Victorian Age Flashcards
What characterizes the Victorian Age?
A complex age marked by unprecedented change, contradictions, progress, reforms, political stability, poverty, and rusticity.
What are the key components of respectability during the Victorian era?
- Self-restraint
- Good manners
- Self-help
- Assertion of social status
- Keeping up appearances
- Hypocrisy
What do Evangelicals believe in?
- The literal truth of the Bible
- Obedience to a strict code of morality
- Dedication to humanitarian causes and social reform
According to Bentham’s Utilitarianism, when is an action morally right?
If it has consequences that lead to happiness
All institutions should be tested in the light of reason and common sense to determinate if they are useful
Suited the middle class vision
Contributed to the idea that everything could be overcome by reason
What did John Stuart Mill believe about happiness and legislation?
- Happiness is a state of the mind and spirit, not just a search for selfish pleasure
*progress comes from mental energy
*he promoted a long series of social reform - Legislation should help develop natural talents and personalities
What was the significance of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution?
- All living creatures developed through change and adaptation
- Survival depends on favorable physical conditions
- Man evolved from less organized forms
- Discarded the biblical version of creation
What was the Oxford Movement’s response to scientific challenges?
A return to ancient doctrines and rituals by British Catholics.
Who led the Parties during Queen Victoria’s later years? Where they originated from?
Liberal Party: William Gladstone,originated from Whigs,Radicals, business man
Conservative Party: Benjamin Disraeli, originated from the Teories
What key acts were introduced during Benjamin Disraeli’s leadership?
- Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Act (1875)
- Public Health Act (1875)
- Factory Act (1878)
What was the main focus of William Gladstone’s reforming legislation?
Education, including the 1870 Education Act and the legalization of trade unions.
What title was Queen Victoria given in 1877?
Empress of India.
What characterized Victorian poetry during this period?
- Concern with social reality
- Expression of intellectual and moral debate
- Creation of majestic poems linked to myth and belief
How was the role of the poet viewed in the Victorian era?
As a ‘prophet’ and philosopher expected to reconcile faith and progress.
Who also could add a little romance to the materialism of modern life
What significant change occurred between readers and writers during the Victorian era?
A communion of interests and opinions, particularly due to the growth of the middle class.
How was Victorian literature commonly published?
In serial form, through installments in periodicals.
* the author was obliged to maintain the interest for the story gripping or people wouldn’t have bought it anymore
* like this the author was much more in contact with the public
What did novelists in the 1840s believe their literature should accomplish?
*Reflect social changes and fulfil
* Reflects the social changes
*first part described society as they saw it, without any sentiments that could offend the current morals
What narrative technique was commonly used in Victorian novels?
The voice of the omniscient narrator to comment on the plot and behaviors.
What types of novels were prevalent during the Victorian era?
- Novel of manners
- Humanitarian novel
- Novel of formation
- Literary nonsense
What challenges did women writers face during the Victorian period?
- Difficulty getting published
- Often used male pseudonyms
What is the American Renaissance?
A period from the 1830s to the end of the American Civil War marking the beginning of a truly American literature.
What is Transcendentalism?
A philosophical movement emphasizing:
*unity of all reality
*contact with nature to reach the truth and awareness of the unity of all things
* everything was linked together by the over soul, a spiritual principle
*man is the emanation of the over soul
What impact did Darwin’s theory have on the late Victorian novel?
It mirrored a society in moral and religious crisis, with plot coincidences reflecting Darwinian principles.
What themes did colonial literature explore?
British imperialism and the belief in the white man’s duty to civilize.
how can be described the first part of the Victorian literature?
*first part described society as they saw it, without any sentiments that could offend the current morals
* they were aware of the evil of society
*their criticism wasn’t radical
what was about the artisan and labourers dwelling act?
allowed local authorities to clear the slums and create new housing for the poor
what is the public health act about?
provvide sanitation and running water
what is the factory act about?
limited the working hours per week
what was Gladstone education ct about?
- introduced board schools, mainly in the poorest areas of the town
*18180 elementary eduction became compulsory
what was the Gladstone trade union act about?
legalised trade unions
what is the most common form of literature during the victorian era?
*the novel
*the scientific knowledge made it realistic and analytical
*spread of democracy made it humanitarian and social
* spirit of moral unrest made it inquisitive and critical
how was the humanitarian novel?
*combined humour with the requests and critique for reforms for the less fortunate
* dickens
* have realistic/fantastic/moral nature, depends on the issue dealt with
what was Gladstone secret ballot act about?
introduced the secret ballot during election
did gladstone support the Home rule? was it passed?
yes he did, it was passed just after the WWI
how was the novel of manners of the victorian era?
- dealt with economic or social problems
- described a particular class or situation
how is the novel formation ?
*dealt with one characters development from early youth to some sort of maturity
how was literally nonsense ?
*Edward Lee and Lewis Carroll
* nonsensical universe where the social rules and conventions are disintegrated
