1. TheVictorianEra
An Age of Change…
An Age of Contrast…
A Background to Victorian Literature
Ada Villalba, Mariana Fiorito
2. Queen Victoria ruled the
British Empire for 64 years
(1837-1901)
The “civilizing mission of the
Anglo-Saxon race” ruled the
expansion of British control…
3. … raw materials from the colonies…
… finished products to the colonies…
4. from confidence and
optimism leading
to prosperity…
… to uncertainty and doubt
regarding Britain’s place
in the world…
6. … the Industrial Revolution marked
a major turning point in history,
greatly affecting the social, economic
and cultural conditions of people’s
lives…
… idyllic rural England
lost its charm to
industrialized urban England…
7. … Romanticism became the voice of revolution
at the beginning of the 19th century and the
voice of the establishment at the end of it…
(*)
the cradle of
the working classes…
the triumph of
the bourgeoisie…
8. … Positivism measured everything and denied intuition…
… Utilitarianism proclaimed that what is useful is good…
… Victorians believed in the perfection of their evolved,
representative government…
9. … workers lived and worked
under appalling and
dangerous conditions…
… Unionism was born…
10. … children were employed in factories and mines…
… but then children began to read and write…
11. … education was based on facts
and classrooms were
grim places…
… schools provided for the
industrial model…
12. … a woman was the “angel of the
house”, and a prisoner…
… many women became
part
of the workforce…
feminist ideas began to spread and the
uffragettes began to fight for women’s rights…
13. … Victorian morality
imposed restraint and
worshipped family life...
… yet hid
widespread adultery
and prostitution…
14. … the Great Exhibition made Britain’s superiority
clear to the world …
and Britain sought to provide the world with the
hope of a better future thanks to technology…
15. … Victorian explorers and missionaries
went to Africa to create new ways of
seeing the world…
through British eyes…
16. … Victorians experienced a
great deal of religious doubt…
… the aristocratic
High Church Movement
was challenged by
the arrival of the
Evangelicals and the
Salvation Army…
17. … Science and Religion clashed as
Darwin raised controversy by challenging the
religious view of the evolution of man…
18. … the rebellious Pre-Raphaelites
defied art conventions and
shook the Victorian art
world…
19. … the extremely ornate and cluttered
Victorian decoration
gave way to the
Arts & Crafts Movement
and aimed at reviving the
traditional, simpler, craft skills…
20. … entertainment for the poor
included boxing, gambling,
dog races and fairs…
… and entertainment for the wealthy included fox
hunting, cricket, theatre going, dance halls and the
circus...
