social/political context Flashcards
Predominant social change in the 19th cnetuary
- Britain changed from a largely rural country to being a largely rural to a predominately urban country
- great cities sprung up (manchester, birmingham) and old cities grew enormously (london bristol)
- people from the countryside were drawn to urban areas in which there were often squalid conditions
How was Dorest affected by these social changes in the 19th centuary
-Dorset appeared to be mostly untouched by this change- it had no cities and a very small population (several thousand). Most towns were small market towns largely unchanged for centuaries
Economic conditions of the Agricultural sector in the 19th centuary
- throughout the 19th century prospects for those working in the agricultural sector remained difficult as they had to compete with the rise of urban industrialisation
- as a result agricultural workers had very low wages
- work was becoming increasingly seasonal/ temporary
what was done to attempt to standardise wages and relief for poorer workers
-The old Speenhamland system was abolished- this had allowed for the supplementation of workers’ wages by the parish in time of hardship
what replaced the speenhamland system in 1834?
-the poor law amendement act which instigated the relief of the poor through workhouses,
reaction to the Poor Law Amendment act?
- vastly unpopular
- resulted in protestations such as that at Tolpuddle (near Hardy’s home)
reaction to the Tolpuddle protests
these protests had been severly supressed and its leaders (known as the Tolpuddle Matyrs) were tried and deported as convicts to Australia
Success of Dairy Farms on the 19th century
-Dairy business did particularly well, particularly as a result of developments in railways as products could be rapidly transported to the cities (essential as this was before refrigeration)
What socio-economic changes does hardy allude to as the novel progresses
- increasingly great movement of people in search of employment
- The dispossession of country people becomes a common occurrence (e.g. after the death of Jack the Durbeyfields are required to find temporary accommodation)
- The growing use of farm mechanisation is depicted (Reaper, combine harvester and machinery at Flintcomb ash)
Different social divisions present in Tess
- professional middle class people (e.g Angel and his family)
- Farmers and liviers (Dairyman Crick)
- Copyholders/ freeholders (tess’s dad)
- skilled farm labourers
- unskilled farm labourers
what were lifeholders/ liviers?
people who had security of tenure as long as they lived. sometimes this right to lease could be passed on to the next generation, however this is not always the case
social mobility in the 19th centuary
society was becoming increasingly mobile- sme examples in Tess are
1) Tess’s families downwards mobility (from aristocrats to middle lower class rural to desperation
2) Alec’s family is upwardly mobile- the economic boom of victorian industrialisation meant that there was alot of ‘new money’
4 methods of social betterment
- marriage
- professional development
- prospects for women
- emigration
inter class marriage
-intermarriage between the classes was possible but not easy or socially acceptable
how was Hardy affected by the social aversion to intermarriage between the classes
- Hardy was considered to have married above his class as Emma as the sister in law of a vicar (a professional middle class person) whereas Hardy’s parents were tradespeople (skilled working class)
- neither family fully accepted the spouse
- Hardy had a connection to both these classes yet was never fully accepted by neither na dfelt the tension
