Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria came to the throne 1837, at just 18 years old. She ruled over the British empire for
64 years and her name was given to an age of scientific and economic progress.
She had a very strong sense of duty infect she remained out of politics because she respected it
and provided stability. In 1840 she married Prince Albert and had 9 children with him. They were
used as a model of respectability. In 1857 Prince Albert received the Prince Consort in recognition
of his importance to the country and to her.
An age of reform During the reign of Queen Victoria, there were several reforms:
The first reform act was about voting privileges : It transferred voting privileges from the
nobility and gentry to the large industrial towns like Birmingham
Factory Act: It imposes that the child from 9 to 13 could not be employed more
than forty-hours a week and child between 13 to 18 only seventy-hours
The Poor Law Amendment act: It’s about building workhouses, where the poor
people, the orphan, and the other disadvantaged people can stay.
Workhouses These workhouses were considered terrifying because in that period they were
considered
like prison. Inside these workhouses there were also a strict discipline: hard work, monotonous
diet, forced to wear a uniform, also they got separated from their family.
The idea behind this workhouse is to stay there the least time possible: the people were
aware of the awful life inside these places and would do anything to get out of these houses. The
workhouses were run by the Church.
Chartism
The Chartism were a movement created by a group of people that demanded some changes in the
parliament:
● a secret ballot ;
● universal male suffrage;
● equal electoral districts;
● a pay for the MP’s to prevent them from getting corrupted;
● annual elections to prevent MP’s from getting corrupted.
This movement failed because the changes they asked got refused, but, however, thanks to the
second reform act, these ideas were approved except for the secret ballot.
The Irish potato famine
A combination between bad weather and an unknown plant disease from America caused the
destruction of potato crops. Ireland’s agriculture depended on potatoes and experienced a terrible
famine that leaded to a mass immigration to America and to a lot of people dying. The Prime
Minister, Robert Peel, abolished the Corn Laws that putted tariffs on imported corn, which kept
the price of bread artificially low to protect the interest of the farmers.
Technological progress
During the middle of the 19° century, England received a second wave of industrialisation
thanks to the economical, cultural and architectural changes.
The Great Exhibition was organized by Prince Albert that showed the world the economic and
industrial power of England. People became very fond of exhibitions, so money was invested in
setting up several museums. The London Underground and railways transported large quantities
of raw materials and products quickly. People were able to travel for work and leisure.
Foreign policy
During the 1850’s, England was involved in two opium wars against China. Those war were caused
because the China was trying to suppress opium’s trade. England won both war and had access to
five Chinese ports and to Hong Kong. The most lucrative colony for England was India. Englans also
supported liberals movements like the Italian. When Russia became too powerful against the
Turkish Empire, the Crimean war was fought. The Crimean War was the first conflict reported in
newspapers by journalists. Florence Nightingale leaded a team of nurses that give personal care to
the wounded. When she back in England, she formed an institution for the nursing profession.
Prince Albert Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-61) was the second son of Ernest III, Duke
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and cousin of Victoria. He married her shortly after her accession to the
throne and played an important role in British public life. He became a patron of the arts and
supported technological development and agricultural reforms. German artist Franz Xaver
Winterhalter (1805-73) painted several portraits of the royal family. In this painting he depicts
Prince Albert in military uniform, with spurs on his heels and his left hand resting on a large sword.
Victoria and Albert enjoyed a very happy marriage and she was devastated when he died
prematurely.
A complex age The Victorian Age was characterised by complexity infect it was a time of changes
but also of great contradictions. It was an age in which progress, reforms and political stability
coexisted with poverty and injustice. Modernity was praised but there was a revival of Gothic and
Classicism in art. The Victorians believed in God but also in progress and science. Freedom is
freedom of conscience with optimism over economic and political progress, and with national
identity.
Respectability Education and hygiene were encouraged. Society celebrated self-control, good
manners, affirming social status, maintaining appearances and caring for a family. Men had the
duty to respect and protect women, considered divine guides because they are morally superior.
