Victorian Age Flashcards
from the traditions to the novels
1.How was 19th century Britain like?
Britan had become a nation of town dwellers due to its extraordinary industrial development.
2.What changes did the industrial development bring to Britain?
- Overpopulation in towns led to terrible conditions especially for the poorer
2.Poor lived in so called slum towns that were overrun by disease and crime.
- What were these town slums like ?
-terrible working and health conditions
-polluted environments
epidemics of cholera and typhoid caused by polluted water.
-2 Housing Acts were passed to clean up the towns, but they were too slow
4.What were the workhouses and how did they work?
They were buildings were people that were very poor could live in exchange of their labour.
5.What was done to improve the cities?
1.Medicine improved; modern hospitals and professional organization
2.Gradual introduction of services like gas, street light, paved roads, running water etc..
3.Places of entertainment like public houses, parks , stadiums and music halls
1.What is the meaning of “compromise” as applied to the Victorian way of life?
Because there were two sides of the Victorian Age. On one hand it was a time characterized by progress and the industrial revolution on the other hand it was also characterized by injustice, poverty and social unrest.
2.Why did the Victorians feel forced to promote a strict code of values?
Because they faced such big problems on that front that they were in need of something that offered some kind of solution ora a way out. That is why they created a code of values that reflected the world they wanted to be not the one it was. This code was based on duties, hard work, charity and respectability and it applied to everyone not only the upper classes.
3.Victorian value of work.
The idea of working hard was fundamental during the victorian age. Since they so strongly believed in progress it was natural of them to develop this sense of duty and hard work.
4.Victorian value of respectability.
This idea distinguished the poor from the middle class. It was a mixture of morality and hypocrisy. It meant having a high maintenance kind of lifestyle ( with money and properties), but also being a philanthropist and performing charitable activities. It also meant attending church regularly .It was all about appearing not being ( wow che novità)
5.Victorian value of family.
The family was a patriarchal unit where the husband had authority and the wife had to take care of house chores and children.
6.Victorian value of sex.
They were very concerned about female chastity ( god help us) ,but , ironically, if women were unmarried the were called “ fallen women” . Sexuality was oppressed and here they were a bunch of repressed bigots lol.
1.Why was there a communion of interests between writers and readers during the Victorian Age ?
Thanks to the rising of the middle classes who consumed literature through circulating libraries and periodicals. At the time most novels were published through installments in periodicals.
2.What did novelist want to reflect?
Writers thought they had a moral and social responsibility to fulfill, thus they wrote about society exactly as it was, with its bad and evil sides. They criticized society, but never in a rebellious way. They wanted to spread awareness.
- What are the distinctive features of the Victorian novel?
- omniscient narrator who builds the barriers between good and evil
- Retribuition and punishment can be found in the last chapter with the explanation of the network of events
3.Plot is long and complicated and it is enriched with subplots
4.The characters are realistic and relatable to the readers who can identify themselves with them
- To what was linked the first part of the Victorian Age ?
To social and humanitarian novels. The main representatives were Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters. They contained romantic and gothic elements and focused on describing subjective experiences rather than on a world social interaction.
