Context Flashcards
What time period was 1880 - 1910
Fin-de-siecle, late 17th/ early 18th
What monarchs reigned in this time period?
Victoria, Edward VII (1901-1910)
how was female representation changing?
• more progressive through this period
• exploring identities and sexualities
• Victorian prostitution
• reevaluation of gender roles
What is an epistolary?
Novel of letters/ diaries
What were Freud’s ideas?
Ideas of dreams coming into fruition (fantasies, wants, needs)
Duality of…
…man
What is a Gynotext?
A text by women, written for women
What is an important factor of this time that affected other countries?
Colonialism
What key theme about social class is present in this period?
Capitalism and Class Inequalities
What are the 6 main contextual themes?
Women’s Role in Society
Masculinity
Morality, religion & new ideas
Class
Crime
Race and Colonialism
What 3 places can context be split into?
America
World
England
what is some specific class context?
England:
• underground drug obsession London
• economic, political and social change in Victorian
• high levels of unemployment
• major income inequality in Edwardian
America:
• Progressive era = writers using their art to converse about social issues
what is some specific women context?
England:
• Victorian ideals of femininity and motherhood
• inadequate education for girls
America:
• women’s rights movement was young
eg. women were legal property of men in some states and no divorce
what is some specific race/colonialism context?
World:
• ‘scramble for Africa’ = European countries competed to colonize as much of Africa as possible
America:
• Reconstruction Era after Civil War (ending 1865) saw slavory being abolished in the US
- Jim Crow Laws 1876, reduced institutional racial segregation
what is some specific industrialisation + new ideas context?
England:
• England was transitioning into an age of modernity with the increase in industrialisation and national prosperity
• medical science was developing which led to questions about God and religion
• Rising popularity and development of electricity and the automobile
What happened to the public because of crime?
there was a desensitisation to public violence with cases like Jack the Ripper
What was a big revolution in Europe at the time?
French Revolution
What type of writers were becoming prominent and respected?
Romantic and Modernist
What did the rise of imperialism in Britain lead to?
more money, legends, info
What were the traditional Victorian views?
Sexual repression, conservative, gender stereotypes