The women controlled the family budget and raised the children. During this period the sexuality
was repressed in public and private forms and the ideals of moralism and prudery was exalted.
The father of Epidemiology At the beginning of the 19th century, epidemiological studies led to a
clear association between pollution and disease. In 1831, cholera made its first appearance in
England. The symptoms of cholera were nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea so
abundant that the victims died of dehydration. British physician John Snow (1813-58) showed that
the infection was spread by habits. He realized that these conditions characterized different areas
of London and that to eliminate the cholera epidemics it was necessary to keep wells and water
pipes isolated. He spoke of a particular 'poison' that could 'multiply within the digestive tract of
cholera victims. In 1883 a German physician, Robert Koch (1843-1910), finally identified the
bacterium Vibrio cholera as the causative agent. This was a big win for Snow's theory. The
cholera epidemics in Europe and the United States ended towards the end of the 19th century,
when cities finally improved their water supply.
Surgery and anaesthesia Before the 19th century, when patients needed surgery for illness or
injury, they had to rely on alcohol, opium the natural narcotic derived from opium poppy) or
fumes from an anesthetic-soaked cloth to reduce knife pain by the surgeon A group of men used
to hold the patient still during an operation in case the opium or alcohol vanished. Under these
conditions, many patients have died from the shock caused by the pain itself. During the 1840s
nitrous oxide, ether and chloroform were first used as anesthetic agents. However, it was not
until the following century that the American dentist Horace Wells (1815-1848) began to use
nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic. Crawford surgeon Williamson Long (1815-78) was the first to use
ether during an operation in Georgia. In the same period the surgeon John Collins Warren (1778-
1856) removed a tumour in the neck without the patient feeling any pain thanks to the ether.
Antiseptic surgical procedures were introduced by Joseph Lister (1827-1912), who used carbolic
acid.
Early Victorian thinkers Evangelicalism During the Victorian Age the Evangelism influenced
the Victorian moral. In this period the most important evangelicals was John Wesley. Furthermore,
this movement believed in: the literal truth of the Bible, dedication of humanitarian reform and
obedience to a strict code of morality.
Bentham’s Utilitarianism Another movement of this period is the Utilitarianism of Jeramy
Bentham. He believed to the Greek philosopher Epicurus. According to this movement, the people
that believe in morality have a happy life. This movement announced that problems could be
overcome with reason.
Mill and the empiricist tradition Utilitarianism was attacked by Charles Dickens and John Stuart
Mill. Mill was a British empiristict and he was educated by his father according to Benthamite's
philosophical principles. His thoughts on life: • happiness is a state of min
• legislation was supposed to help men • good society determined by the free play of human
character • progress determined by artistic and literal
progress • promote popular education, trade union organization, development of cooperatives
Challenges from the scientific field In the mid-Victorian era, new discoveries were made in the
sciences. In particular we remember Darwin's theory which is based on 3 points: the process of
adaptation, physical conditions and the evolution of man.
The Oxford Movement English Catholics replicated these scientific discoveries in the Oxford
movement, so called because it was held in Oxford
Life in Victorian Britain The Victorian era was a period characterized by great dramatic changes in
the life of the population. For some it was a period of great wealth and privilege in fact there were
the industrial revolution, advances in medicine and TRANSPORT. But for the majority of the
population, life had become hard. There were long hours of work in factories or mines. Only a
few could afford a wealthy life. There was an increase in population particularly in the
industrialized cities. But the housing was small and poorly hygienic. Child labor was widespread.
For example, author Charles Dickens started working at the age of 12 in a black factory when his
father was locked up in a debtor's prison. The cities were also the seat of the industrial and
commercial middle class. Their newfound wealth led to an increase in demand for goods and
services, and factories and workshops supplied clothes, toys, fine cutlery, silverware, pottery and
glass. The bourgeois were merchants and shopkeepers who lived in large houses, educated their
children. The middle class wanted respectability and the queen became their iconic symbol. She
represented the ideal femininity who looked after the family.
