{"id":1899,"date":"2014-09-25T20:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T20:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1899"},"modified":"2019-07-30T16:13:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T16:13:52","slug":"victorian-era-1832-1901","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/chapter\/victorian-era-1832-1901\/","title":{"raw":"Introduction","rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"Although Queen Victoria did not ascend to the throne until 1837, it is common to refer to the Victorian era as beginning\u00a0in 1832, the year of both the First Reform Bill and the death of Sir Walter Scott, a major writer of the Romantic era. The main topics for this unit on the Victorians are <strong>Industrialism<\/strong>, <strong>Religious Doubt<\/strong>, <strong>The Role of Women<\/strong> (\u201cThe Woman Question\u201d) and <strong>Imperialism. <\/strong>This is not to say that these issues were peculiar to that era; indeed, we will see them reappearing in later units; for example, the \u201cWoman Question\u201d in the Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield chapters, Industrialism in Shaw\u2019s play <em>Major Barbara<\/em> and in Huxley\u2019s <em>Brave New World<\/em>, and Imperialism and Religious Doubt in the Orwell and Eliot chapters respectively.\r\n\r\nAs one critic puts it, the following developments characterize the Victorian era:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>A\u00a0decisive shift of population and political and economic power from the country estates to the cities and the consequent increasing dominance of the middle classes<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Industrialization and the \"proletarianization\" of the working class<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The laissez-faire school of economics, along with the countervailing current of social reform movements and the emergence of Marxian socialism<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The dramatic expansion of English naval and trade dominance and the extension of the British Empire around the globe<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The exposition of the theory of evolution by Darwin and his defenders and the heightened conflict between science and religion (Adapted from George Scheper <em>A Survey of English Literature<\/em>. Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting 1973).<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<h1>Resources<\/h1>\r\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_1\/welcome.htm\"><strong>Industrialism<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/technology\/index.html\">Victorian Technology<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bl.uk\/onlinegallery\/takingliberties\/staritems\/111832reformact.html\">\"1832 Reform Act.\u201d<\/a> Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britain\u2019s Freedoms and Rights. The British Library.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/factact.html\">\u201cThe 1833 Factory Act.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Dr. Marjie Bloy, National University of Singapore.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/hist8.html\">\u201cChild Labor.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. David Cody, Hartwick College.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/victorian\/history\/1851\/index.html\">\u201cThe Crystal Palace, or The Great Exhibition of 1851: An Overview.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bl.uk\/learning\/histcitizen\/victorians\/exhibition\/greatexhibition.html\">\u201cGreat Exhibition.\u201d<\/a> Treasures. <em>The National Archives<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/workers2.html\">\u201cThe Life of the Industrial Worker in Nineteenth-Century England.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Laura Del Col, West Virginia University.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/rationalwiki.org\/wiki\/Social_Darwinism\">\u201cSocial Darwinism.\u201d<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/hist2.html\">\u201cThe Reform Acts.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Glenn Everett, University of Tennessee at Martin.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ubervictorianindustrialism.tumblr.com\/\">\"Uberindustrialism\u201d<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><strong>Religious Doubt<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/science\/science&amp;religion.html\">\u201cVictorian Science &amp; Religion.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Aileen Fyfe, National University of Ireland Galway and John van Wyhe, Cambridge University.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/science\/geology.htm\">\u201cVictorian Geology.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web.<\/em> John van Wyhe, Cambridge University.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/authors\/arnold\/writings\/doverbeach.html\">\u201cDover Beach\u201d<\/a>, Matthew Arnold. <em>The Victorian Web.<\/em> [With commentary].<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><strong>Women\u2019s Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_2\/welcome.htm\">\u201cThe Woman Question\u201d<\/a>: Overview Norton Online<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_2\/nature.htm\">The Nature of Women<\/a>.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/about\/living-heritage\/transformingsociety\/livinglearning\/school\/overview\/1870educationact\/\">\u201cThe 1870 Education Act.