Preview

Victorian Era Consciousness

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
493 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Victorian Era Consciousness
How would you describe the consciousness of the Victorian Age? Think about their perception of their place in the world.
The consciousness of society in the Victorian age is an interesting factor that greatly changed and evolved during the time period. The era’s beginning and end is marked by the birth and death of the reigning monarch of the time, Queen Victoria, spanning from 1837 to the early 1900s. With the effects of the Industrial Revolution distinctly felt by all classes within society, it was a time of significant social reformation and drastic change in all aspects of life, and in short was a diverse and complex though tremendously exciting period for those who were living in it.
As a result of such rapid growth, expansion and change, it is only natural that there was widespread excitement and perhaps apprehension at the same time. A new world was being created away from the manual driven labour of the old, and one of steam power and coal was emerging, of urbanisation and industrialisation. This constantly transforming and thriving world to the people at the time must’ve been overwhelming and thrilling, as they gained a realisation that all aspects of their lives were becoming influenced in some way or other by the increasingly advanced technologies and innovation. As a result, there was a great influx of population from the countryside to the city, with the realisation that there was a quickly approaching transition away from an agricultural-based economy towards machine-based manufacturing.
However there must’ve been a great deal of anxiety and people may well have been wary towards the great changes that were happening around them. There would’ve been a growing new consciousness as society had to perceive the world in a different way than they previously had in order to ‘keep up with the times.’ As one tiny pebble when thrown into a pond causes consequent ripples to spread throughout the surface, the Victorian Age was like a pond where a great

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 1 talks about the industrial revolution and the changes it brought on. It started in Great Britain in the late 1790’s and spread violently across Europe. Countries that were dominated by the agriculture switched to a new industrial society. Many factories across the globe were created and helped modernize many cities. Material goods were produced at an alarming rate and were readily available for the consumer. With the boom of factories in city areas, job opportunities were available thousands of people and even for women. “The working classes constituted almost 80 percent of the population of Europe. New inventions were also being created to aid life for people. With the creation of the engine, new technologies such as the train, cotton gin, and later the automobile revolutionized how people and goods could move across vast areas. “The processing of liquid fuels-petroleum and it’s distilled derivatives-made possible the widespread use of the internal combustion engine as a source of power in transportation. There were also quite a few social changes. The wealth that the new industry brought was shared unequally and made the standard of living for the average person quite bad. Such living conditions spread anger and frustration which started many revolts across Europe. The industrial revolution also knocked to era of renaissance into the history books.…

    • 768 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Regency England displays Emma’s naivety in which her pride and vanity causes her to meddle with other characters, blindsided by her own wrongdoings. The omniscient voice “The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s situation were the power of having too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself…” aligns the reader with Emma encouraging her own imaginative mind and vanity where her actions cause her to act in problematic ways other characters. The repetition of personal pronouns, “I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry…I never have been in love…I do not think I ever shall.” explores Emma’s belief that her wealth allows her to be financially secure with reassurance that others will not treat her like Miss Bates for her decision to remain single. The use of narrator’s anthypophora in “Why she did not like Jane Fairfax...she saw in her the really accomplished young woman, which she wanted to be thought herself.” exhibits Emma’s jealousy as she sees Jane as a threat to her ego because she may carry more accomplishments than herself which leads to her initial dislike of Jane. The prominence of pride and vanity creates problems as a consequence as it blindsides one’s better judgement. One’s importance of materialistic items continues to be a main feature in the modern…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Victorian times there was a high sense of mortality especially in the company of others. Things such as, smoking, drinking and sexual activity was frowned upon.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Victorian Age, a time that is commonly known throughout history for its stoicism of dress for women and men. The women and men of the Victorian age all dressed in ways that covered their entire bodies. The men wore suits, while the women wore dresses that were extremely modest. However, in the movie The Young Victoria the director chose to have the men were dressing in what would be considered proper Victorian standards for men. However, Queen Victoria and the women of Royalty dresses in ball gowns that revealed a significant amount of skin, while the servants and lesser class also dressed in proper Victorian garb. This paper will look at the significance of the costume choices for women, and the possible reasons for why the director chose…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    * Victorian views on morality and culture coupled with need to make decisions about mountain of domestic products had subtle but important effect on middle class expectations about women’s roles at…