The Victorian novel Readers and writers
During the Victorian age there was a communion of interest and opinion between writers and
their readers. One reason for this relationship was the growth of the middle class. Although
literacy spread heterogeneously among its members, they loved literature. The middle class took
the books from the periodicals. Also, writers themselves came from the middleclass.
The publishing world
A great part of Victorian literature was published in a serial form: all kind of
literature made their debuts as instalments in the periodical’s pages. The writers did this because
the
story could be altered if the people didn’t liked it.
The Victorians’ interest in prose The Victorians showed also a lot of interest in prose, and the
greatest literary achievement of
the age was the novel: the spread of scientific knowledge made the novel realistic and
analytical, the spread of democracy made the novel social and humanitarian, the spirit of moral
made the novel inquisitive and critical.
The novelist’s aim
The Victorians felt that they had a moral and social responsibility: they wanted to reflect
the social changes such as the industrial revolution, the struggle for democracy and the
growth of towns and cities, so they described as they saw it, but they were
still aware of the problems of the society like the terrible condition of the manual workers and
the exploitation of children. Except for the sentiments that broke the current morals, in
particularly sex.
An important feature of this age was the Didacticism (it is writing a story that teaches you
something), because
The narrative technique
The most used technique was the omniscient narrator, this gave the opportunity to the
writer to comment the plot and to divide good and bad behaviours.
Setting and characters
The common setting was the city because it was the symbol of the industrialisation, the
anonymous lives and the lost identities.
The character were usually normal people because they wanted people to recognize
themselves inside the characters. In this period, the writers focus also on describing the inner side
of the characters.
Type of novels
● The novel of manners it dealt with economic and social problems and described a particular
class or situation. Jane Austen invented this, one of the master of this genre was sir Thackeray.
● The humanitarian novel (or novel of purpose) it combined humour with a sentimental request
for reform for the less fortunate. The most important writer was Charles Dickens
● The novel of formation These novels dealt with the development of characters from the youth
to the maturity. The most important novels were “Jane Eyre”(Charlotte Bronte) and “David
Copperfield”.
● Literary nonsense This literature based on the nonsense, presented a world where he social
rules and conventions were disintegrated, like Alice’s adventure in Wonderland.
Women writers A great number of novels published from the middle to the late Victorian
period, were written by women like Charlotte and Emily Bronte and Mary Ann Evans. This should
be surprising considering the women’s condition in this period infect they were submissive to their
husbands. But the women were the majority of the readers: this because women had more time
to spend at home rather than men that had to work. However, it was hard to get published as
women so they usually used a pen name.

The birth of the Aesthetic Movement This movement developed in universities and intellectual
circles in the last decades of the 19th century. It began in France thanks to Ethnophile Gautier and
reflected the sense of uncertainty and frustration of the artist, and his need to redefine the role of
art. French artists refused to participate in political and social issues and “escaped” into aesthetic
isolation. The bohemian embodied a way of living against the monotony and vulgarity of bourgeois
life, pursuing sensation and excess and cultivating art and beauty.
The English Aesthetic Movement The American painter James McNeill Whistler imported the
doctrine in England. However, the origins of the English Aesthetic Movement can be traced back
to the Romantic poet John Keats, Dante, Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin who paved the way for
Walter Pater’s works, who is considered the main theorist of the English Aesthetic Movement.
The theorist of English Aestheticism
Walter Pater’s Studies in the History of the Renaissance and Marius the Epicurean were
immediately successful, especially between the young people because of their subversive
message. He rejected religious fate and said that art was the only means to halt the passage of
time. He also thought life should be lived as a work of art. The task of the artist was to feel
sensations and describe to the rest of the world these
sensations (also by using drugs), not the facts.
Walter Pater’s influence
Pater’s work had a great influence on the 1890s poets and writers: one of those is Wilde
and a group of artist called Rhymers club.
