Social class was considered very important in the Victorian era (1837-1901). They were strictly separated by the rich and the poor, and further separated by upper/middle/lower class. It was expected for people to know where they belonged, and expect to be treated in a certain way based on their class (“Social Restrictions”)
Social class was the target of a widespread obsession, going as far as trying to imitate the food and language of the higher class. Marriage was a common way for people to achieve higher titles (“Social Class”)
The results of the Industrial Revolution were beginning to appear. The population increased dramatically, causing amount of people looking for jobs to increase sharply. As a result, wages and housing prices went down and up respectively (“Victorian Era”)
If women wanted to
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Though there were very strict rules on good behaviour and how to conduct oneself in a society, child labor rates were incredibly high. A facade was created, based on sternness and obedience, while many chose to turn a blind eye to all the evils that were happening at the same time (Joshi)
Industrialism created a rising power of middle class, which went against the existing social order. Upper class people were often accused as being very materialistic, and cared more of social appearance instead of their inner personality. Viewed having nothing to do as a virtue, and looked down upon those who worked for a living (Joshi)
Tentative Thesis: Include target, folly/criticism, techniques to be examined and a “so what?”
The social class imposed upon the people of the Victorian Era followed harmed people’s lives instead of improving them, as seen through the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Through symbolism, characters, and settings, the negative effects of the class structure prevents people from living a life they want, thus causing people to adopt a persona instead of living their true
“Tis night when I am free; A stranger am I to my child; And he one to me” (Document 2). This poem is about a mother (most likely) talking about her son. The fact that families were working such long hours, that they were strangers to each other is heartbreaking; employers should have been giving everyone a work period that wasn’t too long during the day, from sun-up to sun-down. “As countries industrialized, they also urbanized. This was a result of people moving in large numbers in order to gain factory jobs” (Document 6). Usually the tenements were extremely compact and cramped apartment-like. Employers must have had some sort of idea about how bad the living conditions were, but they still decided not to pay more to the employees, not caring how good or bad their living conditions were. “C: What time did you begin work at the factory? B: When I was six years old” (Document 7). This is an example of poor employers, because they were willing to send children into hard laborious work. At that age, they should have been trying to get a good education, not working. Employers giving jobs to little kids also caused children to eventually become deformed, “C: Did your deformity come upon you with much pain and weariness? B: Yes, I cannot express the pain all the time it was coming” (Document 7). The factory owners should have noticed this in small children, and decided to lay them off. Considering most employers didn’t
The use of children sped up production and made the pool of employees much larger. The benefit of child labor for the workers being able to have more people in the factory. The disadvantage was the fact that children are young and should be spending their time learning and playing opposed to operating machines for 16 hours and never attending school (Document 1). Some communities made child labor an option and enforced education at the same time. These communities were known as working societies. They focused on making nice conditions for children that worked. They took good care of kids and paid them in exchange for work. Safety was a big concern so death rates were very low (Document 5). However, not all companies treated their kids well. Some factories abused child labor, allowing kids as young as three years old to help out (Document 9). Politicians are managers claimed that the kids were just fine and even benefited from working. “I have visited many factories, and I never saw a single instance of corporal chastisement inflicted on a child. They seemed to be always cheerful and alert” (Document 4). Child labor was a debatable topic during the Industrial Revolution because many people depended on it but many other people wanted it to stop because it was
The working conditions of the average laborer during the industrial revolution were oftentimes harsh and dangerous as seen in documents in 1,2,3 and 5. According to the Sadler Committee of 1832, men were forced to work excessively long hours and were whipped to stay awake. (Doc. 1) Additionally, the Sadler Committee revealed that many workers have suffered from infections, disease and muscle problems. (Doc. 2) This shows that industrial factory owners oftentimes exploited their laborers for profit. Andrew Ure’s The Philosophy of Manufactures reveals that children in the factory
The Industrial Revolution was a predominantly negative period in history, greatly affecting the lives of the poor working-class. Starting in 1750, rapid urbanization occurred, resulting in the higher and middle-class benefiting; but only because they were rich before it began. The working-class, however, became even more unfortunate as the era went on and were forced to become factory workers or miners. These men, women and children all faced harsh environmental factors, including the new technology of advanced machines and a shift in their family lifestyle.
Class struggles as we american see it everyday. they’re lower, middle, and upper classes. Since the 1800s class been a struggle as well as many people to try to find where they should be places, it was based on on background, race, and wealth. Many people in the 1800s thought they could rise up to different class , that you had to stay in what you grew up in. the lower class consisted of slaves, indentured servants and serfs.
