Middle Class In Victorian Society

During the 1800s, the social structure changed due to the Industrial Revolution. The middle class expanded. Although not all the members of this class were of the same status, they all shared the same values. They all believed in the importance of hard work and morality. One very important value was family togetherness. During this time period, middle-class families worked to preserve this family togetherness, as well as their prosperity, which they did by raising their children well. Women were more involved in maintaining family unity and the raising of children than men.

The essay "Class and Virtue" by Michael Parenti offers an analysis of several TV shows which are based on stratification issues. The essay highlights that the entertainment media shows that the lower class is not adequate in contrast to the upper one. With the help of such shows as Treasure Island and The Three Faces of Eve, the author gives examples which support his statement. What is more, he also applies his statement concerning social groups and virtue to gender and race by such TV shows as The A-Team and Pretty Woman. Besides, he assumes that virtue is more likely to be attributed to those

Social classes in America changed greatly in the 18th century because of the economic success that occurred at this time. “Expanding trade made possible the emergence of a powerful upper class” (Foner, 123), which also made possible the emergence of a weaker lower class. The upper classmen of the colonies, also known as the colonial elite, were the ones who planted staple crops or the ones who rule colonies. Although there were no set social rankings, it was clear that prominent men controlled the colonies’ governments. Planters of the colonial elite no longer had to worry about if they were going to be able to pass their wealth down to the next generations in their family; prominence in the 18th century became possible through family relations.

“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully” (Chopin 129). One can interpret this to mean that parents in the 1800s (and to some extent today) desired a higher marital status for their daughters, so they could be well positioned for a stable life. As discussed in class, social status still exists in modern America which can significantly attract many candidates who want to marry a person for social status but not necessarily for love. These attitudes that continue to dominate America today stem from the aristocratic Old South as a means to achieve control of wealth for the few at the expense of impoverishing the masses.

The difference in class structures of Victorian England was dependent on the lifestyles and jobs of individuals. The Victorian era of England lasted from 1837 to 1901. The Victorian England hierarchy was divided into three different classes; the upper, middle, and lower class and was reliant of occupational differences. The hierarchy was very rigid and there was little social mobility, because of the fact that normally a person was born into their class and even their future career. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens displays the model of class structure through the character Pip Pirrup. Pip struggles to find his place within the hierarchy. Throughout the novel, Dickens writes about the different classes in England. Pip belongs the working class due to his family and is set to be a blacksmith, but finds himself in the societal shift that occurred in England in the nineteenth century. Pip wants to achieve his great expectations and change the path that his life was going on. He wants create a better life for himself than what he would have had if he followed in the footsteps of his family. Dickens also creates various characters in the different classes to expose the relationship between each class. An individual’s class was a dominant factor in creating an identity. People of the upper classes thought very little of the people “below” them. Throughout his journey, Pip reveals information about how the different social classes lived and how members of each

While there were many advancements in technology and literature in the Victorian Era, there were also many disadvantages; these included child labor, class disparities, and atrocious living conditions. There were incredible novels, artwork, and machinery created during the Victorian Era. However, the people were treated horribly. Children were put to work, and severely abused while they were there. The poor were seen as dirt on the bottom of the upper class’s shoes, and were rarely allowed to advance in society. Citizens lived in squalor, and many became ill because of it. Victorian society will always have a negative connotation because of how the people were treated during that time. Dickens is a major proponent of that connotation. He wrote

Wealthy and poor women in Victorian England ate lunch only, since the men were out at work. While the men were out, the women drank “unladylike” things such as beer, ale, and cider with their food at bars. After more industries were introduced to England, the working class men got jobs at factories. These factories were further from home, so the men worked longer, stayed up later, and ate dinner later. The wealthy men and women also got home late to eat dinner, but it was not because they were out working, but because they were out partying. Gas lamps soon came out, and this helped the wealthy to stay up even later than they already did. Others followed their examples, so dinner was pushed back again to eight or nine at

Hundreds of years ago, England prospered under the long rule of Queen Elizabeth I. This period of time, known as the Elizabethan Era, consisted of distinct differences between social classes. Diverse education, clothing, and entertainment were all important aspects of life in the Elizabethan Era. To start off, differences in education not only included upper and lower classes, but also schooling for boys and girls.

During the Victorian Times in England, everyone was grouped into social classes. This is also known as classism. There were three categories: the upper class =, middle class, and the lower class. Problems had occurred do to classism. Class war fair still exists to a degree in todays society.

Throughout the first half of the semester, we have consistently discussed and learned the impact of the Victorian Middle Class (VMC). One of the major topics was its influence on prizefighting, and how the culture and values of the Victorian Middle Class influenced its growth from a lowest of the low sport to a sporting spectacle viewed by all. The Victorian Middle Class culture’s influence on the transformation of prizefighting was due to a large number of ideas, especially its strict values, the sporting fraternity, along with the Civil War.

The Victorian Era officially began in 1837 and finished in 1901. Most people mistakenly believe that Victorians were hypocritical, excessively proper, and snobby. Although those adjectives do describe a portion of Victorians, not all were like that; that behavior typically occurred in the middle class. Middle class citizens believed acting in that manner would help move through the classes. Britain’s imperialism was astonishing. During this time period, Britain controlled parts of India, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; however, England gave Canada its independence during 1867. Authors wrote many novels about journeys through the social classes; one of the most popular was “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens. At this time period, people

Virginia B. Derr’s journal article on “The Rise of a Middle-Class Tradition Mexican art” examines the once free spirited art movements transcendence into political conservatism. Derr begins by focusing on the revolutionary inspired art. This was coined as the art for the masses, which depicted a new social- political movement. The years following this revolutionary period becomes increasingly conservative. Middle class art during the 1940s- 1960s became increasingly conservative due to the government’s desire to enforce a capitalistic state. The state feared anti- capitalist sentiment would begin to arise within the middle class with the popularity of Diego Rivera’s work. Some of his work was destroyed by the state in an effort to suppress

Somebody in the 21st century who performs an act of courtesy such as holding a door open for somebody, or giving their seat up on the train to somebody who has trouble standing would be considered a gentleman. This definition of a gentleman is very different from the origin of the word in Victorian England which implied a high set of social standards. In Victorian England, social classes were determined by a person's economic status, whereas being a gentleman was determined by a man’s social status and required a certain amount of chivalry, resulting in , strict social classes with an extremely poor quality of life for subjects of the lower classes.

The Mikado, examines the issue of class in Japan. Nanki-Poo, the son of the emperor

The Victorian Period was a great influence to the authors who composed novels at that time where distinctions between social classes as well as between men and women were strongly marked. During this period, it was precisely a woman who ruled. Alexandrina Victoria who was born on May 24, 1819 became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death on January 22, 1901. Victoria’s reign was one of the longest of a female in history. At only the age of 18, after her uncle William Henry IV died, she began a span of 63 years of reign. In spite of her independence and power, Victoria fell into a deep depression when her husband died in 1861 and ever since she wore black every day for the rest of her