The Features of Aesthetic works
Adhering to Aestheticism means being selfish and indifferent. Some common features have
been identified in the works of Aesthetic artists:
➔ a hedonistic and sensuous attitude
➔ excessive attention to the self
➔ perversity in subject matter
➔ disenchantment with contemporary society
➔ evocative use of language
The European Decadent Movement Decadence is a European movement, created by a group of
French writers from the magazine Le Decadent. The main representatives of the decline in Italy
were Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938), with the novel The pleasure (1889), and the poets
Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912) and Guido Gozzano (1883-1916).
The dandy
The term 'dandy was first used in the song of the British troops during the American Revolution.
The lyrics of the song mocked the Americans presented riding a pony, with a feather on their hat.
Hence the term 'dandy' referred to a man who prided himself on his appearance to him even
though he wore strange and ordinary clothes. Brummell created dandyism as a way of life. the
figure of Oscar Wilde is associated with that of the dandy. He was vanity and extravagance in the
way of dressing, and he was represented in English society and literature. He was part of the
aristocracy and the upper middle class. The figure of the dandy is opposite to the figure of
bohemian. The bohemian was part of the aristocracy and upper middle class, like dandy, but he
has different characteristics: the bohemians lived in bad condition and they loved wearing poor
clothes.
Charles Dickens
Life and Works
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. He had an unhappy childhood infect his father
was imprisoned for debt when he was 12 and he went inside a workhouse and then he went to
work inside a factory. When his finances improved and his father was released, he went to school
in London. At 15 years old he found a job inside a lawyer’s office and studied shorthand at night.
At age 20, he became a very successful reporter of parliamentary debates. He started publishing
using a pen name: “Boz” and he wrote tales describing London’s people and scenes for a
periodical called “monthly magazine”. Then he also wrote “The Pickwick Papers”, that revealed his
humoristic and satirical qualities.
Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in April and became editor in the same year. After the success
of the Pickwick papers, Dickens started a full time career as a novelist. He begun to write “Oliver
Twist”.
He was a republican, Dickens stood up against the US when he visited the country he talked about
the abolition of slavery. The first successful Christmas book will be “A Christmas Carol”.
Then he wrote Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, this will be considered his autobiography
because he has a lot in common with the character. His last 3 great works will be Bleak House,
Hard Times, Great Expectation that dealed with the conditions of the poor, the working class and
the Utilitarianism. He will died, he buried in Westminster Abbey.
Characters
Dickens shifted the social frontiers of the novel: he replaced the characters of the uuper-middle
classes with the ones from the lower classes. His aim was to gain the reader’s interest by
exaggerating his characters’ habits like social peculiarities like vanity and ambition. He was always
by the side of the poor and the working class. Children were often the most important characters
in Dickens novels: usually good and wise children were opposed with worthless parents and
grown-up people. His ability was to make people love this children who are model of behaviour.
A Didactic Aim
The didactic aspect was a great success because the wealthier people recognized the
conditions of the poorer classes. Dickens objective was was to make the ruling class aware on the
poor people without offending his middle classes readers.
Style and reputation
Dickens used the most effective language possible and used very powerful descriptions of
the life and of the characters. He used a lot of adjectives, repetitions and so on.
He is considered the greatest novelist in the English language.
Dickens’s narrative
Dickens’s novel were influenced by Bible and fairy tales. His plots are well-planned even they
appeared artificial, sentimental and episodic. London was the setting to most of his novels but it
looked like he always added something new and showed an intimate knowledge of it. In his
mature works he condemns public abuses, evil and wrongs.
Oliver Twist
Plot
Setting and Characters
The world of the workhouse
Brano Oliver wants some more
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Jekill’s experiment brano
Oscar Wilde Life
and works
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. His father was a surgeon while his mother was a literary
woman.
After graduating in classical studies at Trinity College, he went to Oxford. Here he also met
John Ruskin and Walter Pater, that introduced him to their Art for Art’s sake theory
(Aestheticism theories).
