• Women were seen as temples of love and purityand so, could not be used for physical exertion or pleasurable sex. The only role of women in the Victorian era was to get married and look after the homely chores. The young ladies were groomed （打扮） thoroughly to get married and had to be innocent, virtuous(善良), biddable（顺从）, and filial (孝顺).
• Few women ran the house, made meals for their husbands and children, made clothes for everyone, and grew everything that the family ate.
• The gentlewomen made sure that the home was a place of solace and comfort for the husband and children, free from all the hassles or burdens of outside work. They were supposed to be the sunbeam in the house by making others happy.
– In this period, sexual inequality in politics, economic life, education and social positions still prevailed; women were still regarded as second-class citizens. – Man for the field and woman for the hearth; – Man for the sword and woman for the
– The new Poor Law of 1834 brought along with it the workhouse system which made thousands of poor free toilers for nothing but a rat’s den and never-adequate cheap food for a bare sustenance. – The Corn Law (1815) made bread too expensive for the poor.
William IV Victoria's uncle
King George IV, died childless, leaving the throne to his
* The Victorian age can be roughly divided into three periods. The first period: 1832 --- 1848
Ⅰ the features of the literature
in the Victorian Period
• 1.Victorian literature naturally took on its quality of magnitude and diversity多样性 .
– On the other hand, against the powerful, dogmatic, conventional Orthodox religion of John Newman (Oxford Movement) there came a strong antireligious or irreligious trend of Utilitarianism [jʊ,tɪlɪ'teərɪənɪz(ə)m] 功 利 主 义 among most of the progressive philosophers, scientists and writers. – Utilitarianism held a special appeal to the middleclass industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploit workers to the utmost and brought greater suffering and poverty to the working mass.
– She ruled Britain 63 years
Young Victoria
Queen Victoria in Old Age
George III
Victoria’s grandfather
George IV Victoria's uncle
Victoria
How did Victoria succeed the throne
needle; – Man with the head and woman with the heart; – Man to command and woman to obey.
– The explosive growth of industry, especially the textile industry, brought hundreds of thousands of women into factory jobs. – In factories, women were employed as cheap labor and were forced to do very heavy and hard jobs for about half the usual pay. The unbearable working conditions and unemployment drove thousands of women into prostitution.
Contents
• • • • • Background of the Victorian Age The status of women The features of the literature Three Sisters of Bronte Jane Austen &George Eloit
Chartism
宪章运动
• 4. Changes in Ideology
– Science and technology developed very fast. New inventions and discoveries in geology, astronomy, biology and anthropology drastically changed people’s life. – German philosophers such as Ludwig Feuerbach and Comte exerted great influences over British ideological field. – Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871) shook the theoretical basis of the conventional religious faith.
• The young women were mainly educated in accomplishments like French, drawing, painting, singing, dancing - everything which helped them to get a perfect suitor! Dancing was a preferred pastime among most of the upper-class women and men.
The middle period: 1848 --- 1870
The last period: --- 1901
British Empire : the empire on which the sun never sets
• 2. A Period of Growth, Development and Reform
Introduction to the Victorian Age
I. Historical Background
• 1. Queen Victoria (24
May 1819 – 22 January 1901)
– Victoria became Queen at the age of 18 in 1837 when her uncle, King William IV, passed away.
– Urbanization
– Industrialization
– Reform Bill
– England became the "workshop of the world".
19th Century England
• 3. Conflicts Between Capital and Labor
Darwin: Origin of Species
Architectural style
希腊风格、哥特式建筑风格以及文艺复兴时代的风格
Greek style and Gothic style are popular..
The life of women in Victorian era was generally centered on family
In 1837 when Queen Victoria came to the throne, married women had no property rights, not even in the proceeds of their own earnings. They had no rights to custody of their own children and were excluded from universities and professions.