\u201d<\/a> Living Heritage: Going to School. <em>www.parliament.uk<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/content\/articles\/g\/gender-ideology-and-separate-spheres-19th-century\/\">\u201cGender Ideology &amp; Separate Spheres.\u201d<\/a> Gender, Health, Medicine &amp; Sexuality in Victorian England. Victoria &amp; Albert Museum.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/gender\/\">\u201cGender Matters.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/gender\/wojtczak\/nuwss.html\">\u201cThe National Union of Women\u2019s Suffrage Societies.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Helena Wojtczak.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/content\/articles\/p\/the-personal-is-political-gender-in-private-and-public-life\/\">\u201c\u2018The Personal is Political\u2019: Gender in Private &amp; Public Life.\u201d<\/a> Gender, Health, Medicine &amp; Sexuality in Victorian England. Victoria &amp; Albert Museum.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bl.uk\/learning\/histcitizen\/21cc\/struggle\/struggle.html\">\u201cSuffragists.\u201d<\/a> Learning: Dreamers and Dissenters. The British Library.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/victorianbritain\/divided\/\">\u201cVictorian Britain: A Divided Nation?\u201d<\/a> Education. <em>The National Archives<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><strong>Imperialism<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/empire\/Empire.html\">\u201cThe British Empire.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. David Cody, Hartwick College.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/empire\/\">\u201cBritish Empire.\u201d<\/a> <em>The National Archives<\/em>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/empire\/\"><\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/authors\/kipling\/rkimperialism.html\">\u201cKipling\u2019s Imperialism.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. David Cody, Hartwick College.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_4\/welcome.htm\">Norton Topics: \u201cVictorian Imperialism\u201d.<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_4\/welcome.htm\"><\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/empire\/index.html\">\u201cThe British Empire\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p003k9gt\">\u201cArchaeology and Imperialism.\u201d<\/a> BBC Radio <em>In Our Time<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><strong>A Comprehensive general Victorians Site from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saylor.org\/courses\/engl410\/?ismissing=0&amp;resourcetype=1\">Saylor.org English 410 Resources Page.<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<p>Although Queen Victoria did not ascend to the throne until 1837, it is common to refer to the Victorian era as beginning\u00a0in 1832, the year of both the First Reform Bill and the death of Sir Walter Scott, a major writer of the Romantic era. The main topics for this unit on the Victorians are <strong>Industrialism<\/strong>, <strong>Religious Doubt<\/strong>, <strong>The Role of Women<\/strong> (\u201cThe Woman Question\u201d) and <strong>Imperialism. <\/strong>This is not to say that these issues were peculiar to that era; indeed, we will see them reappearing in later units; for example, the \u201cWoman Question\u201d in the Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield chapters, Industrialism in Shaw\u2019s play <em>Major Barbara<\/em> and in Huxley\u2019s <em>Brave New World<\/em>, and Imperialism and Religious Doubt in the Orwell and Eliot chapters respectively.<\/p>\n<p>As one critic puts it, the following developments characterize the Victorian era:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A\u00a0decisive shift of population and political and economic power from the country estates to the cities and the consequent increasing dominance of the middle classes<\/li>\n<li>Industrialization and the &#8220;proletarianization&#8221; of the working class<\/li>\n<li>The laissez-faire school of economics, along with the countervailing current of social reform movements and the emergence of Marxian socialism<\/li>\n<li>The dramatic expansion of English naval and trade dominance and the extension of the British Empire around the globe<\/li>\n<li>The exposition of the theory of evolution by Darwin and his defenders and the heightened conflict between science and religion (Adapted from George Scheper <em>A Survey of English Literature<\/em>. Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting 1973).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<h1>Resources<\/h1>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_1\/welcome.htm\"><strong>Industrialism<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/technology\/index.html\">Victorian Technology<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bl.uk\/onlinegallery\/takingliberties\/staritems\/111832reformact.html\">&#8220;1832 Reform Act.\u201d<\/a> Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britain\u2019s Freedoms and Rights. The British Library.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/factact.html\">\u201cThe 1833 Factory Act.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Dr. Marjie Bloy, National University of Singapore.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/hist8.html\">\u201cChild Labor.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. David Cody, Hartwick College.