He settled in London in 1878 after he graduated, where he became a celebrity for his
extraordinary wit and his style: here he was defined as a dandy. In 1881 he published his first
volume of poems. He then went to the US when he visited New York, he told at the reporters that
Aestheticism was a search for the beautiful, a science through which men looked for the
relationship between painting, sculpture and poetry. When he returned in Europe, he married
Costance Llyod and had two children with
her. At this time, He was considered a great speaker: his presence became a social event and
his remarks appeared in the most fashionable London magazines. He wrote a series of short
stories and in this period he also wrote “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Importance of Being
Earnest”. In 1891, Oscar will be charged with the accuse of homosexuality with lord Alfred
Douglas.
The court will sentence him 2 years of forced hard labour. While he was in prison he wrote, a long
letter to his lover Lord Douglas. After his wife refused to see him and he went to exile in France,
where he lived his in poverty. He died of meningitis in 1900 in Paris.
The rebel and the dandy
Wilde adopted the ‘aesthetic ideal’ infect he affirmed that his life is like a work of Art because he
lived as a rebel and dandy. Wilde’s dandy is an aristocrat whose elegance is a symbol of the
superiority of his spirit. And pleasure must not be hindered by morality.While the rebel side of
Wilde was his dark side, that was similar to French bohemian.
His aestheticism-Art for Art’s sake
Wilde believed that only art understood as beauty prevents the murder of the soul. For Wilde the
artist is an alien in a materialistic world and he wrote for himself. Whit his pursuit of beauty and
fulfilment he became artist an outcast.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The novel is set in the 19th century in London. The protagonist of this novel is Dorian Gray, a
charming young man. The painter Basil Hallward decides to make a portrait of him. Dorian
influenced by Lord Henry Wotton throws himself into one life of pleasure. and even his desire for
eternal youth has been realized in fact the signs of aging do not appear on the young man's face
but on his portrait. Then Dorian hides the portrait. After many years, the painter will ask Dorian to
see the portrait, but Dorian killed him when the painter saw the corrupted image in the portrait.
At some point in his life Dorian decided to stab the portrait but in doing so he killed himself. After
Dorian's death, the painting returns to its original purity and Dorian's face becomes wrinkled and
repulsive. Characters
Dorian Gray represents the ideal of youth, beauty. The description by the young man made by the
painter creates great expectations in the reader. But it actually looks immature. In the end, his
vanity and selfishness ruined him, and the portrait is a visual representation of the degradation of
his soul. Other characters in the novel are: Lord Henry is an intellectual, a brilliant orator, Basil
Hallward (the painter) is an intellectual who falls in love with Dorian's beauty and innocence.
Narrative technique
The narrator is a third person and the narration is internal in fact there is a process of
identification between the reader and the character. The settings are described in words that
appeal to the senses. The allegorical meaning
This story is allegorical: it is considered a new version of the legend Faust (Shakespearean
character, who made a pact with the devil: in exchange for the services of the devil. In the novel,
the portrait represents the dark side of Dorian's personality, his double. The novel teaches us that
any excess must be punished. The portrait is considered a symbol of the bad conscience of the
Victorian middle class, while the pure appearance of the young man is the symbols of the
bourgeois hypocrisy.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest is Wilde's theatrical masterpiece. The first act takes place in
Mayfair where aristocrat Algernon Moncrieff awaits his aunt, Lady Bracknell, for tea. Ernest also
arrives, a friend of his who wants to make the proposal to Lady Bracknell's daughter, Gwendolen.
Algernon discovers that the man Ernest is actually Jack Worthing, who lives in the countryside.
Jack explains that he has invented an alter ego, an evil younger brother named Ernest who lives in
the city, as a pretext to avoid his responsibilities. Algernon also confesses that he made up a
friend, named Bunbury, to escape his London social obligations. Jack must overcome the obstacle
of Gwendolen's mother, Lady Bracknell, who interviews him but discovers he was a foundling.
Algernon pretends to be Ernest, and starts flirting with Cecily and shortly afterwards Jack appears
announcing the death of his brother. A comical situation is created. Gwendolen goes to the
countryside to learn more about Jack, whom she only knows as Ernest. The two young women
discover that they both were engaged to an Ernest Worthing. At the end the puzzle about Jack's
birth is solved: he is Algernon's brother and both men manage to marry the women they want.
