Victorian Age

The Victorian Age (1830-1901)
Sambourne House, London.

Victoria became queen at
the age of 18; she was
graceful and self-assured.

Her reign was the longest
in British history.
The Victorian Age
Franz Xavier Winterhalter, The young Queen Victoria, 1842
1. Queen Victoria
Only Connect ... New Directions
The Victorian Age
1. Queen Victoria
In 1840 she married a
German prince, Albert of
Saxe-Coburg.

They had nine children and
their modest family life
provided a model of
respectability.

During this time Britain
changed dramatically.
Franz Xavier Winterhalter, The young Queen Victoria, 1842
2. The growth of the British Empire
England grew to become the greatest nation on earth
The sun never sets on England.
The Victorian Age
British Empire throughout the World, 19th century, Private Collection.
British Empire included Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Kenya, and India.
The Victorian Age
Great Britain imported raw materials such as cotton and silk
and exported finished goods to countries around the world.
The Victorian Age
By the mid-1800s, Great Britain was the largest exporter and
importer of goods in the world. It was the primary
manufacturer of goods and the wealthiest country in the world.
The Victorian Age
Because of Englands success, the British felt it was their
duty to bring English values, laws, customs, and religion
to the savage races around the world.
The Victorian Age
1832: The First Reform Act granted the vote to almost
all male members of middle-class.

1833: The Factory Act regulated child labour in
factories.

1834: Poor Law Amendment established a system of
workhouses for poor people.
3. An age of social and political reforms
The Victorian Age
3. An age of social and political reforms
The Victorian Age
1867: The Second Reform Act gave the vote to skilled
working men.

1871: Trade Union Act legalised trades unions.

1884: The Third Reform Act granted the right to vote to
all male householders.
Womens suffrage did not happen until 1918.

The Rights of Women or Take Your Choice (1869)
4. The womans question
The Victorian Age
Suffragettes
Industrial revolution: factory
system emerged; for the first
time in Britains history there
were more people who lived in
cities than in the countryside.

Technological advances:
introduction of steam hammers
and locomotives; building of a
network of railways.

Workers in a Tobacco Factory
5. Positive aspects of the age
The Victorian Age
5. Positive aspects of the age
The Victorian Age
Economical progress: Britain
became the greatest
economical power in the world;
in 1901 the Usa became the
leader, but Britain remained
the first in manufacturing.
Workers in a Tobacco Factory
Crystal Palace was built for
the Great Exhibition of
1851; it was destroyed by
fire in 1936.

6. Crystal Palace
The Victorian Age
The Crystal Palace
6. Crystal Palace
The Victorian Age
It was made of iron and
glass, exhibited hydraulic
presses, locomotives,
machine tools, power looms,
power reapers and
steamboat engines.
The Crystal Palace
It had a political purpose
it showed British economic
supremacy in the world.
6. Crystal Palace
The Victorian Age
The Crystal Palace
Pollution in towns due to factory activity.
London in 1872 Homeless Boys (1880)
7. Negative aspects of the age
The Victorian Age
7. Negative aspects of the age
The Victorian Age
Lack of hygienic conditions: houses were overcrowded, most
people lived in miserable conditions; poor houses shared water
supplies.
London in 1872 Homeless Boys (1880)
Epidemics, like cholera, thyphoid,
caused a high mortality in towns.
They came to a peak in the Great
Stink of 1858.

This expression was used to
describe the terrible smell in
London, coming from the
Thames.

The Miasmas, exhalations from
decaying matter, poisoned the air.
8. The Great Stink
Caricature appearing on the magazine Punch in
1858
The Victorian Age
The Victorians were great
moralisers they
supported: personal duty,
hard work, decorum,
respectability, chastity.

9. The Victorian compromise
The Victorian Age
W. H. Hunt, The Awakening Conscience,
1853-4, London, Tate Britain.
Victorian, synonym for
prude, stood for extreme
repression; even furniture
legs had to be concealed
under heavy cloth not to be
suggestive.

New ideas were discussed &
debated by a large part of
society.
The Victorian Age
W. H. Hunt, The Awakening Conscience,
1853-4, London, Tate Britain.
The middle-class was
obsessed with gentility,
respectability, decorum.

Respectability
distinguished the middle from
the lower class.
The Victorian Age
John Lamb, Victorian family portrait, 1879.
Decorum meant:

a. Victorian private lives were
dominated by an authoritarian
father.
b. Women were subject to male
authority; they were expected
to marry and make home a
refuge for their husbands.
The Victorian Age
John Lamb, Victorian family portrait, 1879.
John Stuart Mill and his
ideas based on Benthams
Utilitarianism.
10. Key thinkers
The Victorian Age
John Stuart Mill
Karl Marx and his studies
about the harm caused by
industrialism in mans life.
10. Key thinkers
The Victorian Age
Karl Marx
Charles Darwin and
the theory of natural
selection.
10. Key thinkers
The Victorian Age
Charles Darwin

11. The rise of the novel
There was a communion of interests and opinions
between the writers and their readers.

The Victorians were avid consumers of literature. They
borrowed books from circulating libraries and read
various periodicals.
The Victorian Age
Novels made their first appearance in instalments on
the pages of periodicals.

The voice of the omniscient narrator provided a
comment on the plot and erected a rigid barrier between
right and wrong, light and darkness.
The Victorian Age
The setting chosen by most Victorian novelists was
the town.

Victorian writers concentrated on the creation of
characters and achieved a deeper analysis of their
inner life.
The Victorian Age
12. Poetry
Alfred, Lord Tennyson:
the most popular
Victorian poet. He wrote
narrative poems.
The Victorian Age
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, by George Frederic
Watts (died 1904), given to the National Portrait Gallery,
London in 1895.
12. Poetry
Robert Browning: he
raised the dramatic
monologue to new heights
making it a vehicle for a
deep psychological study.
The Victorian Age
Robert Browning
12. Poetry
Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
she wrote love sonnets valued
for their lyric beauty.
The Victorian Age
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Victorian Age

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The Victorian Age (1830-1901)

Sambourne House, London.

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