In this time period, social class played an essential role in a person’s life and often times determined people’s perception of them. Therefore, the lower
Karl Marx’s theory of social class took unprecedented amount of relevance in America’s Gilded Age. Each social class in this era had a set of identities that were associated with each class. The wealthy elite prospered from what some may believe to think was the epitome of the Dark Ages. The wealthy elite capitalized on new technology and business’ which allowed them to have a sense of superiorness and caused to emerge very distinct social classes. The middle class has the best chance for class movement however it was unlikely to happen.
In the year 1837 the British Empire, with Victorian England as the center, was the most powerful in the world. The industrial revolution had brought great change to the country. At age eighteen Victoria became Queen and reigned until 1901. She brought an extended period of peace and prosperity to the country. One result of her being on the throne was that England became divided into three distinct classes.
Social class systems in the nineteenth century were comprised of the upper class, the middle class, the working class, and the underclass. The different social classes can be “distinguished by inequalities in such areas as power, authority, wealth, working and living conditions, life-styles, life-span, education, religion, and culture” (Cody). The poor, also known as peasants, were usually mistreated and segregated from the wealthy, or those of higher class. During his time, Charles Dickens “seen as a champion of “the poor” by some of the poor themselves” (“What was”). It is said that one of his greatest achievements “was to bring the problem of poverty to the attention of his readers through introducing varieties of poor persons into almost all of his novels, and showing the “deserving” majority of the poor, bravely struggling against the forces arrayed against them” (“What was”). This is clearly evident in A Tale of Two Cities. During the nineteenth century Victorian era, social class systems were a common excuse for the division and mistreatment of many individuals, as evidenced in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.
A community alters its lifestyle as a new era arises. Emily Bronte, in her novel Wuthering Heights, compiles how people behaved in the 19th century through the characters: Heathcliff, Catherine Earnshaw, and Catherine Linton. The novel allows readers to observe the living circumstances of those days. Several customs of the Victorian era might seem awkward from a modern point of view. Especially, how the privileged treated women and those of a different race. The minorities in Wuthering Heights suffer from the experience of repressing their identity. They must dress, speak, and act as others expect them to, based on protocols assigned to their race and gender by the bourgeois class of Anglo-Saxon and men. Social minorities in Wuthering Heights
The dissimilarities between a lower-class bride and her upper-class in-laws also mirror the major differences between a ?woman? and the more-favored ?lady?. "Can there be a choice of agency between a delicate, consumptive maid, fatigued with her day's hard work, and a buxom, well-constituted lady, whose greatest exertion has been a drive in the park and the handing to her man a few cards to be left at friends' doors? The one is a servant, the other a lady; and physiogical conditions stand nowhere in the face of such divine distinctions? (The Victorian Web).
Through Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens criticises Victorian society and its extremely harsh treatment of the lower class. It went out of its way to create any possible divide between the two social classes, middle and lower classes, to suppress and even eliminate the poor. It was not done in a way that would improve living conditions of the lower class but in the way that would physically and morally destroy the people that belonged to it. This mental divide created two very distinct spaces in London’s society which strived to contain lower class in one controlled space and denounce the ability to improve their lives and possibly move up the social ladder.
Today I will be writing a research paper about the differences and similarities of the different types of social classes during the Victorian era in England. Also, I will be going into a little bit of detail about some key problems that developed during this time because of classism. There will be a total of three main social classes I’m going to talk about and those classes are the nobility upper class, middle class, and the working class. Before I forget I will also be talking a bit about politics, child labor, and where women rank in the social class ladder. I am going to start my body paragraph with talking about the social classes starting with the upper class.
The Victorian period started in 1837 through 1901 under Queen Victoria’s reign. The period got divided into three stages: Early, middle and late Victorians periods. During, the early Victorian era took the throne. Under the middle years, the industrialization of the country began and everything stay steady. On the last few years, a lot of problems rise up with Ireland and the English colonies. In her 63 years of ruling lots of cultural, political and economic changes arise. The country became highly industrialized and expanded its land to some parts of the middle west of the World. However, under the period, many diseases were developed such as typhus and cholera because of the food distribution and hunger. Social changes such as women’s vote and rights were proclaimed. New science and technological theories were promoted such as Darwin’s Evolution Theory and Charles Lyell’s Theory of Uniformitarianism. Other social and economic changes
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