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/victorian\/history\/1851\/index.html\">\u201cThe Crystal Palace, or The Great Exhibition of 1851: An Overview.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bl.uk\/learning\/histcitizen\/victorians\/exhibition\/greatexhibition.html\">\u201cGreat Exhibition.\u201d<\/a> Treasures. <em>The National Archives<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/workers2.html\">\u201cThe Life of the Industrial Worker in Nineteenth-Century England.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Laura Del Col, West Virginia University.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/rationalwiki.org\/wiki\/Social_Darwinism\">\u201cSocial Darwinism.\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/hist2.html\">\u201cThe Reform Acts.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Glenn Everett, University of Tennessee at Martin.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ubervictorianindustrialism.tumblr.com\/\">&#8220;Uberindustrialism\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Religious Doubt<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/science\/science&amp;religion.html\">\u201cVictorian Science &amp; Religion.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Aileen Fyfe, National University of Ireland Galway and John van Wyhe, Cambridge University.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/science\/geology.htm\">\u201cVictorian Geology.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web.<\/em> John van Wyhe, Cambridge University.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/authors\/arnold\/writings\/doverbeach.html\">\u201cDover Beach\u201d<\/a>, Matthew Arnold. <em>The Victorian Web.<\/em> [With commentary].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Women\u2019s Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_2\/welcome.htm\">\u201cThe Woman Question\u201d<\/a>: Overview Norton Online<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_2\/nature.htm\">The Nature of Women<\/a>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/about\/living-heritage\/transformingsociety\/livinglearning\/school\/overview\/1870educationact\/\">\u201cThe 1870 Education Act.\u201d<\/a> Living Heritage: Going to School. <em>www.parliament.uk<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/content\/articles\/g\/gender-ideology-and-separate-spheres-19th-century\/\">\u201cGender Ideology &amp; Separate Spheres.\u201d<\/a> Gender, Health, Medicine &amp; Sexuality in Victorian England. Victoria &amp; Albert Museum.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/gender\/\">\u201cGender Matters.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/gender\/wojtczak\/nuwss.html\">\u201cThe National Union of Women\u2019s Suffrage Societies.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. Helena Wojtczak.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vam.ac.uk\/content\/articles\/p\/the-personal-is-political-gender-in-private-and-public-life\/\">\u201c\u2018The Personal is Political\u2019: Gender in Private &amp; Public Life.\u201d<\/a> Gender, Health, Medicine &amp; Sexuality in Victorian England. Victoria &amp; Albert Museum.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bl.uk\/learning\/histcitizen\/21cc\/struggle\/struggle.html\">\u201cSuffragists.\u201d<\/a> Learning: Dreamers and Dissenters. The British Library.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/victorianbritain\/divided\/\">\u201cVictorian Britain: A Divided Nation?\u201d<\/a> Education. <em>The National Archives<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Imperialism<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/empire\/Empire.html\">\u201cThe British Empire.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. David Cody, Hartwick College.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/empire\/\">\u201cBritish Empire.\u201d<\/a> <em>The National Archives<\/em>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/education\/empire\/\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/authors\/kipling\/rkimperialism.html\">\u201cKipling\u2019s Imperialism.\u201d<\/a> <em>The Victorian Web<\/em>. David Cody, Hartwick College.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_4\/welcome.htm\">Norton Topics: \u201cVictorian Imperialism\u201d.<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwnorton.com\/college\/english\/nael\/victorian\/topic_4\/welcome.htm\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.victorianweb.org\/history\/empire\/index.html\">\u201cThe British Empire\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p003k9gt\">\u201cArchaeology and Imperialism.\u201d<\/a> BBC Radio <em>In Our Time<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>A Comprehensive general Victorians Site from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saylor.org\/courses\/engl410\/?ismissing=0&amp;resourcetype=1\">Saylor.org English 410 Resources Page.<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1899","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":465,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2639,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1899\/revisions\/2639"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/465"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1899\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1899"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1899"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}