Hard Times By Charles Dickens And Charlotte Bronte

The Victorian Era or the romantic period was a time in which Queen Victoria ruled the throne. The Victorian period formally began in 1837 the year in which Victoria became the Queen of England and ended in 1901 the year in which she was laid to rest. In this paper, I will discuss Queen Victoria’s life or what we all know to be “The Victorian Era.” I will highlight some of the most powerful events that occurred during this time, the many reforms that were passed during Queen Victoria’s ruling, I will discuss the political, cultural, and social developments of this time period. I will speak about some inventions of the Victorian Era, and the two main political parties better known as the Tory and Whigs that were popular during this age. You will discover what imperialism is, the commonwealth, The British Monarch and why and how Victoria was such a remarkable monarch. I will even tell you some of the most interesting facts that I have learned to be true about Queen Victoria.

Ever wonder how the Victorian era class system worked?There were 3 classes,The class system was what kind of jobs and living you had.There were 3 classes Working class,Middle class, and Elite class.Once you were in a class it was near impossible to move up or down the classes.The working class never dreamed of moving up into a new class or leaving a class in any way shape or form(4).The Elite class was the rich and royalty,The middle class was the middle of the road and wasn’t laborious this was the most common class,The lowest class of the three is the working class the people who were on this class were the hardest workers in society.This was factory work and things of that nature(3).

“In September of 1824, [Charlotte and Emily] were sent to the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge, a school for the daughters of impoverished clergy… The harsh conditions of the school were later reflected in Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre.”(Lewis)

The Victorian era has an influential impact on individuals as they overcame many of society’s beliefs during this period. In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, societal pressure during the Victorian era led to a discovery of the human condition. This is demonstrated through: love, gender roles, and social class.

How long did the Victorian Era last? Queen Victoria of England ruled the throne for over 64 years, however her impact made the Victorian era last for a 150 year. The Victorian era was most known for its censorship and proper allegations. For example, men were supposed to be hard workers and protectors of the house and family. Subsequently, women were suited to a role that limited their abilities as a citizen as compared to today, which included household chores and such. Lastly, children were to be quite and did not spend much time with their mothers and fathers. Due to society’s own harsh expectations of themselves, it impacted other aspects of their lives. This impacted literature and is a major time when authors had to use more profound and deeper meaning to events in stories to get inappropriate points across that would otherwise be censored. With this, the ideas in literature reflect ideas that are found during the Victorian era because of its characters’ reactions and events that were censored. The novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, uses the Victorian era’s ideology to influence the story and its characters to convey the Victorian’s beliefs in their society.

Imagine going to school knowing that if you were behind on something, you would get hit. Imagine only being able to see your parents in the morning and at night, and being stuck with a nanny, who would sometimes be strict and yell or beat you. Imagine being stuck in a room all day after school, and not being able to leave. This was the life of a child of the estate during the Victorian Era. Although the child’s family may have been rich, that doesn’t mean that the child will live a happy life, free of troubles and worries. Although some aspects of a child’s life were happy and not worrisome including their variety of food choice and expensive clothing, children during the Victorian Era usually had very sad and depressing lives because of the

It is at this point that I would like to direct you to the curriculum that informs teachers practice and presentation of mathematics in Victoria, the Victorian Curriculum. The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority [VCAA] (2015) consists of two sections; the learning areas, and capabilities. Included in capabilities are Critical and Creative Thinking. Furthermore, within the rational of mathematics rationale section of the curriculum there is this statement: “provides students with access to important mathematical ideas, knowledge and skills that they will draw on in their personal and work lives” (VCAA, 2015). So why with a focus on creative thought and connecting mathematics to student lives, are teachers failing to meet these ideas touched

These relationships are different than the ones most people are used to today. Today in schools, students and teachers typically have good relationships are have the ability to have one on one relationships with them. This is something completely foreign for victorian schools. For example, “Hard Times” addresses this by this line, “‘Girl number twenty,’ said Mr. Gradgrind, squarely pointing with his square forefinger, ‘I don't know that girl. Who is that girl?’” From this line, readers can definitely gather the idea that teachers and students do not know each other on a personal level, instead they refer to students by numbers. In “Jane Eyre” this idea is also shown because the teachers are quite rude to the students. “‘You dirty, disagreeable girl! you have never cleaned your nails this morning!’’ This line from “Jane Eyre” shows how the teachers treat the students, obviously not in a good way. Teachers today wouldn’t say those types of things to their students becasue the relationships between teachers and students are extremely different. Evidently, relationships between teachers and students are very different in victorian times than they are