Characters
Wilde's work is a comedy of the customs of the Restoration where the author emphasizes the
problems of his time with witty jokes. In The Importance of Being Earnest the members of the
aristocratic society are arrogant, formal and concerned about money, attending dinners and
parties in luxurious homes. Theme
The main theme of the play is marriage. Some examples come from the works of Jane Austen.
Wilde jokes about marriage that leads to hypocrisy and absurdity, in fact Victorian society does
not believe in marriage for love but as a means to obtain social status.
Irony and appearance
In the work there are witty dialogues, funny puns, misunderstandings and paradoxes. The title is a
play on words: the name 'Earnest' (a misspelling of 'Ernest') means true but none of the characters
are true. The characters are used by the author to criticize the exaggerated Victorian seriousness.
irony is a dominant feature of the work.
The interview brano
Edwardian England
When Queen Victoria, her son Edward became king. At that time the British Empire was very large
and British cities were the richest in Europe. However, power was challenged by the technological
innovation of France, Germany, and America. In this context, King Edward signed an agreement
with France called the Cordial Entente, which stipulated that Britain could maintain its interests in
Egypt, and France in Morocco. The king's diplomacy led to the birth of a coach between Great
Britain, France and Russia who opposed Germany, Austria or Italy. In Edwardian society there was
a strong division into social classes and poverty was widespread
The seeds of the Welfare State
A new Labor Representative Committee was born in the Labor Party. In 1906 the general elections
were won by the liberals, who split into two groups: those who supported traditional liberal
values, and those who supported New Liberalism, which was in favor of some interventions of the
state in social life. The welfare state included the introduction of a pension, free meals and
regular medical inspections in schools. Three years later, minimum wages were set and workers
were granted free medical care and sick pay. In 1910 the House of Lords did not approve the
People's Budget, because its members would have had to pay higher taxes. Then the Liberals
decided that the House of Lords needed to be reformed. The Parliament Act was passed which
deprived the Lords of the right of veto over the decisions of the House of Commons: they could
delay them by only two years. He also said that general elections would take place at least every
five years. This system still works.
The suffragettes
Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). These women
called the "Suffragettes" wanted the vote. They protested in London and Women over 21 got the
vote in 1928.
The outbreak of the war
In 1914 a Serbian nationalist killed Archduke Francesco Ferdinando, heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne, and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo. This event led to a series of events: Austria started
bombing Belgrade, the capital of Serbia; the German Kaiser Wilhelm II declared war on Russia and
then on France; Germany invaded Belgium. When Germany violated Belgian neutrality, Britain
declared war.
Britain at war
In September 1914 the German army had reached the Marne River, where a great battle stopped
the Germans. the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, understanding that the war would
last a long time, relied on volunteers who came from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Then
women replaced men in their civil jobs.
The Easter Rising in Ireland
The term "Irish question" refers to the tragic events surrounding the struggle for Irish
independence. In 1916 there was a rebellion in Dublin which was supported by Germany. During
the rebellion the general post office was seized. The rebellion was suppressed.
A war of attrition
In May 1915 a German submarine sank the British passenger ship and more than a thousand
people died, including 128 Americans. The president of the United States sent diplomatic protests
to Germany. In the same month Italy joined France and Great Britain, and there was the first
aerial bombardment of London. The bloodiest battle took place on the Somme. Huge battles
were fought here to kill soldiers. The Germans also relied on submarines, called U-boats, to fight
the war at sea. Life in the trenches was very stressful due to the mud, lack of hygiene, boredom
and fear of gas. By the term 'Shell shock' doctors referred to the psychological effect of bullet
explosions. the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia and the Italian army collapsed in the battle of
Caporetto in October 1917. The Austrians had mass desertions, Germany was starving. The United
States joined the war in April 1917 alongside Great Britain.
The end of the war
The crisis of certainties
Freaud’s influence
The collective unconscious
The theory of relativity
A new concept of time
Antrophropological studies
A new picture of man
A windows on the unconscious
The inter-war years
The second world war
Modernism
James joyce
George Orwell