History Of Victorian Steampunk

“The empire on which the sun never sets” was used to describe the British empire during Queen Victoria’s reign, also known as the Victorian Era. Queen Victoria assumed control of her reign at the young age of eighteen, and her successful reign lasted for over sixty years. Britain was an extremely large empire during Queen Victoria’s rule; her ruling was filled with powerful changes, politically and economically, and advancements that left a lasting impact. While the Victorian era was an important era, many aspects of it are unique in relation to today’s times. For example, the food eaten during the Victorian era was quite different than the food eaten in today’s period. During the Victorian era, the various social classes ate different types of food. There were three different social classes: the lower class, the middle class, and the upper class. The people of each class’s meals depended on the ingredients available for their circumstances (Brookfield). From the lower class, who ate low-quality food, to the higher class, who ate high-quality food, the type of food and amount of food affected the people of each social class in many ways.

The steam railway was a significant invention in the development of the modern age. I believe that the steam engine was the most important invention to come from the industrial revolution. The expansion of the railway system across the United States and the world influenced how we live our lives today. Throughout the industrial revolution the steam railway reduced the time it took for freight to reach its final destination, expanded the reach people could sell products too, provided a safer transport compared to horses, along with countless other things. The steam railway better connected people and helped fuel the second industrial revolution. Without it our world might look a lot different than it does today.

Rolt, L. T. C. Thomas Newcomen; the Prehistory of the Steam Engine. London: Macdonald, 1963.

The Industrial Revolution took place in the late 1700s and early 1800s. This event caused a plethora of new inventions and a chain of events that led to betterment of the lives of people in this time. The invention of the steam engine made the connection of areas easier, leading to a transportation revolution, increased accessibility, cultural blending, and the spread of disease.

Steampunk is influenced by and often adopts the style of the 19th-century scientific romances of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Mary Shelley.[4] Several works of art and fiction significant to the development of the genre were produced before the genre had a name. Titus Alone (1959), by Mervyn Peake, anticipated many of the tropes of steampunk,[5] and the film Brazil (1985) was an important early cinematic influence toward creating the genre.Th Adventures of Luther Arkwright was an early (c1975)comic version of the Moorcock-style mover between timestreams.[6][7]

The most famous sub genre influenced by Victorian art and that era was Steampunk. “The steampunk genre derives its aesthetics from a number of inspirations, however most of the characteristics of steampunk literature are based on nineteenth-century style and culture. The English Victorian era (1837–1901) and the American “Wild West’ are the main influences of the steampunk universe.” (Gale) Steampunk draws some of their influence from steam powered machines to create a certain aesthetic. The steampunk style can be described as “slick, yet

The Industrial Revolution was a very impactful period of time where many great inventions were created to aid daily life. However, the Industrial Revolution couldn’t have been possible without the first invention which was the piston steam engine. That is why the steam engine was the invention that started the whole revolution. There wouldn’t be the spinning jenny or the steamboat without it. The steam technology that was used in the first steam engines were simple to modify which created many possibilities to innovate. The piston steam engine sparked the Industrial revolution as cars would not have been invented without it, it enabled travel, and enabled factories to relocate from rivers. Travel was extremely limited however, once the steam

The steam engine was by far the most revolutionary invention conceived during the industrial revolution. Although the steam engine was created before the industrial revolution it was polished and made efficient by the inventor James Watt who revolutionised the way we thought about transportation and helped to implement the creation of many new jobs and fields of study. This invention has multiple forms, for example it originally started as a hand powered pump for draining water but has evolved over time and eventually transcended steam power and become the combustion engine, it has also affected the society of the time of its creation and even our current lifestyle both positively and negatively for example it introduced new job types but helped

In today’s era of late 20th century people have adopted a vast number of different subcultures. Steampunk is perhaps one of the widely used subculture. People have used it in different means such as fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Technologies like fictional machines have been used for this purpose. Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures, that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century.(Steampunk artists meld Victorian era, science and fiction Duluth News Tribune. January 1, 2012. ) Steampunk elements has also been used in different genres like horror,fantasy,historical and speculative fiction making it hybrid genre.

"In the never-ending search for energy sources, the invention of the steam engine changed the face of the earth." (Siegel, Preface) The steam engine was the principal power source during the British Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. The steam engine opened a whole new world to everyone. The steam engine maximized production, efficiency, reliability, minimized time, the amount of labor, and the usage of animals. The steam engine in all revolutionized the Eastern Hemisphere, mainly European society. What does revolutionize actually mean? It means that something such as the steam engine brought about a radical change in something, and this something is the European Society. The steam engine specifically brought about a

The idea using the power of steam to our advantage goes back nearly twenty-one centuries. A learned writer in ancient Alexandria, named Hero, wrote a manuscript describing various devices and ideas of the time. Although it is not proven that Hero was the inventor of any of these devices, he is given credit for the earliest mention of steam power. Hero describes a method to open the doors of a temple with the action of a fire on the alter at the front of the temple. A series of pipes runs between the alter and the temple doors. The force of the steam created by the fire on the alter is strong enough to open the temple doors. The essential principle that Hero used was to change heat energy into mechanical energy or work. Supposedly, Hero continued his work and ended up creating what is often called the "First Steam Engine." Hero's engine is featured on below on the right. The cauldron or bowl like portion AB holds water. There is a steam tight cover place over top of the cauldron. Two pipes extend from the lid and suspend a globe directly above the cauldron. The water is heated, causing steam to be created and forced through the pipes. The globe then fills with steam. Pipes K and H are located on opposite sides of the globe and allow the steam to escape when the pressure becomes uneven. The escaping steam then causes the globe to spin on its axis.

The Victorian era was between 1837 till 1901. It was a time of the industrial revolution, new inventions and where the country earned the name Great Britain. But with all of these positive events there were many downfalls such as the increase of poverty and disease. Many authors saw this as an opportunity to show the reality of Great Britain , for example Charles Dickens wrote many novels. He talked about differences in classes and that even with all the money in the world your wealth has little to no value if you are not happy and healthy whereas the poor have to work harder and earn their money for family with meagre financial rewards for the work they do. But all of this aside what were the conditions like in Victorian England?

The Steampunk aesthetic draws its ideas from the Victorian period, which has a very distinct style and design. This place in history is around the time of many great advances in technology, particularly steam technology. As G.D. Falksen puts it in his work “Steampunk 101,” “Steam more generally signifies a world in which steam technology is both dominant and prolific” (Falksen 31). The Steampunk aesthetic includes many steam based machines that had just become very accessible to the average population just as in the Victorian era. Not only does the

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,

Guo Pei : Steampunk fashion is seen as modern interpretation of fantastical ideas based on history. Her work seems to represents a blend from famous Arabian tales, classical Chinese fairy tales and classics from the Western society. Pei’s striking geometric vision, and blend of classic fantasy are avant-garde