Self-righteous cultivation of white, English, middle-class values at home and abroad

8. Victorian Writers Victorian writers attempt to negotiate the optimism of Victorianism with the crushing social realities of their time. – Industrialization, urban poor – De Jure and De facto inferior treatment of women – Problematic elements of colonialism – New, frightening theories and discoveries Marx Darwin Geology

9. Victorian Novel “Age of the Novel” – Serial publication Realism: attempt to present an accurate portrayal of reality; details – Often concerned with social justice Disparity between values and reality – Like manners of Victorians  often a way of understanding role of individual in sprawling, multi-faceted society

10. Victorian Poetry In response to popularity of novel, poetry often attempted to experiment in storytelling – Long narrative poems Alfred Lord Tennyson – Dramatic monologues – Dramatic monologues: a lyric poem where voice of speaker is ironically distinct from poet Robert Browning – Picturesque poems that use visual details Often trying to represent psychology and perspectives in different ways