Charles Dicken’s novel Bleak House and Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre both showcase poorly treated children in their works to draw attention to societal norms in the nineteenth century that both authors found abhorrent. Dickens, through his character Jo shows the reader the harsh reality of homeless children in London in the nineteenth century. Dickens gives Jo, the street urchin, the important role of connecting the characters in Bleak House. Dickens also introduces the reader to Charlotte, a thirteen-year-old, who must work, rather than attend school, as she is the sole caretaker of her siblings. Both authors address religious hypocrisy and its victims, the children. Bronte shows this hypocrisy in the educational realms at Lowood school and uses the character of young Helen Burns to show the reader what true religion should look like. Bronte also uses the kindness of Miss Temple to let the reader know that not all adults were cruel hypocrites. Dickens uses family life in the characters of Mrs. Jellyby and Mrs. Pardiggle to show the damage that religious hypocrisy causes to children.

Due to the restrictions, the children of the lower-class families “were taught in local institutions, such as the one in which Jane Eyre is a schoolmistress, and would rarely progress beyond basic skills” (Napierkowski). Since these young children did not have a strong foundation and exposure to the correct style of learning, they would not be able to acquire more information since they did not know to study. In addition to the improper background of knowledge, working-class children did not attend school since they were “expected to be neatly dressed and cleaned with hair combed, but it was impossible” (Wallace). This was the debate for the people since these children did not have a choice to not attend since they physically did not have the resources to meet the requirements for school due to living in poverty or on the dirty streets. While being well-dressed does promote better education and less worry about physical appearances, it should not be a requirement since every child should have the chance to obtain an education if they want and not be denied based on their looks. Therefore, most of the children who decided to attend school for a couple of years left

At the start of the Victorian era many children did not go to school and most worked in factories. There were some good boys’ schools around, but only rich families could afford to pay the fees, so even if you were male, the wealth of your family determined whether your life would lead to something worthwhile or not. Girls did not go to school at all at the start of the era, so were left with little, if any, education. Girls from wealthy families could be taught at home by a governess, but only the minority had this luxury. From 1833, this all changed and the English parliament began to provide schools for poor children. The Forster elementary act

Can I get someone to raise your hand, and say I like school? No? Okay this is how it’s going to go, Raise your hand or else. What is this an example of, it’s an example of a victorian teacher trying to manipulate the students into saying something that is, and never was true. We all have our opinions in what we think of a place, person, or thing. In this time period we have children that weren’t able to speak unless spoken to. There were kids getting yelled at for no reason at all, but a horrid teacher thought it would be funny to tear down their self esteem. In our time period we think a teacher is horrible when they tell us no. What would it be like to slowly lose your faith, and happiness everyday walking into the school? Most of us would say go to high school that will ruin you. Others could say go to college. These children are going to tell you go to elementary school and find out what real torture is. The three messages that the victorian schools bring are bullying, no creativity, and fear.

Charles Dickens (the author of Great Expectations) and Charlotte Brontë (the author of Jane Eyre) both grew up during the early 1800s. Growing up during the same time period, each author incorporated elements of the Victorian Society into these novels. Both novels depict the protagonist’s search for the meaning of life and the nature of the world within the context of a defined social order. In essence, the two novels encompass the all-around self-development of the main characters, by employing similar techniques. Each spurs the protagonist on their journey by introducing some form of loss or discontent which then results in the main character departing

great prosperity in Great Britain's literature. The Victorian Age produced a variety of changes. Political and social reform produced a variety of reading among all classes. The lower-class became more self-conscious, the middle class more powerful and the rich became more vulnerable. The novels of Charles Dickens, the poems of Alfred,

Feminists like Charlotte Bronte, fight for equality emotionally, mentally, financially, and physically. When Charlotte was 5 her mother passed away, and therefore the loss of a mother became the theme in her books. Then at age eight her father sent her and her sisters to The Clergy Daughters’ School which was expressed as Lowood School in “Jane Eyre”. Also just like Helen Burns in “Jane Eyre”, her older sisters Maria and Elizabeth died of tuberculosis. When Bronte was twenty six she enrolled in a school to learn French. It was in this time when she created “Jane Eyre”, in which she poured out her passion for her married teacher, creating the character Mr. Rochester. While writing “Jane Eyre” Charlotte discovered that Arthur Bell Nicholls, one of her father’s workers, had fallen in love with her, but she did not reciprocate these feelings. The two