1. Politics in
Victo"an England

2. B"tain
• Cons%tu%onal
Monarchy
• House
of
Windsor
– Queen
Victoria
(1837-­‐1901)
• Era
of
material
progress,
literary
growth,
and
poli%cal
stability

3. B"t$h Parliament
* This
era
saw
the
realignment
of
poli%cal
par%es
in
the
House
of
Commons:
– Tory
Party

Conserva%ve
Party
under
Benjamin
Disraeli
– Whig
Party

Liberal
Party
under
William
Gladstone

4. William Glad&one
Prime
Minister
4
%mes
between
1868-­‐1894
o Educa5on
Act
of
1870
–
state-­‐
supported
public
educa5on
o Ballot
Act
of
1872
–
Secret
ballot
o Legalized
labor
unions
o Promoted
civil
service
exam
o Eliminated
sale
of
commissions
in
the
army
o Worker’s
compensa5on

5. 'e I"( Question
• Biggest
problem
=
Ireland
• Irish
na%onalists
sought
Home
Rule
(not
granted
un%l
1921)
• Home
Rule
=
control
of
local
gov’t

6. 'e Problems
• Bri%sh
–
Irish
=
subhuman
• Irish
Catholics
– Tenant
farmers
– Refused
to
pay
high
rent
to
landlords
• Irish
Protestants
– Landlords
– OWen
lived
in
England
(“absentee”
Landlords)
• Middleman
System

8. I"( Potato Famine
• 1845-­‐1852
• Impact:
– 1
million
Irish
dead
– 1
million
Irish
fled
• Blight
struck
all
of
Europe
– Why
did
it
impact
Ireland
so?
• Video
Clip:
Moments
in
Time:
Famine
to
Freedom:
The
Great
Irish
Journey

9. I"( Potato Famine
• Why
did
it
impact
Ireland
so?
– Completely
dependent
on
potato
– Avg.
Irish
person
consumed
14
lbs
of
potatoes/day!

10. Glad&one & 'e I"( Question
• Two
major
legisla%ve
pieces:
– 1869
–
Disestablishment
Act:
Irish
Catholics
–
no
more
taxes
to
Anglican
church
– 1870
–
Irish
Land
Act:
absentee
Protestant
landowners
can’t
evict
Irish
Catholic
tenants
w/o
compensa%on
• Supported
Home
Rule
for
Ireland

11. Benjamin D$raeli
Prime
Minister
1874-­‐1880
• Reform
Act
of
1867:
Expanded
electorate
• Public
Health
Act
of
1875:
Regulated
public
sanita5on
• Many
laws
to
protect
working
class
&
support
unions
– 1874
Factory
Act
• Ar5sans
Dwelling
Act
of
1875:
Regulated
housing
condi5ons
for
poor

12. Lab*r Pa+y
• Est.
1900
• Worked
closely
w/
Liberals
• Result:
– Liberals
in
power
from
1906-­‐1916
– Set
up
massive
social
welfare
programs
• Sickness,
accident,
old-­‐age,
and
unemployment
insurances
were
all
adopted
• Progressive
tax
established
(wealthy
pay
a
higher
%
rate
of
tax
– Conserva%ves
pushed
for
more
laissez-­‐faire
gov’t

13. Victo"an Society

14. Role Model
• Queen
Victoria
was
seen
as,
“the
very
model
of
marital
stability
and
domes%c
virtue…”
• She
represented
“a
kind
of
femininity
which
was
centered
on
the
family,
motherhood,
and
respectability.”
Quotes
from
BBC
Victorian
Britain

15. Victo"a & Albe+

16. Life in Victo"an England
• Victorian
Buzzwords
o Family
o Propriety
o Modesty
o Morality
o Ra%onality
o E%queke
o Virtue

17. Expectations
• True
ladies
&
gents
– High
moral
standing
– Spent
%me
in
respectable,
produc%ve
manner
– Ac%vi%es

good
for
both
the
soul
and
for
the
country

18. How to Be a Gent for Dummies
• Books
on
how
to
be
a
proper
Bri%sh
ci%zen
abounded
to
assist
the
middle
class
on
the
road
to
morality
• The
book,
Happy
Homes
and
the
Hearts
that
Make
Them
(1882)
suggests,
“The
true
gentleman
is
one
who
has
been
fashioned
a?er
the
highest
models…his
qualiBes
depend
not
on
fashion
or
manners
but
on
moral
worth
-­‐
not
on
personal
possessions
but
upon
personal
qualiBes.”