    • 3636 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Iraqi Culture

    • 2403 Words
    • 10 Pages

    This era became popular after the French Revolution when the people of Great Britain had revolted against the parliament. Once Queen Victoria was in power, she saw a reason to encourage society to improve, to enforce, to reform, to benefit, to prevent, to relieve, to educate, to reclaim, to encourage, to propagate, to maintain, to promote, to provide for, to support, to effect, to better, to instruct, to protect, to supersede, to employ, to civilize, to visit, to preserve, to convert, to mitigate, to abolish, to investigate, to publish, to aid, to extinguish. The Victorian Era was not seen as a dark period of credulity and superstition, but as an era of great deeds and deep emotions, far away from the prosaic and mechanical world of early industrial society. On the other hand, religion was not represented as a main focus because the central idea of this movement was human emotions. It caused Enlightenment rationalists lost power towards religion and came back to their cultural beliefs, however, religion was still part of their lives especially in their art. Also, there was a growing view in society that women should not be higher than a man and that she should out of respect let the man be in control, however, when Queen Victoria became in power she sparked a movement of equality for both genders and that same sense of…

    • 2403 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Like the many of us today that are obsessed with reputation and appearance, the Victorians were just as bad, most of their life was centred around what other people think of them. What is the right way to dress and talk? Victorians showed how important reputation and appearance is to them in their everyday life from the way they dress to the literature they wrote and read. This is shown very clearly in two texts that I shall be analysing and comparing. They are; Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte and the A Doll’s House written by Henrik Ibsen.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the romantics, to queen Victoria; it was a time of great social struggles for the poor. Yet a different story was occurring for the middle class, the higher classes where in a time of “relative political and social stability” (Gray 783). These conditions helped shape and greatly impacted the novel writing of the era. In the midsts of the reign of Queen Victoria, the poor went through a time of great struggles, however reforms were occurring, and an industrial revolution took place. Social changes and undertakings played a great role in the writing and themes of the novels of the era. After a time of transition from romantics to the Victorian era a “novel [was] a realistic portrayal of society” (Victorian Age 1). Society’s growing emphasis on humanitarianism along side of the social conditions contributed to the novels and the realization of poverty during the Victorian era.…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Renzo Gardini ENC1102 Prof. Duasso March 15, 2015 The Victorian Era was a time of firm roles for both women and men. Women’s tent stay home there whole life, while men supported the family and stay outside working all day. During the evil day, men were tempted by other women, alcohol, sex, and other evil that present. The women’s were vulnerable to their men, having food on the table, and give men hope during the evil days.…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Victorian Era was unlike the previous era, the Romantic Era, which focused in romanticising the realities of life, because it focused on the hardships that society faced and challenged previous traditions. According to Josh Rahn, in…

    • 1820 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Did late Victorians think of homosexuality primarily as a crime, a disease, or something else?”…

    • 3392 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Victorian Era was known as a long period of peace, national self-confidence, and prosperity in Great Britain. Conversely, some of the local citizens that lived during this era, faced intense poverty and did not embrace these jovial characteristics of the time period. The problems with poverty during the Victorian Era were caused mainly by a rapidly increasing population, employment problems, and overall ineffective sanitation of Great Britain.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Victorian writers often explore the idea of childhood, with themes of persecution, education and religion being commonly prevalent. Specifically, the negative aspects of childhood seem to be explored in a manner in which writers use hyperbolic and satirical means to express their critique.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Victorian age is considered to be one of the most prudent ages throughout of history. It is mainly based on your appearance. This means that the most important thing back then was to present as much as perfect as you can. It is crucial for them to be very appreciated by other people. This age can be described as very hypocrite because no one is perfect so lying and pretending in order to present as a “saint” is absurd but in that age it meant everything. This essay will discuss the role of women in that age compared with this age. It will also show the vanity and insecurity of women and try to explain if that really remained even for today.…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Victorian age was an age where many changes occurred socially, economically, and industrially. People began to explore into areas such as the earth, the human body, and how to benefit the daily lives of individuals. English literature was also something that was beginning to be developed. People's thoughts and ideas also changed with the development of the country. The peoples' ideas became more free and they accepted change more easily, yet not everybody wanted to admit to change. People began to ask more questions about life, which prompted the development of science and many people began to question the bible. The change caused a great deal of confusion and alarm, which prompted English writers to accept responsibility and write about new thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays