documentary context victorian era - complete Flashcards
when was Dracula published
1897
the discover of radio waves and electricity prompts curiosity about what
communication between this world and the next and psychic abilities
many victorians feared losing control over ___
technology
who started the pseudo science of eugenics
Francis galton
who started the pseudo science of physiognomy
cesare ombroso
what new invention captured people’s voices
phonographs
who was the most famous aesthete of the victorian period
Oscar wilde
cultural degenerates are also known as what
decadents
who wrote degeneration and what was it about
max Nordau
aesthetes and decadents causing social degeneration
- he thought books and art corrupted the masses
why was there a growth in asylums in this period
fears that moral defects would be passed down if they were not isolated (social darwinism)
what were literacy rates in this period and what type of stories were bestselling
90%
ghost stories
what becomes a word and is investigated in a book by Havelock ___
homosexuality
Ellis
what writer was very popular for writing detective fiction in this period?
Arthur conan doyle
what doe the Time Machine by HG Wells explore
the degeneration of humanity and technological advancement/modernity
when did social darwinism originate (with what book by who?)
1859
on the origin of species
Charles Darwin
the New Woman was born alongside the invention of what - why?
the bicycle - women began dressing with a more pragmatic trouser style
why did many see the New Woman as degernate
- she read and so gained new ideas
the invention of telegraph communication by ___ prompted speculation of whether radio could be used to communicate how?
Marconi
telepathically
when was the society for psychical research set up? what key figure was a member
1882
the PM
give 3 characteristics of the decadent movement
- hedonism
- material excess/the pursuit of all desires
- creation of art for its own sake
give a book which links strongly to the decadent movement
Oscar Wilde’s the picture of dorian gray
when was degeneration written
1892
what did Nordau say the decadent movement was a result of?
a neurological disorder called ‘degeneration’
what two people did Nordau examine in his book degeneration
wilde and Nietzche