19. Manners
• A
gentleman
should
not
bow
from
a
window
to
a
lady
on
the
street,
though
he
may
bow
slightly
from
the
street
upon
being
recognized
by
a
lady
in
a
window.
Such
recogni%on
should,
however,
generally
be
avoided,
as
gossip
is
likely
to
akach
undue
importance
to
it
when
seen
by
others.
• A
man
always
escorts
a
woman
everywhere,
to
where
she
needs
to
go.
Unmarried
couples
who
are
not
"publicly
engaged"
together
do
not
wander
off
together.
• Anyone
with
bright
red
hair
and
a
florid
complexion
should
marry
someone
with
jet-­‐black
hair.
The
very
corpulent
should
marry
the
thin
and
spare,
and
the
body,
wiry,
cold-­‐blooded
should
marry
the
round-­‐featured,
warmhearted,
emo%onal
type.

20. Manners
• Ladies
first.
A
gentleman
should
perform
chivalrous
acts
such
as
offering
the
lady
a
hand
to
go
up
her
carriage.
Ladies
are
never
seen
opening
their
own
doors
in
the
presence
of
a
man,
or
carrying
anything
heavy.
• When
crossing
the
pavement,
a
lady
should
raise
her
dress
with
the
right
hand,
a
likle
about
the
ankle.
To
raise
the
dress
with
both
hands
is
vulgar
and
can
only
be
excused
when
mud
is
very
deep.
• To
greet
someone
by
saying
"Hello,
old
fellow"
indicates
ill-­‐breeding.
If
you
are
approached
in
this
vulgar
manner,
it
is
beker
to
give
a
civil
reply
and
address
the
person
respecqully,
in
which
case
he
is
quite
likely
to
be
ashamed
of
his
own
conduct.

21. Oscar Wilde
• Irish
Author/Playwright
• Aesthe%c
movement:
– “L’art
pour
l’art”
– art
should
exist
solely
for
its
own
sake,
independent
of
social
and
moral
concerns
– Only
purpose
=
to
look
preky
• An%thesis
of
Victorian
Ideals

22. Aes,etes in a
Victo"an World
• Victorian
Buzzwords
• Aesthe%cism
Buzzwords
o Family
o Decadence
o Virtuous
o Symbolism
o Modesty
o Decora%on
o Morality
o Materialism
o Ra%onality
o Extravagance
o E%queke
o Caprice

23. Wilde’s Words of W$dom
In
all
unimportant
maFers,
style,
not
sincerity
is
the
essenBal.
In
all
important
maFers,
style,
not
sincerity
is
the
essenBal.

24. Wilde’s Words of W$dom
We
can
forgive
a
man
for
making
a
useful
thing
as
long
as
he
does
not
admire
it.
The
only
excuse
for
making
a
useless
thing
is
that
one
admires
it
intensely.
All
art
is
quite
useless.

25. Wilde’s Words of W$dom
I
wonder
who
it
was
that
defined
man
a
raBonal
animal.
It
was
the
most
premature
definiBon
ever
given.
Man
is
many
things,
but
he
is
not
raBonal.

26. Wilde’s Words of W$dom
The
only
way
to
get
rid
of
a
temptaBon
is
to
yield
to
it.
Resist
it
and
your
soul
grows
sick
with
longing
for
the
things
it
has
forbidden
to
itself…

27. Y* Li-le Bug.r…
• Wilde’s
Woes
– Court
-­‐
wri%ngs
used
against
him
– Guilty:
“Gross
Indecency”
– Jail
%me…

28. Goodbye, Oscar
• Died
-­‐
Nov.
30,1900
• Meningi%s
• Paris
Hotel
• Final
Words…