The Victorian Terror! What do you believe to be our current society’s biggest fear? Write a few sentences in your books explaining why you think this is. L.O To look at works of fiction from the Victorian era and discover the underlying fear!

Kingsley- The Water Babies ‘The Water Babies’ was written by Charles Kingsley in support of Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’. The text was extremely popular in it’s day due to its concern with Christian redemption and child labour.

Charles Kinsley- The Water Babies Synopsis The protagonist is Tom, a young chimney sweep, who falls into a river after encountering an upper-class girl named Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he drowns and is transformed into a "water-baby", as he is told by a caddisfly—an insect that sheds its skin—and begins his moral education. The story is thematically concerned with Christian redemption, though Kingsley also uses the book to argue that England treats its poor badly, and to question child labour, among other themes. Tom embarks on a series of adventures and lessons, and enjoys the community of other water-babies once he proves himself a moral creature. The major spiritual leaders in his new world are the fairies Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby (a reference to the Golden Rule), Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, and Mother Carey. Weekly, Tom is allowed the company of Ellie, who became a water-baby after he did. Grimes, his old master, drowns as well, and in his final adventure, Tom travels to the end of the world to attempt to help the man where he is being punished for his misdeeds. Tom helps Grimes to find repentance, and Grimes will be given a second chance if he can successfully perform a final penance. By proving his willingness to do things he does not like, if they are the right things to do, Tom earns himself a return to human form, and becomes "a great man of science" who "can plan railways, and steam-engines, and electric telegraphs, and rifled guns, and so forth". He and Ellie are united, although the book states that they never marry (claiming that in fairy tales, no one beneath the rank of prince and princess ever marries).

Reflection on Victorian Terror Tricky: Tom gets to return to human form by the end of the book, how do you think society would have reacted to this? Trickier: How do you think this text supports Darwin’s theory of evolution? Trickiest: What comment do you think this text makes about Victorian Society?

Wilde- The Picture of Dorian Gray Wilde faced fierce criticism when his original version of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray was released. It told of a man who seeks amoral experiences; all the while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin. Why might this idea offend a Victorian audience?

Wilde- The Picture of Dorian Gray Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences; all the while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin.

Now think back to your original list of 21st Century terrors! Based on the starter, write a short story or poem based on this fear. Be ready to share your ideas!