The Victorian Age and Literature

Vocabulary and key concepts from the Victorian Age, covering historical reforms, the works of Charles Dickens, and the Brontë sisters' literature.

The Great Reform Act

An act that extended the vote to almost all male citizens.

Ten Hours Act

A law that limited the working day to $10$ hours.

Repeal of the Corn Laws

An action taken in favor of free trade.

Indian Mutiny

A rebellion where Indian soldiers rose up against their British commanders.

Two Housing Acts

Legislation aimed at cleaning up the towns during the early Victorian period.

The Victorian Compromise

A code of values based on hard work, respectability, and the patriarchal unit.

Charles Dickens

A $XIV$ century newspaper reporter and author of Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, and Christmas Carol.

Oliver Twist

A novel focusing on London misery, crime, and the workhouse's insensibility toward the poor.

The Beadle (Mr Brable)

An adult official in Oliver Twist who ate large amounts of food while isolating Oliver for asking for more.

Coketown

The setting of the novel Hard Times.

Thomas Gradgrind

A rational man whose name hints at his personality (grade + grind) and who views students as pitchers to be filled with facts.

Bitzer

The student who provides a definition of a horse in Hard Times after Sissy Jupe is unable to do so.

Brontë Sisters

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne; self-educated sisters who published using male pseudonyms.

Lowood Institution

The strict school where the orphan Jane Eyre was sent.

Thorniefield Hall

The location where Jane Eyre works as a governess for Mr Rochester.

Jane Eyre (character trait)

An independent woman who refuses marriage proposals twice to preserve her moral integrity.

Ferndean

The location where Jane eventually marries Mr Rochester and he recovers his sight.

Jane Eyre (structure)

A novel featuring $5$ different locations that follows the protagonist's childhood and education.